narf..

[theducks]

lizbyrd's parents + brother and sister are coming to visit over Christmas, and we're going to Tofino, on Vancouver Island with them. Should be fun. But the question comes, how do we get there?

Cause there will be 6 of us, and Priuschan seats 5. Also, the road over there is hilly and you are legally required to have winter tires (tyres) or snow chains to traverse them.

Option 1 - Rental from Avis/Budget

• Can guarantee a van


• Can guarantee a vehicle with winter tires


• Can't guarantee a van with winter tires


• $1700 for the time of our visit only - will make doing stuff in Vancouver difficult

Option 2 - Bus

• Doesn't include transport in Tofino


• $890 for 6 return tickets, plus maybe another pile for transport to/from bus terminal

Option 3 - Buy a minivan and sell it again (ugh)

• Minivan - $5000


• Winter tires - $400


• Registration and insurance for 3 months - $660


• Sell in 3 months -$4000?


• So about $2000 for this option, but we'd have a minivan to do stuff around Vancouver too, and go up to Whistler in Feb

Hmm!

Comments

[nic]

Hire a 2nd, tiny, really cheap car?

[theducks.livejournal.com]

We'd still need to get winter tires for the prius (+600 or so), and we'd have to find two parking places anywhere we went, and we'd have to pay for two vehicles to the island instead of one, and we'd both be driving the 3-4 hours to Tofino without being able to swap drivers. We'd looked at that though.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Can you find an acceptable minivan for less than $5000?

[theducks.livejournal.com]

Yeah - plenty of 2001-2003 Dodge Caravans available for about $4000+tax it seems, with a 6-12 month warranty in some cases

[dannipenguin.livejournal.com]

Couldn't you rent your own snow chains separate to hiring a minivan?

[paperishcup.livejournal.com]

Depending on how new it is, you might not have to sell the minivan for less than you pay for it? Unless it's really quite new then 3 months worth of extra wear and tear/kms shouldn't depreciate its value significantly... (I know numerous people who have done this while backpacking...ie, bought a car for a couple of months then sold it for the same amount).

If you can buy one WITH winter tyres and then sell it as bought, you could potentially be only the $660 out...