Car costs swaying some drivers in BC away from ownership

Are you thinking of getting rid of your car because of the high cost of living in BC? A new survey highlights the struggles some British Columbians face due to the high cost of living and has some surprising responses about what they think of a car-free future to offset those costs.

The survey comes from Turo, a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace, in partnership with Canadian market research company Leger. Some 1,500 drivers across the country were asked about car ownership, and, overwhelmingly, Canadian respondents 25-34 said the inflation rate is impacting their plans to buy a vehicle this year.

According to the survey, “17% of young millennials surveyed are planning to stop owning/leasing their car in the future. This figure drops to 12% across all age groups. Of the young millennials surveyed who own/lease a vehicle but are planning to stop in the future, over half (52%) cited financial reasons, which is higher than the average across all age groups (42%).”

In BC, that number is still fairly high.

“This year, nearly half of British Columbian respondents (47%) are less likely to buy/lease a vehicle this year due to recent inflation rates,” the data report reads in part.

Despite about half of those surveyed saying that they aren’t going to buy or lease a car this year due to financial pressures, only about 1 in 10 would ditch their car entirely in the future.

One of the top reasons BC respondents without a vehicle don’t own or lease one currently is how expensive a vehicle is, with 40% pointing to that reason, which is higher than the national average.

“While 83% of British Columbian respondents own/lease a car, their cars sit idle 95% of the time,” the survey states.

But BC does drop below the national average when it comes to people who feel it would be impossible not to have a car and just above half of the respondents said they would have to change jobs if they didn’t have one.

Is the cost of your car pushing you to seek alternative modes of transport? Let us know in the comments.

The survey was conducted by Leger for Turo in Canada, from December 11 to 18, 2023. It consisted of a representative sample of 1,500 English and/or French-speaking Canadians who were 25 years of age or older.