Buying a car in Canada in 2025 is a nightmare. The US chicken tax, CAFE regulations and capitalism all combine to mean that small cars no longer exist. Driving a pickup truck the size of a World War II Sherman tank is seen as “essential” and “necessary” because “the boys” will think you’re “gay” if you drive a van. You know, the actually utilitarian vehicle designed to keep your tools locked and out of the elements is somehow a symbol of “unconventional”. Soccer moms “protect” their progeny by buying an “SUV”, that elevates them above the ruddy pedestrians or cyclists, all because the soccer mom’s kids must be safe. If you don’t drive, you are worth less or often, worthless.
What if you do drive and your car is on its last legs? Well, as luck would have it, my 2014 Ford Focus pictured below was in just that situation in 2025. I could hear the clutch rattling every time the computer shifted gears and I was worried that I would soon find myself stuck on the side of a road on a cold night, fumbling with my phone to summon help. This worry was not without reason.
Ford’s 1999 Focus was the European Car of the Year. It was regularly among the best selling cars in Europe, with one caveat – most European models sell with a manual transmission and the Focus was no exception. North Americans are generally less comfortable with a manual transmission and so Ford fitted a shitty rally-style dual-clutch system to the North American models. They took a very well-regarded car and added a fatal flaw to the “automatic” version. This dual-clutch system, in keeping with the car’s general theme, was cheap. Ford cut one too many corners here and used a dry clutch. The exact problem is complicated but manifests as the clutch shuddering i.e. hesitating while accelerating. Despite Ford’s claimed “fixes”, the clutch eventually will break and the car is left undriveable. I had close to 240,000 km on my car (approximately 60% of the average earth-moon distance) and this shudder happened regularly. I learned (pun intended) how to drive around the problem but feared that the end was near.
I needed a new car. What to do?
I looked in all the usual places. Facebook marketplace, car sale websites, dealerships etc. I’m not willing to pay the new car tax but holy gaumata. Prices on new cars are insane. Because of my generally thrifty nature, I decided that an electric vehicle was the appropriate choice. Yes, they are still a hassle in 2025 but the fuel savings are worth it. The cheapest new EV in Canada in 2025 is the Nissan Leaf SV for nearly $ 42,000 [Source – CAA]. New cars were out as I could not afford the prices and I set my budget at $ 25,000, including taxes. This meant that the most I could pay for a car was around $ 21,000. Data from cargurus.ca shows that the average selling price for a used car in Canada increased by approximately 25% between 2020 and 2025. The supply situation is not as dire today as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic but hai ram, cars are expensive.
I shopped around for a used Chevrolet Bolt EV but soon discovered that the prices were low for a good reason – the cars have a reputation for self-combusting. The LG battery packs sometimes encountered a thermal runaway meaning that you just stand there watching the car burn, hoping that no other people are harmed. Chevrolet replaced several battery packs under warranty but the damage was done. The 2023 model was the last until the Americans, dumb as ever, realized that a market for a “compact” (read – realistically sized) car actually exists. The 2023 models were all nearly $28,000 used and were limited to a charging rate of 50 kW. That’s not a problem for daily use but if you ever need to charge the car on the road, you are stuck because charging the battery from 10 % to 80 % takes the better part of an hour. Compare this to more modern EVs such as Hyundai’s Ioniq that can charge at 250 kW so fifteen minutes of fast charging is plenty. Again, the use prices of these cars were outside my budget.
Finding any candidates in this price range was like finding a healthy lion in modern day Europe. Teslas were out because I hate Nazis. Eventually, I did find a Hyundai Kona EV from 2022. The mileage was relatively high for a two year old car but no matter, EV batteries are resilient. I did end up buying that car for around $ 21,000 all included but it did give me pause. My car came from a Ford dealership in Hamilton and my experience was fine. I knew exactly what I wanted, I had a budget and I had the cash on hand. I also knew that an EV has fewer components to fail so crawling under the car answers almost all questions.
A latino couple where ahead of me in the dealership and they just signed off on the loan for a $ 50,000 car. Fifty thousand dollars! How is this normal? Where are the normal sized cars, the cars that can comfortably fit a family of four while being reasonably fuel efficient?
My shitty Ford Focus was very fuel efficient. It had a Japanese-designed engine but the single most important factor was the car’s weight. At just over one tonne, this car was efficient. Surprisingly, a 2025 Hyundai Elantra weighs more than my 2014 Focus but has similar fuel economy. These cars exist but they are expensive. The cheapest Elantra in Canada sells for $ 23,000. My Ford Focus sold for $ 19,000 in 2017. Adjusting for inflation, the prices are almost equal. The lack of options in this range is the problem. Ford no longer sell sedan cars. Neither do Chevrolet. And neither do General Motors. The players in this segment are Japanese, Korean or European. The logic is simple – bigger cars are more profitable. That’s it.
Never mind the falling safety for pedestrians, never mind the wasted space in the car, never mind the more expensive infrastructure. No, profits matter above all else.
What if you want a small hatchback? You’re often restricted to the used market, where you may find cars like mine, one component failure away from being scrap. Yes, you can buy one of those obnoxious muscle cars and have your neighbours hate you but those are neither cheap nor practical. What if you want an actually large car, like a station wagon? Nope, not for sale on the North American market. The logic then goes that customers don’t buy these models, but how can you buy what does not exist?
My new car is fine. I’m happy it is electric but that comes with a whole learning curve. I dislike the height of the car, I dislike the poor visibility, I dislike that it takes privilege to afford something that enables basic participation in society, something that our entire society is designed around.
I feel for anyone on a budget trying buy a car, any car, in 2025 in Canada.