Medical School And Buying A First Car?

[Maverick]

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[Looktoabove]

If you are depending on OSAP as an fyi, OSAP checks with the Ministry of Transportation on the book value of your car, if you have a car under your name, you will receive a copy of the assessment request and value in the mail, the value of the car is considered an asset and reduces your OSAP loan.

 

I have heard OSAP allows for used cars of low value for med students, but it may be best to call OSAP for specifics. It may also be worth calling your insurance company to see if you can properly insure a car not in your name at a different address.

 

In the fall car companies will offer 0%/1% financing on their 2017 models and some reductions for end of season.

[thestar10]

Honestly, in preclerkship, a car is a very expensive convenience, not a necessity. Especially in a university town like kingston. You can survive without one for the first 2 years. Even Ubering multiple times a week can be cheaper than a car in the long run. 

 

New vs Used: Personal choice but the more fiscally responsible is used. 

 

It won't impact your loans from the ON government but you will need to check with your Province's loan agency. I don't know about BC.

 

Depending on where you match for residency, you may not need a car (I needed one in Med school but got rid of it in residency) 

 

2 wheel drive is fine in where you are. If the weather is so bad that you need 4 wheels to get there safely, you probably shouldn't be going in. 

 

A honda civic or accord would be fine. 

[Bambi]

When I started med school and needed a car to drive home to another city on weekends, I bought a car in the fall from a dealership, 1 year old, used by the manager and got a good deal, paid monthly and 6 years later, I am still driving it without any problems.

[ralk]

As noted, a car is not a requirement for medical school, especially in pre-clerkship. Walking, biking, public transit and bumming rides with classmates is more than sufficient. Depending on where your rotations are, having a car can be a huge asset in clerkship, but there are people who get through it without one. If money is really an issue, it may be worth looking into how you might be able to defer this purchase until later in your training.

 

Anyway, to respond to your questions,

 

1 - There are reasons to buy new, but especially in medical school, I'd go used. It's cheaper in terms of upfront costs. It may not last you as long, but in 4 years you go from piling on debt to making a decent income, to making a very high income a few years after that. Basically, if you can defer major expenses until later when you can better afford it, that's a benefit - and why a shorter-lasting but cheaper used car is not the liability it might be otherwise.

 

2 - In the past, having a car worth more than a certain value did reduce OSAP payments, but I believe they removed this. Read through your provincial loan terms carefully, regardless. If there is a penalty for more expensive cars, this too favours getting something used.

 

3 - That depends. As a medical student paying for this, you'll be throwing this on your debt one way or another. So, it becomes a matter of interest minimization. Go with whatever plan gives you the least amount of overall interest payments, keeping in mind to include any increased interest on your line of credit as a result of car payments. If you can't get a rate better than what your line of credit has, then just buy the car outright from the start. If you can get a better rate than what's on your line of credit, it likely makes sense to go for a payment plan. Used cars tend to have fairly high interest rates, so a straight buy is likely the best option, but you should explore your options for financing in case you can get a worthwhile deal.

 

4 - No, 2WD is fine. Get snow tires though!

 

5 - Go for a car, not an SUV unless you really expect to need the extra space. SUVs are more expensive and any of the more reliable ones lose value too slowly to make buying used worthwhile (a lightly used, good quality 2016 basically costs as much as new - if it doesn't, it might not be good quality any more).

[TechToMD]

According to a friend at Queen's med, most people do not buy a car until clerkship as Kingston is a small town and everything is within walking distance.

Can a Queen's student confirm?

[Maverick]

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[Snowmen]

I personally bought a brand new car but only because it was a demo with only 25 km on it and carried a 9000$ rebate (basically got a Sonata for the price of an Accent) so the depreciation for the first 2 years (the worst ones) was already offset. On top of that, it's giving me sub 6/100 fuel economy on the highway which I do a lot of so nothing to complain about.

 

If you can't find something like this, a lightly used car probably is your best bet though.

[Clover_236]

Owning a car is very expensive, even if no major repairs come up, the insurance and regular maintenance costs add up to thousands of dollars per year. Once you have an idea what car you may want, look up online what the ‘cost to own’ the car is, this’ll give you a rough idea of how much money you’d be spending on the car a year.

 

I definitely would not get a car in pre-clerkship years and even in clerkship I would think long and hard about it. Depends on the location of the school, but at least in major cities, a significant portion of med students get by just fine without a car throughout the entire medical school. Public transit/walk/bike most of the time and taxi/uber/car2go etc for those early morning gen surgery rounds or late night OBS/ER shifts. 

[PurpleS]

If you are depending on OSAP as an fyi, OSAP checks with the Ministry of Transportation on the book value of your car, if you have a car under your name, you will receive a copy of the assessment request and value in the mail, the value of the car is considered an asset and reduces your OSAP loan.

 

I have heard OSAP allows for used cars of low value for med students, but it may be best to call OSAP for specifics. It may also be worth calling your insurance company to see if you can properly insure a car not in your name at a different address.

 

In the fall car companies will offer 0%/1% financing on their 2017 models and some reductions for end of season.

 

I thought OSAP no longer considers an vehicle as an asset? Source: https://news.ontario.ca/maesd/en/2015/09/modernizing-the-ontario-student-assistance-program.html