TL;DR: Should I transfer my car lease or keep it?
Quick timeline:
- Jan 2016 Moved to Canada.
- Found job in May.
- Discovered life in Toronto sucks without car. Can make do, but quality of life is better with car.
- Didn't have enough cash for Certified Used. Wasn't qualifying for 12K finance.
- Cars for cash 2-5K were mostly a miss - poorly maintained / shady people / car already sold by the time I got there / etc.
- Finally qualified for 5-year lease (15K) on a Corolla. How? I have no idea.
- Leased in Sep 2016.
Fast forward to May 2018 and I've put a measly 6000km on the car. Paying 250$ for the car every month doesn't seem to do justice for 6000km/20months = ~300km per month of use.
Plus, insurance in TO started out at a ridiculous cost, down to a still high 200$ per month.
Til date, I've paid 12,999$ for all car costs which brings my cost per km to 2.13$.
My typical use is grocery-runs every weekend to 3-4 stores and occasional trips to the family doctor and a rare late-night trip to Metro for maybe, icecream. During the summer, we drive to nearby parks, the usual Niagara falls, and have used the car to drive family when they visited.
I seriously don't "need" the car, and would have relied on alternatives but:
- My locality has a Zipcar 500m away. I've used Zipcar and I don't like them much, but can tolerate them.
- Hertz 1.5km away. Availability is a hit or miss depending on season/time of year.
- Subway is end of line here so have to take bus for anything further west or north-south. TTC bus schedule is garbage.
- Bus stop is 400m away.
- I have to drive 11km west or north for the nearest Indian grocery store.
- Biking infrastructure in Toronto is nearly non-existent, especially here in the west-end. Biking in TO feels more dangerous than crossing a road in India.
- Nearest grocery store is 1.7km away.
- Bread store is 1km away.
- Small corner vegetable store is 1.1km away.
- Winter makes everything worse - including walking to a rental car or the bus stop or what-have-you.
- I very much hate the seasonal tire swap.
I've considered moving as one of the options - but I've discovered walkability comes with higher population density, noise, more traffic, less-safety, and more. I like the current condo unit I'm renting for various reasons but I know it's also not close to amenities.
What do you suggest? Have I no other option but to suck it up and continue to pay for the lease or should I find a better owner for the car, transfer the lease, and tolerate a life with far less freedom of mobility? Or, maybe actually just move?