Aging Cars, Rising Costs: Halifax Drivers Caught Between the Pump and the Repair Shop

When Rich Aucoin picked up his vehicle for $800 about ten years ago, he figured he’d gotten a decent deal. What he didn’t plan on was still driving the same car a decade later and still trying to keep it alive.

“It’s actually going to get inspected in two weeks,” the Halifax resident said. “So we’re going to do a major overhaul for the next MVI. Keep it going for another 10 years.”

Aucoin has learned to stretch every dollar the car has to offer, but he’s candid about what that looks like on the road. Lately, something feels off with the brakes.

“Definitely the brake pads I can feel that it’s like kind of easing into the stops,” he admitted.

His situation is far from unique. Across Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada, drivers are holding onto their vehicles longer than ever, even as the cost of keeping those vehicles road-worthy continues to climb. New data from Statistics Canada, released in April, shows that vehicle maintenance and repair costs have risen 4.2 per cent over the past year alone. Meanwhile, gasoline prices at Halifax self-service pumps hit a minimum of $1.96 per litre on Friday a jump of 57 cents since late February.

For many households, those two financial pressures are colliding at the worst possible time.

“If you’re seeing an increase in gas prices and you have to pay that because you can’t change your driving habits, then who knows where you’re pulling that money from,” said Kristine D’Arbelles, managing director of public affairs at the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA).

The CAA has noticed a troubling shift in how drivers approach vehicle care. In recent years, a higher share of maintenance visits have been reactive cars brought in after something goes wrong rather than proactive checkups like oil changes and brake inspections. The association warns that neglecting preventive care, especially on aging vehicles, creates real safety risks.

And those vehicles are getting older. D’Arbelles noted that the average car on a Canadian road used to be around ten years old. That number is now creeping toward eleven or twelve.

“The average age of a vehicle on a Canadian road was around 10 years old. Now that number is starting to creep into 11 and 12,” she said.

On the ground in Halifax and Dartmouth, those working in the auto industry say most drivers are doing their best but some are pushing their luck further than they realize.

“There are people who are driving with flat tires, no emergency brakes, stuff like that. They don’t even know,” said Jack Clement, a car salesman at a Dodge dealership in Dartmouth. “Some people just don’t know, that’s fine, but we have to educate them and steer them in the right direction.”

Ian McDonnell, a service manager at Tom McDonnell’s Service Centre in Halifax, sees the downstream consequences when drivers delay too long.

“There are some people definitely who are putting it off and putting it off, which can lead to build-up over time and all of a sudden the repair bill is big,” he said.

The financial strain driving these decisions is real. D’Arbelles pointed out that vehicle ownership ranks as the second-largest expense for most Canadians, trailing only housing costs. That burden is especially felt in a city like Halifax, where 65 per cent of residents rely on their personal vehicle as their primary way of getting around, according to 2024 Halifax Regional Municipality data.

With few affordable alternatives to the car and costs rising on multiple fronts, many Halifax drivers face a difficult balancing act keep patching an aging vehicle and hope it holds together, or find money they don’t have for something newer and more reliable.

For now, Rich Aucoin is betting on the overhaul. He’s hoping the old car has another decade left in it. The brakes, at least, are next on the list.