If you’re looking to buy your first car, it can be a very exciting experience, but you’re also looking at a large sum of money to be spent. It’s important that you’re able to identify what you want, and what’s going to be right for you with your purchase. Everyone is different, so there’s no right or wrong answer on what you should prefer, or how much you should be spending. What’s important is that you know the difference between your options and that you’re able to find a car that suits your wants and needs – otherwise you’re at risk of making an expensive mistake.
Used cars
While it might sound like the worse option, there’s nothing to say that buying a used car takes away from the quality of the vehicle. If the car itself has been well looked after, then you’re going to get a car that works and runs like new. The quality of the vehicle itself will depend solely on the model, and what the car has been through while it’s been owned by another person. It’s also important to consider that this is generally the cheaper option, so a preference for the majority of people when it comes to their first car. When you buy a used car, it will either be straight from the previous owner, or from a dealership.
Dealerships or individuals
It doesn’t make too much difference whether or not you’re buying your car from the previous owner or the dealership, so long as you can evaluate the condition of the car beforehand. With that said, in many areas, the dealerships will have to make sure that the car is up to a certain standard before you buy it. You won’t always have the guarantee with the previous owner, so you’ll want to make sure you can identify whether or not the car is up to the standard you’re expecting. Test-driving the car, or sending someone to look at it before you buy it will clear this up, so you’re safe either way.
New cars
When it comes to buying a new car, you have a bit of freedom over what you’re getting. You’re not buying a car that’s already available to you, you’re getting something that you can have made more towards your preference. Picking the color of your choice, and any possible optional features can make buying a new car something preferable to you – but you’re going to be paying a lot more for it. Even so, the higher price tag means that you’re getting something that no one else has touched, and there will be no risk of any previous damages starting to affect the performance of the car itself.
Guarantees
Guarantees are something that you’ll want to look out for, as they can make your purchase feel much more secure. The guarantees you’re offered will be part of the dealership you bought from or other services that you can apply for. If you’re unfamiliar with the guarantees that might come with your car, you can click here to learn more. Often the guarantees will be on the quality of the car, or a warranty should anything happen to your car due to a fault within the vehicle itself.
Checking the service history
If you’re buying your car used, you should make sure you check out the service history of it before you even consider buying it. You can find out about all of the previous issues that have shown up from previous tests, and that will be enough to tell you whether or not the car is worth buying. All it takes is the registration of the car, and you’ll be able to do a quick search online. They record any serious damage to the structure of the car and other things like rust. Even if it doesn’t affect the performance of the car, it could cause issues down the line when you try to make your own changes.
Cost of ownership
Buying the car itself isn’t the only price you’ll be paying, there’s road tax, insurance, and the cost of fuel. It’s going to change per model of car, and you’ll want to figure that out before you make any purchases. While it’s easy to figure out the cost of tax and insurance, you should still keep in mind how much you’ll be paying for fuel. All cars differ in how much fuel they need to get you from A to B, so if you can figure out how often you drive – you can work out how much your car is going to cost to run. Of course, a lot of dealerships will provide information on how efficient the car is; so you can find out early on how much it will cost.
What do you need it for?
If you’re interested in buying a car for some fun every now and then, then thinking about how much you’ll be paying for fuel isn’t too big of a deal. On the other hand, if you’re going to be using it to commute every day, then those fuel costs are going to be very high in no time at all. Consider what you need your car for when you’re thinking about the pricing, and you could save yourself a lot of money with a more sensible choice.
Paying for your car
You have multiple options when paying for your car, generally paying with cash upfront, installments, or financing your car. If you’re buying from an individual, they’ll want the money upfront. People just want to get rid of their car and be done with it, so you can’t expect to be able to finance your car with them. If you’re buying from a dealership, you’ll likely be able to finance it or pay upfront – which is preferable depending on your financial situation. If you haven’t got all of the money right now but need the car, financing might be the better option for you; but you’ll be paying more for the car than what it’s worth.