How to Buy a Car?

When you first buy a car it is likely to be one of the most important financial decisions you will make. For most, the decision is second-only to buying a home. It’s important you take your time to identify your requirements and research what is available before jumping in headfirst. Here are some tips on buying a car which will help ensure that not only do you get the right car but that you also get great value for money.

Establish a budget

The first step in choosing a new car should always be deciding how much you’re willing to spend. This will save you time in the long run, making it easy to rule out cars that simply don’t fit the financial bill.

Ongoing costs such as insurance, road tax and routine maintenance need to be accounted for, too, and it’s worth having a contingency plan for unexpected repairs – think about saving up an emergency fund.

Assess your car requirements

The first place to start when looking for a new car is to decide what car will meet your lifestyle. If you spend most of your time driving unaccompanied in urban environments, a small and easy to manoeuvre car may be the best option. Whereas if you have several children, you are likely to need a larger car, or if you spend a lot of your time on the motorway a car that offers good fuel economy.

Do your research

Cars are becoming increasingly high-tech, and many newer models now come equipped with a host of technology. If you’ve been out of the market for a while navigating all these new features can seem daunting, so it is a good idea to take your time and do some research. This way you’ll be able to identify the features you need which will help to narrow down your search.

Think about how you want to maintain your car

Owning a car can be quite a lot of work these days, but you can make it a lot easier by simply having a local garage or mechanic that you can trust. It might be worth looking around for a service that offers a wide range of extras. This includes alloy wheel repair, paint works, or potentially even a place to wash your car for cheap. Car maintenance does require a bit of work, but you can generally learn how to do most of it on your own. If you don’t want to invest the time and labor to do it, then you can always rely on local car-related services for help. This can save you a lot of time, but it’s going to cost a bit more money.

Another point to remember is that not all cars are easy to maintain. Some older models might be cheaper to buy, but repairing them can be hard since you’ll need to find a well-seasoned mechanic that has experience working on older vehicles. Electric cars are also maintained a little differently and it could require a higher maintenance fee, not to mention that it’s not as easy to recharge them unless you’re at home.

Explore different ways to pay

Buying a car, used to mean saving up a lump sum and if necessary getting a loan to make up the difference. However, now there are many more options available to you. For eligible employees, salary sacrifice can also be an option, allowing the cost of a vehicle to be deducted from gross salary as part of an employer-provided scheme.

For people looking to own a vehicle Hire Purchase (HP) is the most similar to a traditional loan as you pay off the full value of the vehicle over monthly payments. However, for those who may want to change their car more frequently and are looking for lower monthly payments, Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) may be a better option. With PCP you only pay monthly payments towards a portion of the car’s value, but you have the option to make a lump sum payment on the remaining value at the end of the agreement, if you wish to keep the car. Take into account that getting the right car insurance is going to cost you money as well, so pay attention to this.

What’s the deal with new, nearly new and used cars

When you’re are looking to buy a car you’ll face the choice of a brand new car, a nearly-new car or a used car. You may think that a used car is the best value for money, but this isn’t always the case. Manufacturers want us to buy their newest models, so often you will find the best rates and offers are available on their brand new vehicles.

You should also bear in mind that a new car is likely to cost less to run. Newer cars have more efficient engines, so usually cost less when it comes to fuel and are cheaper to tax, plus as they are newer they are less likely to go wrong, so you should have lower maintenance and repair bills.