After the first car, many will purchase several cars over the years, based on how their lives change and how long the car lasts. As anyone who has purchased a car can prove, being a first-time car purchaser can seem to be a daunting task.
First-time car purchasers have a lot of things to think about, not just finding “the right one” but determining from where to purchase and how to make the payment. Here are some of the most important first-time car buying tips that will help you to buy the best car.
Some say the best way to learn is by doing, but first-time car buyer mistakes can cost you thousands of dollars, and some mistakes can affect the credit ratings and economic stability for years.
Purchasing your first car be exciting, but there are a lot of things to manage. Proper planning is one of the foremost first-time car buying tips that should be followed by each and every one. It can help make the process simpler- and help ensure you end up with the best car for you.
People buy cars for different reasons but let us not forget the most important one- to travel from point A to point B, in ultimate comfort. In the context of purchasing a car, one must remember to make a well-informed choice, that ticks all the boxes.
Fun, practicality, and all other things that matter to you. After all, you need to live with the automobile for a substantial period. And your loved ones will also use it.
Thinking of buying a new car for the first time? If so, then along with following first-time car buying tips, you should answers these questions too.
- Which is the best car in the market?
- What is the mileage of the selected car?
- What essential safety features are a must in your car?
- Which car insurance should I choose?
- When should I buy the car to receive the best deal?
To make your car buying process less complicated, we have come with few first-time car buying tips you should keep in mind for a hassle-free buying experience.
Important First-Time Car Buying Tips
Set a realistic budget- Among all the first-time car buying tips, the first important tip is to know your budget. Deciding your budget is your priority according to the experts.
Knowing how much you can spend or rather are interested in spending will filter the crazy expensive ones on your list.
We realize the features are endless. You will find one car with a unique feature and another car with some other special feature.
And with every new feature, your budget will increase. But let us be honest. We do not need the features to travel, so knowing your feature is vastly on your end.
How to get a loan- Another one on the list of first-time car buying tips and tricks is to research about getting a loan. When the time comes to apply for a car loan, you have a few choices: Your money or credit, the third-party lender, or dealership.
Dealerships have better rates, but that is not the case always, so it is better to get a pre-approved loan from other lenders before visiting the dealership to offer yourself a basis for comparison. An important thing to make a note of is if you are shopping for a used car, the lender may expect you to know what car you are planning to buy.
Also, ensure you get all your loan applications done within a few weeks so there is just one huge impact on your credit score.
Purchase it before the need arises- Another important one on the list of various first-time car buying tips is to purchase the car before you require it. Mostly, if you face a situation where you cannot go to work because you do not have a vehicle, it means you likely will not have much time to devote to careful research and financing choices.
Be ahead of that. If you foresee you will need a car soon, then it is better to get it faster than it’s too late.
Choosing the type of car- Choosing the type of car is also one of the important first-time car buying tips you must follow. The type of car defines the look, the seating capacity, and the cabin space along with the functionality of the car. In general, for passenger cars, there are usually four body types which are divided into subcategories:
- Sedan
- Hatchback
- MPV
- SUV
While hatchbacks are made for small families, sedans are larger than hatchbacks and provide better seating comfort for the tenants. Both provide a seating capacity of up to 5 people.
The other 2 types are larger and provide seating choices ranging from 5 to 9 persons including the driver. It is important to understand the purpose of the car, and the number of people traveling together.
A family consisting of 3 to 4 people might not require a 7/8-seater MPV. Likewise, if your playground is restricted to traffic-ridden city roads with no off-roading included, purchasing an SUV may not be a sensible decision.
The MPVs and SUVs perform up to mark and handle well under the open stretches. As many find these huge vehicles hard to maneuver in urban traffic.
Choosing between petrol or diesel- As automotive technology has started evolving, we are now free to choose whether to choose punchy diesel or go with a petrol-powered car. Further, with the venture of alternate options like electric and hybrid cars, you have a plethora of options namely diesel, petrol, hybrid, electric, and CNG.
Every option has its own set of benefits and disadvantages, however, based on the availability of fuel choice you must select the right engine sensibly.
The diesel cars have more parts and vibrate more compared to other cars, making them costlier to maintain compared to petrol, but if your regular drifters are more, you can choose diesel over petrol.
Also, petrol is much cheaper than diesel. The CNG emerges as the lowest fuel option, but it is not popular across the country, and most of the metro cities have an adequate number of CNG filling stations.
Safety features- We would say checking the safety features should be the most important first-time car buying tips one should follow. These days, convenience attributes like the air conditioner, power steering, Bluetooth connectivity, and power windows are regarded as the basic features in a car.
Another one among the first-time car buying tips is to keep safety in mind. To attract people, several car manufacturers include innovative and advanced features like automatic rain-sensing wipers, sunroof, automatic headlamps, and others. As we get attracted by those interesting features, safety gets ignored.
Keeping in mind the road conditions and increasing accident cases, your safety and the protection of your loved ones is important.
As a result, nowadays, an anti-lock braking system (ABS) is mandatory for all vehicles. In fact, checking the brakes is one of the significant first-time car buying tips.
Meanwhile, features like steering adjustability and height-adjustable seats come in handy during driving under various conditions. Hence, besides searching for comfortable features, you must also look at the safety features to ensure a safe drive.
Selecting the right car insurance- Now comes the most important part, car insurance. Choosing car insurance is as confusing as choosing a car itself, but yes it is one of the most important first-time car buying tips that should not be avoided.
There are plenty of options to choose from like third-party, comprehensive, and zero-depreciation. But which one to select among these options?
One should always choose comprehensive automobile insurance with extra benefits of covering the depreciation of the car and offering a cover for all the consumable goods.
There are several other add-ons and advantages one could choose from. However, before choosing any policy, one must read the terms and conditions which most of us skip.
Having an understanding before purchasing a policy will help to erase uncertainty while processing the claims and understanding the extent of policy coverage.
So, when you plan to buy a car, make sure you follow first-time car buying tips. These will help you make the right choice.