Buying a new car can be a fun and stressful time. It’s most likely one of the biggest purchases you will ever make, except for paying for a house and paying for a college degree. Due to that, today I wanted to create a post that will help you in your new car search process so that you are less likely to make a mistake when buying a car.
Here are four things you should think about when buying a new car.
1. What are you going to do with your current car?
Before you buy a new car or a new to you car, you should think about what is going to happen to your old car. Will you give it to someone? Donate it? Sell it to Sell The Car USA? Trade it in at the dealership?
2. Do you know what kind of car you need?
Before you go shopping, you should do your research and think about what car you need. If you go into a dealership or a car lot without thinking about this, you may end up leaving with a car that you thought you loved but it turns out you have no real need for it.
You should think about the miles per gallon that you want, how big you want the car to be, the quality of it, how many miles you plan on putting on it, whether or not it can get you to where you need to go, and more.
3. What is your budget?
Before leaving your house and stepping a single foot onto a car lot, you should know what your budget will be. Think about the overall budget, do not think about how much of a car loan you can afford each month. That is because you do not want to pay outrageous interest costs or have a nine year car loan.
You should think about the total cost when buying a new car. This includes the actual cost of the car, how much car insurance will be, what the taxes on the car will be, how much you will spend on gas each month, how much repairs and maintenance would be, and so on.
4. Do you know anything about cars?
Lastly, it also helps you bring someone with you who knows a little about cars. This can be helpful because they can help you steer clear of a lemon.
What am I forgetting? When was the last time you bought a car?