How To Buy A New Car

When facing the decision of buying a car, you have to make some careful planning, since you are likely to use that vehicle for a pretty long time. Therefore you need to act accordingly, so here are a few pointers that might put you on the right track when purchasing a new car.

Ok firstly you need to think at yourself, at what your needs are and find a car that meets them. Whether you need it for daily transportation, weekend camping, carrying stuff from one place to another, towing a trailer, and so on. Take into consideration factors like fuel efficiency, safety ratings, reliability, features and so on.

To insure that you’re not buying a lemon that will cause you 10000 problems during just as many miles, go online and check the resale value, or car histories of past models belonging to the same line. Seek as many reviews as you can find. They usually seem honest since customers always speak their mind (since anonymity is insured).

Than you need to shift you focus back to you, to your current finances. You need to construct a realistic budget (don’t sugar coat it because it’s your money at stake) that contains monthly fees and maintenance costs. If you already own a car that fits into a trade in program, than you need to head for the Kelly Blue Book value system or the Edmunds TMV system to find out the true market value of your car. After you’ve found out your car’s value, insert it into the total budget.

Then it’s time to “hunt” for a car. Locate a couple of car dealerships nearby (no use of going too far), check out some paper advertisements and the yellow pages. Pick one or preferably more dealerships and mold your program so that you can go early in a weekday. Don’t forget your driver’s license so that you may do a test drive on any car that has potential.

Check out the stickers of the cars that catch your eye. The first you see (or in some cases the only) is the factory sticker that shows the MSRP price and near it is the dealer’s sticker. You’ll notice that the factory sticker contains some of the car’s performance ratings like fuel efficiency, horse power etc. and a set of features integrated in the car.

You might find it odd but the second sticker, if there is one, claims a higher price on the car. This price shows the additional services and options that are supported by the dealership besides the ones from factory. Some of these services may be: dealer prep which implies cleaning the car thoroughly, interior and exterior treatment, and extra items.

If you see a sales representative, inform him that you’d like to have a closer look, if you don’t, than simply hop in. Set the mirrors and the seat to your liking and see how it the car “feels”. Don’t worry, in no time a representative will see you and come to your “aid”. Ask him for a test drive. Start around the city streets, than turn it up a notch on the highway. Pay close attention to steering performance, braking response and acceleration. Feel free to adjust the seat, the radio and mirrors exactly how you like them to see how the environment influences your driving.

If you like the car, than head on for the office and make an offer while remembering that because of the “walk out” you have the upper hand. So dictate your terms firmly.

Post tags: Tags: buy new car, choose new car, How to buy a new car, Kelly Blue Book, new car