Car Dealerships: Buying Your First Car
Buying your first car is often an exciting yet exhausting experience. Often, it is the first major purchase after getting a job, and transitioning from walking or riding a bus to work to driving is something most young men and women anticipate. Yet you don’t just walk into a car dealership, point to the car you want, and drive off.
Long before you walk into the dealer’s showroom, you should decide what exactly do you need or want in a car. The needs of someone who needs to drive a mile or two to work are definitely different from that of a salesman who has to travel from one city to the next. Fuel efficiency is sure to be high on the priorities of the latter. A working mom who has to drop the kids in school before going off to work will also have different needs from a young man who loves to go camping in the mountains on weekends.
Once you have decided on whether to buy a Ford Mustang, Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Orlando, or a GMC Canyon, take a look at your wallet and your future income to see how much you can afford to pay. Installment options are available, but you will need to study the repayment schemes offered by the banks or other financing companies. Don’t limit yourself to a single company. Call a few and compare their rates. This will also weigh in on your decision whether to buy brand new or used.
This brings us to another difficult decision –brand new or used. Often people believe that brand new is always the better option. This may not be true at all times. Often what you are paying for in a spanking new car is its distinctive smell, the prestige of driving one, the shiny new paint, and the lesser possibility of mechanical breakdowns. You will not get the new car smell nor enjoy the envious looks of your neighbors with a used car, but you can have that shiny paint and trouble-free engine.
There are plenty of slightly used cars in car dealerships. Most companies take pains to keep their used cars in prime condition to protect their reputation, and some even offer limited warranties. Or, if the car is only one or two years old, its original warranty may still be valid.
Buying a one- to two-year-old car can cost 20 – 30% less than when buying brand new. This reason is the moment you drive off from the car dealership, the car is no longer brand new, and it immediately begins to depreciate.