New car or used? Buy or lease? SUV or compact?
These are just a few of the choices that we need to make when looking for a car. Your car is a major expense so it does need to be treated differently than any other purchase. Make the wrong decision and you have to live with it for a while.
That’s why it pays to do some evaluation. Have an idea of some of the things that are important in your decision.
In this article, I will go over some of the things to consider with each category of car to help you decide which one is right for you.
Lease or buy?
This is probably the most difficult step in the decision making process. There are pros and cons to both.
A lease is good if you don’t have much money to put down. Also, you aren’t tied down to one car and the maintenance costs that come with a car as it ages. And, if your leased car is for work, you may get a tax deduction by leasing. Check out https://www.intelligentcarleasing.com/ to get an idea of some of the deals that are out there if you want to lease.
Buying is good because you eventually will own the car and not have any payments to make. If you take good care of it and don’t drive it too roughly then you will have it long after the loan ends and not have any payments.
How you plan to drive
What type of car you need depends on how you plan to drive. What is your commute like? Do you need a lot of cargo space? How many passengers do you usually have in the car?
There are so many different cars that will suit different needs. If you plan on mainly commuting and performance is not important then you need a road car over a touring car.
Long commutes with you being the only one in the car means a compact, efficient car is for you.
Look closely at different model classes
You may have your heart set on a BMW but your budget is not unlimited. Look at all the different classes from each maker to find the right price for you. There are often many different classes for different budgets. Even expensive brands might have an option.
If even the base model is too much for you then look at other car makers with models in the same class and get a baseline price for each.
SUVs, for example, run the gamut in price and luxury. Some of the base models will still offer a lot of the bells and whistles that might be important and still keep you on budget.
Look at certified preowned
Buying used doesn’t have to mean that you are buying somebody else’s problems that they never dealt with.
Buying a certified preowned car is often like having a brand new one. Often the cars are less than two or three years old. And all the parts are updated and new. There is no maintenance that has been ignored or left to the new owner.
Brooke Smith