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By admin, July 16, 2010 5:36 am

Buying a new car is a big buying decision, and you want to be sure that you make the right choice.

First of all, you should make a list of what you need your vehicle to do be have. For example, when I bought my vehicle, my list included:

– 4 wheel drive
– towing capacity for a bass boat
– a nice stereo
– etc

Making that list will help keep you on track to choose a vehicle that meets your needs. Once you have your list made, you can pretty quickly narrow the options down to several vehicles that have the features you need, and that you like.

Now is where the work begins finding out which vehicle is most likely to give you the most reliable, safe use. Here are several important factors that you should check and consider.

Safety Ratings
Your dealer can probably provide you with safety data on the new cars you are looking at. Remember that there are multiple safety tests front collision, side collision, rollover, etc and you should take every test into consideration.

Reliability Ratings
If you go on MSN or other car websites, you can get reliability ratings on past year’s models based on customer feedback. While there will be variation between years, it should give you some idea of a model’s overall reliability.

User Feedback
If you know people who own the model you are considering buying, ask them for advice. They may not only be able to tell you if they are happy with the car, but give you information on which features are hot and which are not.

The bottom line is: the more data you can gather from different sources, the more likely you are to make the best buying decision. Your dealer is an excellent source of information, but it’s important to gather data from other, un-biased sources, as well.

Happy new car shopping!

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By admin, June 25, 2010 5:36 am

Buying a new car is one of the largest purchases most people make in their lives. Therefore, it is worth taking care and making sure the deal you get is the best possible.

Financing

If you need to obtain credit to fund the purchase of the car, you should be aware that the financing offered by the dealer is often not the best deal you can get. If you shop around for loans you may get financing at a much better rate. You should compare the annal percentage rate (APR) as well as the length of the loan and the amount of monthly repayments. Always look at the total amount repayable and compare this to the price of the car to see the cost of the finance.

Sometimes, dealers will offer you a very good financing rate on specific models that qualify. It may not be possible to negotiate on the price of these models and you should check to see if this is cheaper than buying another model that can be negotiated.

Make sure you have a copy of the contract and before you leave the lot, evaluate whether the repayment terms in it are affordable. If the dealer asks you to buy credit insurance, you should add this into the price and see if the car is still attractive. You should also check your existing insurance policies as you may be covered already under another policy.

If you are considering a trade in, bring it up only after you have already negotiated the best possible price for the car you want. You should also research the value of your old car so that you know what it is worth. This information will help you see what the dealer is effectively offering you for your old car and if it is a fair price.

If you are considering a service contract you should be clear on what it offers. They have many exemptions and you will already have some cover from the manufacturers warranty which is included in the cost of the car. You should certainly ask the following questions:

What does it offer over and above the warranty?
What repairs are covered?
Is routine maintenance recovered?
Will they pay for parts, labor or both?
Who performs the work?
How long does the contract last and what are the cancellation and refund policies?