One of the big milestones in many people’s lives is the purchase of their first car. This can be an immensely significant event. Clearly owning your first car is exciting for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it offers the opportunity of independent travel without needing to rely on public transport or relatives to take you places. It opens the door to weekend trips to take in festivals or some sightseeing – even fully fledged road trips where the thrill of the open road and exploration make the journey just as important as the destination.
If you are planning to purchase your first car there are some key considerations. This article explains three of the most important factors that should influence your final purchase decision.
Insurance considerations
If you have recently passed your driving test as a young driver, a key consideration in your choice of the first vehicle should be how much it will cost to get car insurance. You will surely be aware that young drivers generally have to pay extremely high insurance premiums. This is especially true for young male drivers. One of the main reasons for this is that young drivers are far more likely to make car insurance claims because of accidents than older more experienced drivers. Whilst most driving tests around the world require a high degree of skill and road knowledge to pass, it is a simple fact that young drivers do not have years of real-world driving experience behind them. Insurers fully understand this fact and price premiums accordingly to account for the greater perceived risk. One way that young drivers can lower their insurance costs is to ensure that their first car is in a low insurance group. Cars that have smaller engines and are less powerful tend to fall into this bracket. It is worth searching for cheap car insurance on a variety of smaller, less powerful cars to get a good idea of the likely insurance costs before you begin your car hunt.
Overall budget
At this point, there is either the option of buying a car outright with money saved or getting a loan from a bank or finance provider to allow you to buy a car on finance. Buying a car with money saved can be a good option as you will not incur the interest charges for the cost of the credit provided, however it may mean that your first car budget is relatively small. Bear in mind that your first car is unlikely to be your last and something cheap but dependable may be the best option for your circumstances.
Reliability
As a final point, it is worth considering that the reliability of a first car should be of paramount importance. It makes little sense to invest money in a vehicle that will regularly require work to keep it roadworthy and mechanics costs can quickly add up on an unreliable car making the purchase a false economy. It makes sense to take a friend or relative along with you who has a good degree of mechanical knowledge so that the car can be accurately assessed. If you do not have a knowledgeable friend or relative it is well worth paying for a car inspection service company that will give your intended purchase a thorough check and will ensure that you buy with confidence.
