More than two million new cars are sold each year in the UK, which averages out at about 5,500 new cars every single day of the year. Used car sales are about triple that. So in total, an average of over 20,000 people are buying a car each day in the UK. It’s big business.
Therefore, it’s obvious that a lot of people are considering the purchase of a new car at this very moment (and thousands of people are visiting this website every day, usually reading articles relating to buying a car and car finance). They might not buy it for a few days, weeks or months, but they are building up to it.
A car isn’t usually something you buy on the spur of the moment – it takes the average person about three months from first thought to signing a contract. So some quick maths tells us that there should be about two million people in the UK currently in the lengthy process of buying a car.
If you are one of those two million people presently pondering the purchase of a Peugeot or a Porsche, what things should you really be thinking about? What are the key considerations you need to have in mind to make sure you’re getting the best car for your budget and lifestyle?
Be brutally honest with yourself (even if you want to lie to everyone else) and answer these three questions:
- What is the real reason you want to buy a new car?
- How much can you really afford before it’s too much?
- What do you actually need this car to do?
If you can’t answer these questions, you are almost guaranteed to end up spending your hard-earned money on the wrong car.
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So let’s look at these three questions in a bit more detail.
1. Why do you really want that car?
You can make up excuses to give your spouse/family/friends about buying a car if you don’t want to have to justify yourself to them, but make sure you understand your own motivation.
If you just want a new car because you’re really bored with your old one and you really, really like the look of that new Turbomeister Supersport GT, then that’s absolutely fine. But don’t pretend it’s about fuel consumption or service costs.
Mid-life crisis? Fine! Current car too big/small/noisy/slow? That’s fine too! But pinpoint the key reason you are buying a car in the first place, and make sure your new car addresses that want or need (we’ll get to that shortly).
Why is this important?
Car dealers are professionals at selling you the car that they want you to buy, regardless of the car you actually want (especially if they don’t have the one you want in stock).
If you give them fake reasons for wanting a new Turbomeister Supersport GT, they’ll spend hours convincing you that you really need the Practicalo Familia Lux instead, because it does all those things better (and because they just happen to have one right here that they really need to get rid of).
And next thing you know, you’re driving a car you didn’t want because they made it sound like a great deal and you fell for their sales spiel. Yes, it will be economical and cheap to run, which is what you told everybody you wanted. But it wasn’t what you actually wanted, so you won’t enjoy it.
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Now you’ve got that straight, let’s talk about your budget.
2. How much can you really afford?
Regardless of whether you’re paying cash or financing your new car, everyone has a financial limit. Pushing beyond that limit because you really, really want that particular car is almost certainly a one-way ticket to Troubletown, and it happens all the time.
Cars cost a lot of money to buy, but people tend to forget that they also cost a lot of money to run. Petrol costs might be the most obvious expense, but there is also insurance, road tax, servicing and other maintenance, and the potential for expensive problems to suck your savings away.
Far too many people finance themselves to the hilt or blow all their cash to get their perfect car, and don’t leave themselves any room to pay for unexpected problems. What if you blow a tyre? It could cost you a couple of hundred pounds or more, and it’s not covered under warranty or insurance.
If the car is stolen or damaged, your insurance may cover most of the cost. But you could still have a hefty excess which you need to pay before they lift a finger to help you. Do you have several hundred pounds kicking around to cover that at the drop of a hat? If not, you’re up for more money and inconvenience paying for bus tickets and taxi fares until you can pay the excess.
Why is this important?
The Car Expert gets loads of enquiries from car owners desperately trying to get out of their finance agreements because they can no longer afford the payments.
Unfortunately, there is rarely an easy exit and you are likely to lose a lot of money if you bite off more than you can pay for. Your credit rating could be destroyed or you could even end up in bankruptcy. Swallow your pride, set a very conservative limit and don’t go one penny beyond it.
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Now we know your motivation and how much you can afford, all we need to do is find the right car for your needs.
3. What do you actually need the car to do?
Two-seat roadsters are pretty, and they’re usually great fun to drive. But they are absolutely no good at carrying more than one passenger or any reasonable amount of luggage. Therefore splashing out on a sports car is not wise if you need to run three kids around every day. Sounds obvious, I know, but apply the same thinking to every aspect of your driving needs.
If you’re doing a lot of motorway mileage, a diesel engine is very efficient. If you are only using the car at weekends and mainly for local trips, a petrol engine is probably a better choice. Saloons usually have bigger boots, but hatchbacks are more flexible in how their load space can be used. Lowered suspension and big wheels may look great, but if your local roads have lots of speed humps and potholes then your vertebrae and kidneys will be pounded by all the bouncing. Crossovers and SUVs are very popular at the moment, but they can be considerably more expensive to buy and run than the hatchbacks they are based on.
Why is this important?
Don’t rush into buying a car that’s not right for you. If the car you are looking at doesn’t fill all your needs, go find another one. There are plenty of cars for sale, so you’ll eventually find one that ticks all your boxes.
If the car doesn’t fulfil its key requirements for your life, you’ll end up wanting to get rid of it sooner rather than later. And potentially make the same mistake all over again.
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Summary
Unless you are honest with yourself as to why you want a new car, how much you can realistically afford and exactly what sort of car you need, you are highly unlikely to get the right result. And you will only have yourself to blame. So be a smart car buyer and make sure you know exactly what you’re doing any why before you start looking for that new set of wheels.
This article was originally published in July 2015, and was updated and expanded in January 2017.
