There’s a lot to think about when shopping for a car. Just what car is really best for you? And where should you look to find it? Many people end up getting overwhelmed by the choices and end up making the wrong decision. To help make sure that you find the best car for you, here are a few tips on how to make car shopping less complicated.
Identify your wants and needs when car shopping
It’s best to start by identifying the features you need in your next car. This can help you to narrow down the right model. A few things to consider could include your budget, passenger space, boot space, type of transmission (automatic or manual?) and the mileage.
Once you’ve assessed these ‘needs’, you can move onto the ‘wants’. There may be features that you desire such as a certain color bodywork, certain dashboard gadgets and maybe certain sporty performance requirements. Make sure that you’re able to meet these ‘wants’ while keeping within your budget.
Make use of car listing sites
Car listing sites can help you to compare a range of different cars for sale in your area. Car dealerships and even private sellers will use these listing sites to advertise their vehicles. Not all cars for sale will be on these sites, the majority will be listed here.
You’ll find lots of different listing sites online. Choose sites that allow you to search for your specific needs. There are listing sites like Edmunds that offer useful tools like quote comparisons, finance calculators and video reviews of models, which could be very useful for helping you to narrow down your search. Take advantage of these types of features when available.
Plan to see as many cars as you can in one day
Just from looking at listing sites, you may be able to narrow down a single specific car that you want to buy. However, you may decide that there are a few cars that you like the look of. If this is the case, try to schedule to see as many of these cars as you can in one day.
Most sellers won’t ‘hold’ onto a car for you – this is why it’s not a good idea to look at one car one week and another the next, as the first car you looked at might sell within this time. By seeing all the vehicles in one day, you can compare lots of cars, while also being able to act quickly if you later decide you prefer one of the first cars you looked at.
Prepare your questions
It’s worth preparing a list of questions that you’d like to ask the seller in advance. This ensures that you don’t forget to ask an important question.
Just what questions should you ask a seller when buying a car? A few examples when buying a used car could include ‘are service records available?’ and ‘how many previous owners has the car had?’. This post at NerdWallet lists a few other examples of questions worth asking.
