The first step in the
decision making process should be to first decide upon your budget. How much you want to
expend on the car purchase ? Which category of car you wish to buy, since the market is
flowing with umpteen choices in different categories viz. Large cars, mid-size, small
cars.
Be aware of your budget, even in the case of buying a used car. If you plan to buy a used
car outright, you must know your budget. You must arrive at your disposable income based
on your monthly expenditure on things such as rent, electricity, groceries etc. The
disposable income is very important if you plan to take finance on a used car, whereby you
will have to shell out a certain amount as installment every month.
The following questions might help you arriving at your
answers.
How much could you afford?
Before you begin your search for a good deal on a used car, spend time
considering many of the same factors that would apply to a new car purchase: how will you
use the vehicle; how long do you plan to keep it; and your budget for the purchase,
including insurance, operation, maintenance and repair costs.
What Car should you buy?
Decide what car best suits your lifestyle and image. Since you could probably be
owning and using the same car for many more years, you need to anticipate future needs and
lifestyle changes. Today you could easily consider buying a mid-sized car as these cars
are available at great bargains.
Narrowing down your dream list is a bit more difficult for used cars than new cars because
there are so many more used vehicles. Talk to friends or acquaintances who drive cars that
appeal to you; word of mouth is often one of the best ways to gather information about
reliability or quirks of certain cars.
How Old is Old car? -
If Budget is top
priority then you rather buy a smaller car that's newer than a large car that's older.
Owning a larger car will cost you more as the running costs - fuel, maintenance, tyres,
spares are costlier. The best bet is to look for something almost new - Two years or
younger.You could get a real good deal because there are plenty of car owners who don't
want to be seen in a 'yesterday's model' - they want to be seen driving only latest cars.The band wagon and snob appeal helping
you this time.
Buying a middle-aged car ( 3 - 5 years old ) that has been treated well by its owner could
be a great deal. You could find a lot of these cars at a good bargain. Cars that have recorded 14,000 to 18,000 Km a year are best buys.
Cars flogged badly by chauffeurs or heavily used ones are like buying a life long bundle
of trouble.
Odometer readings can be manipulated, or "clocked." This fraud is practiced by
thousands of fly-by-night, independent used-car sellers nationwide. The effect is obvious:
a high-mileage car is turned into a low-mileage car to increase the car’s value. A
car with low mileage, but with a lot of wear on the driver's seat or the brake and
accelerator, may indicate tampering with the odometer.
|
