Tips for First Time Car Buyers: The Right Car at the Right Price

The tips shared in this article can be applied when purchasing either a new or used vehicle.

These tips are even more relevant to younger car buyers, because the excitement of buying your first car can cause you to pay more than you should - these tips will help you find the right car at the right price.

What's Your Budget?

It's extremely important to know what you can afford as a monthly payment. Remember, the cost of the car is not the only expense you have. There will be other expenses such as gasoline, license fees, automobile insurance, and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. So when you make your budget, add in these expenses the best you can.

The Right Car for Your Situation

Purchasing the right car can make life easier, or it can turn into a cash cow. If you do your homework and narrow the car choices down to a few select cars, then when it comes time to go shopping you'll be better prepared to stave off temptations.

Looking for cars at dealers can save you time, because they offer a variety of models and types, but it can also be tempting to overspend. As mentioned, the excitement of buying your first car can cause price blindness, and salesman will not try to discourage you from spending too much. Once the excitement wears off it can be too late - you're stuck with the car, and payment.

You can compare car prices using the Kelly Blue Bookwebsite.

Financing

Getting pre-qualified is what most experts suggest. You may want to stick with one or two loan dealers for this reason: the more inquiries you have against your credit profile (in a short time period), the more this will negatively impact your score. Will it impact your credit score enough to influence interest rates or approval of the loan? It all depends on what your credit was like before the inquires. This is a discussion you should have with the loan dealer before running a credit report.

Cost of Insurance

Your age, your driving record, and the type of automobile you purchase will dictate how much automobile insurance costs. This is where knowing your monthly budget is important. Car insurance is a fixed cost, just like a car payment, and your budget has to provide for both.

The formula for lower car insurance payments usually includes higher deductibles; talk to your insurance agent about this.

Negotiating

Once you have the above things in place, it's time to buy a car. You will probably end up buying a car from a private party or a dealer. Knowing the fair value of a car is the only way to start negotiations. In fact, you have answered this already when you were researching the type of car you wanted.

There's a general rule when negotiating: only raise your price half of what the seller came down. So, you offered $5,000 and the seller wants $7,000. The seller comes down to $6,500, you go up to 5,250. If you use this formula, you will never get lost in the emotions of a negotiation.

Finally, Have the Car Checked Out

Most car sellers will allow your mechanic time to inspect the car, if not, find another car. It's worth a hundred dollars or so to have the car checked over for any maintenance issues. It may be the sellers themselves were unaware of problems under the hood, and don't forget these new found problems should be used to reopen negotiations.

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