Purchasing your first car is an important milestone. However, for most first-time buyers, the decision is more or less an emotional buy, and that singular mistake could potentially cost you thousands of dollars over a period of 2-3 years.
The Sticker Price Is The Smallest Number You’ll Deal With
Focus on the windscreen price good salespeople want you to see that number. However, the only one that really counts is the total cost of ownership. Every cent spent on keeping that car on the road and in your driveway for the first 12 months.
You begin with insurance. A sporty-looking used hatchback or a high-powered sedan might be a steal under $8,000 but insurance premiums for younger drivers on sub-250kW vehicles is significantly cheaper. Then you add the L/100km figure times your estimated kays, and you’ll understand in two seconds why a car rated at 7.5L/100km is a lot cheaper to run than a car doing 10L/100 km in a country of varied terrain and extreme climate like Australia.
Fuel. Rego. Six monthly or 12 monthly? Servicing. How often and how much? Tyre cycles. New rubber every two years or five? The Australian Automobile Association’s Transport Affordability Index reveals the average Aussie household tips more than 15% of total income down the drain on total transport costs including loan repayments and fuel.
Safety Rating Matters More Than A Sunroof
Technology in cars attracts customers. People discuss heated seats, wireless charging, and big touchscreens once they arrive home. However, for a first-time car buyer, none of those fancy details hold greater importance than roadside safety. When you are stranded in the middle of the road, everything else becomes secondary.
That’s where ANCAP safety ratings come into play. If a vehicle has a 5-star rating, it means it has passed tough crash tests, and it usually comes equipped with active safety mechanisms to prevent crashes. As an additional fact, minor crashes mostly involve new drivers or learners, which indicates the utmost relevance of this criterion. It is one of those boxes that you must check no matter what.
You can get a car with Bluetooth and reversing cameras. A good safety rating shouldn’t be overlooked for other added features.
Research The Model, Not Just The Make
A brand’s reputation can only take you so far. For reasons sometimes unknown, some model years have specific problems that only become apparent to the poor person who buys one second-hand, such as widespread gearbox failures, cooling system issues, or notoriously fragile timing chains.
We’re not saying all cars from that make or year are lemons, just don’t buy one blind. Before you sign over the cash, look up the year/engine variant on owner’s forums and review sites. You may notice that automatic transmissions from a few certain years tend to scare themselves just after the 100,000km mark. If the car you’re eyeing off is sitting on 85,000km, it’s not a bargain, it’s a countdown.
Also, when comparing prices and availability across different makes and models, checking carsales listings lets you know what similar vehicles are actually selling for right now, and identifies when something is priced suspiciously low. No one’s giving away goods for a cent on the dollar.
Run The Paperwork Before You Test Drive
People often overlook this step and end up getting a bad deal.
A VIN check using the PPSR (Personal Property Securities Register) indicates if there is any financial interest registered against the car, if it’s been reported as written off, and if the details about the car match what the seller has told you. If the car still has money owing and the seller fails to inform you, you could be liable for that debt as the new owner.
Service history is the other detail you want to take a closer look at. A logbook that indicates the car has been regularly serviced with the correct service intervals is a good sign. An unavailable or incomplete logbook, not so much.
When it comes to used cars, a pre-purchase inspection conducted by a mechanic is money well spent. A couple hundred bucks upfront might seem like a lot compared with the thousands you’re going to spend on the car, but it could save you from buying a problem.
Don’t Finance A Car You Can’t Afford To Own
Financing a car makes it so much more expensive than you’d ever imagine. A low weekly repayment sounds totally manageable until you realize you’re also paying for insurance, fuel, and servicing on top of an unexpected repair in month four.
You need to calculate total cost ownership before you do any sort of financing deal. If the interest rate is enormous, which it will be if you’re a young buyer with no credit history, you need to figure out whether a $3000 beater with $20-a-month maintenance costs leaves you ahead of an $8000 model with a big interest rate attached.
Your first car is a financial decision first, a lifestyle/want-second decision. Buy something reliable, safe, and cheap to run now, and you’ll have several thousand dollars extra in the bank to put toward the car you actually want in three or four years.