Finance

Planning to Buy a Car This New Year? Keep These 5 Things in Mind

Buy Car Budget Man

In one way or the other, every new year is special. It marks the start of new lives and new ventures for many people. During this festive season, buying properties and vehicles are often at the top of their wish list. You’re in for a treat if you’re also looking forward to buying your dream car this New Year.

During New Year, car dealers give enormous discounts and freebies. Data reports indicate that Domestic Passenger Vehicle sales have seen a rise in sales since February 2018 by 7.77 percent.

However, there are certain things that you keep in mind before you make the final decision, such as:

1. Understand Your Needs

You should understand what kind of car you need before visiting a dealership. You might want to own a powerful-looking SUV or a city-friendly little hatchback. It’s great you know what kind of car you want, but it’s better to be practical. Along with this, make sure that the car that you choose fits into your lifestyle and caters to all your needs just right.

2. Finalize the Budget of the Car

It is nice to aspire for beautiful things in life, be it your dream car. However, it is good to keep a budget in mind whenever you buy a car. You may have your heart set on a Range Rover but do not have enough money to purchase it. Instead, you should look at other cars within your budget.

You should also have an idea of how the payment will be funded – through the car dealer, bank loan, or credit union. Understanding the budget will make things more transparent, and you’ll get to know how much payment you’ll need to buy a car. 

3. Compare Cars Within Your Budget

The car of your choice must fulfill your needs and lifestyle demands all at once. Comparing various car options will narrow down your list to a couple of cars that fit your budget and needs. Consider significant factors such as safety, speed, mileage of the car, comfort, and how in bad weather it handles itself. Just because something’s good for your wallet doesn’t mean you need it. So, select a car wisely before you go ahead and buy it. 

4. Look Out for Car Loan Choices

Although buying a car in cash sounds good, opting for a car loan makes sense as it makes it easier to pay for the car in EMIs. However, you need to first test your eligibility for the loan. Researching for a car loan and its possible EMIs is very important, especially for such a significant purchase during New Year. You should also make sure you look at car loan offers from more than one bank and compare them in terms of interest rates.

5. Check Out Various Car Insurance Policies

Another crucial point while buying a new car is to look out for its safety. While the Indian government has recently changed rules to ensure road safety, you should do your part and get comprehensive car insurance. The most critical reason to get car insurance is to protect yourself from third party liability costs. Other than this, you are liable to pay Rs. 2000 or imprisonment for the first offense for up to 3 months or both if you do not have a valid car insurance policy. There are reputable insurers like Tata AIG that provide comprehensive motor insurance to protect you from loss or damage to your car. They also offer numerous add-ons like they reimburse the medical expenses, cover third party property damage, and so forth to give you and your car additional protection.

Keeping these things in mind will let you make the right financial decision while you plan to buy your dream car. So, make your New Year even more special when you bring home a new car!

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Paul Tomaszewski is a science & tech writer as well as a programmer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of CosmoBC. He has a degree in computer science from John Abbott College, a bachelor's degree in technology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and completed some business and economics classes at Concordia University in Montreal. While in college he was the vice-president of the Astronomy Club. In his spare time he is an amateur astronomer and enjoys reading or watching science-fiction. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

One Comment

  • Tony Payne

    I bought my new car in mid November. My 15 year old diesel saloon was going to cost too much to keep on the road, so I needed a newer one.
    I don’t have any savings, so I would have had to take a loan out to finance a newer car, but in the UK there is currently a government scrappage scheme on older cars, especially diesels, and by getting a new Mazda on a 4 year lease I got £2,000 discount off the car for it being one of last years designs instead of the latest, plus £3,500 scrappage on my old car (which was worth about £500).
    Add in the benefits of better fuel consumption, no servicing costs, and paying virtually no road tax (license fee), I’m better off with a brand new car than a new (to me) second hand one.

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