Tips on How to Buy a Car

Shopping for a car is very exciting and we all love that! Browsing through listings, test driving, watching videos and reading reviews are just a few of the countless things we do to find the perfect dream car.

However, there is a lot more that needs to be done to be ready to purchase a vehicle. Here are a few tips that will help your car hunt!

1. Get Preapproved

Financing a car is a lot like buying a house. You might be ready to put your offer but if you are not pre-approved you might lose it to somebody else who has done his or her homework. A pre-approval certifies that you actually have the funds to complete the transaction. 

Nobody will put the car off the market unless you have a cash offer or a pre-approved financing.

2. Shop for the best financing option

Don’t settle for the first financing offer. Different banks and credit unions will offer you different rates. It is important to actually shop around and find the rate that best fits your needs. This is also going to help you determine what budget you can work with.

Since a lot of your financing depends on your credit, you might find out that working on your credit might actually give you a bigger budget to work with. 

Always try to get your own financing as it is almost certainly better than what dealerships would offer. Dealership rates are often higher than what you would get at your own bank.

3. Get an estimate of your car if you are planning to trade-in

You want to know what your trade-in is worth before actually buying a vehicle. You don’t want to be low-balled on that. Dealers might try to make up for any discount by increasing your rate or offering a low amount for your trade-in.

The dealer wants to make a sale almost as badly as you might be excited about your new car. With that in mind, don’t give in and request an amount for your trade-in that is in line with what it is actually worth.

Nowadays, a lot of online services will give you an estimate for free. Get a few of them to use as a bargaining chip.

4. You can shop additional car coverage somewhere else at a lower price

When it comes to protecting your vehicle, you can think of it the same as the financing. You can buy all of that at the dealer, but it will cost you a few extra bucks. Shopping for these warranties somewhere else will cost less for the same result.

For instance, they might be offering a great emergency roadside assistance plan. However, how many times would you really need that? You might be better off using an on-demand service, saving yourself from a monthly recurring cost.

Or they might be offering an extended warranty. You can buy it later on right before the standard warranty expires. 

Keep your initial costs as low as possible and shop for the extra bells and whistles somewhere else!

5. Figure out whether to buy or lease

Should you not be needing to drive many miles per day, leasing a car might actually be a better option. It will cost less per month and you won’t have much of an headache when it comes to changing vehicles! 

Selling a car could be quite a process and take a bit of your time. However, leasing will be as easy as it gets, as long as you don’t go over your assigned miles. That might actually be quite expensive!

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