When it comes to buying a car, there is a lot that can go wrong. First-time purchasers often have little idea of how much there is to think about, but even more experienced drivers can struggle to cover every base. With so many factors to consider, it’s easy to overlook even the basics, such as how much a new vehicle is likely to cost you.
Luckily for you, we’ve assembled this handy guide to help you…
How Much Will Buying a Car Cost Me?
The answer to this question is incredibly complex, with a thousand different factors that can influence the amount of money that you’ll need to save. The make, model, age, and condition of any vehicles you look at will have a major influence on their value, but this doesn’t have to stop you from gaining a rough idea beforehand.
Some people prefer to save and then look at cars within their budget, whilst others choose to look at the cars they want and then work towards saving roughly this amount. But how do you reach such a total?
It’s actually surprisingly simple. The easiest way to work out how far your money will go is by taking a look at the cars that are available. Online selling sites are a great place to get a ballpark figure, and should give you a rough idea of how much the vehicle that you need will cost you.
What Other Costs Will I Need to Consider?
Of course, buying a vehicle is not the only cost involved in car ownership. There’s a lot more to think about, from fuel consumption to insurance to breakdown cover.
We’ll start with fuel consumption. Different motors will use varying amounts of fuel, but their average consumption should be available and easily locatable online. To work out how much you could expect to spend, simply take this and factor in roughly how many miles you’ll be travelling per week.
Once you have this figure, it’s time to think about insurance. There are lots of comparison sites around to provide you with a ballpark cost for the type of car that you want to purchase, and you should always generate a new and accurate quote before you sign on the dotted line, to make sure that you’re going into the deal with your eyes wide open.
You might also find that it’s a good idea to take out breakdown cover alongside this, although some insurance policies will include this in your overall charge.
Finally, remember to factor in maintenance costs. Although it’s impossible to accurately predict how high these will be, there should be a lot of information online regarding the reliability of various makes and models. More expensive cars will generally cost more to repair, and older vehicles usually require more work than their newer counterparts.
Am I Ready to Buy a Car?
Once you have assembled some ballpark figures, you’ll need to add them all together in order to give you a rough idea of how much owning a vehicle will cost you year on year. The total is likely to be well into the thousands, so you’ll probably need quite a lot of money in your bank to fall back on. However, provided that you’re confident of having the funds to cover it, then all that’s left to do is to go out and find the car of your dreams.
