Deciding What Type of Car to Buy
Choosing what type of car you want is often the most fun part of buying a new vehicle. However, it's important to be able to draw the distinction between what you want and what you need, as they can be two very different things. For example, it's all very well hankering after a sporty little two-seater, but if you need to be able to ferry the kids to school, then you will probably have to settle for something a little more practical.
What Do You Need?
So before you get too seduced by glossy car brochures, take a look at the following tips to help you pick the car that will fulfil all your requirements and that will maximise its potential resale value.
Price and Cost
When looking at how much you can afford, don't just look at the purchase price of the car; you should also look at how much it will cost to fuel, tax and insure. It's also worth finding out the level of depreciation for that car, particularly if you're planning to sell within a few years.
Fuel
What sort of fuel do you need? Although diesel engines are more frugal than petrol ones, they are more expensive to produce and so you will have to pay a premium for them. You will usually have to cover tens of thousands of miles before you get that premium back, so if you don't drive very far, or are buying an economical city car or supermini, then a diesel may simply not be worth your while. However, having a diesel engine often improves a car's resale value, so you will need to look at the difference in fuel economy, how many miles a year you typically drive and how long you'll keep the car before making a choice between petrol and diesel.
Size and Shape
What sort of size and shape car do you want? Two, three, four or five door? Saloon, coupé, sports, estate, roadster, SUV (sports utility vehicle) or MPV (multi-purpose vehicle)? Will it fit into your garage?
Space
What do you need the car for? How much passenger space (if any) do you need? How much luggage space?
Gearbox Type
Do you want an automatic or a manual gearbox? If you spend a long time sitting in traffic, then it could be worth thinking about buying an auto. However, it's important to remember that cars with an automatic gearbox use more fuel than an equivalent manual.
Colour
Think about what colour you want, but try choose one that won't go out of fashion. Black, red and silver cars hold their resale value well, whilst bright colours such as yellow or orange aren't usually such a good idea.
Do Your Research
Read up about the types of car you're thinking of buying as much as possible. There are a wide range of paper and online publications to choose from; try to look through as many as possible to get the broadest range of views and opinions. However, never buy a car purely on the strength of what you read about it; the reviewers may have quite a different opinion to you about what they like and dislike about a car. Simply read the reports to get a feel for how well regarded your list of cars are.
Take a Test Drive
Once you have narrowed down your list of potential cars, go to the dealers and arrange to have a test drive before committing to a purchase. You may also want to try out different cars within a particular model range so that you can compare different levels of equipment and trim; for example, a standard 1.1 hatchback will provide quite a different driving experience to a 1.6 16v Sport hatchback in the same model range. You can find out more about taking a car for a test drive here.
