How to Choose the Right Car

What is the right car for you? That will depend on what you see as priorities:-

• fuel economy
• safety
• security
• impact on the environment
• physical size
• seating capacity
• price
• depeciation of price
• cost of insurance
• manual or automatic

Ask 100 people to score 1-10 (10 being vital, 1 being not important) against each factor listed above, and you'll get back 100 unique sets of results. We're all different and we all have different requirements. I labour this point because it's easy to get influenced by the opinions of friends and media as to what's the best car for you. And normally such opinions only go by manufacturer or model when they recommend cars. You may have noticed that model and manufacturer are missing from the above list. This is because you should shut this out of your mind when considering cars. It will open your mind to include all manufacturers when you're looking for a car to buy - just by focusing on the above list.

Also Look Out For Local Factors
No matter how individual your preferences, you still need to be aware of local factors when deciding to buy a car. For example, your area may have particularly high insurance rates for particular types of car due to local crime rates. And taking that into account too, you'll need to consider security features of your car too.

Buy For The Long Term
See your new car as a long term purchase. Buying and selling cars frequently is going to hurt your finances considerably. Therefore, check the depreciation rate of your car's price.

Don't Copy Your Friends
A car is a major purchase. Many young people are heavily influenced by their peer groups when it comes to car purchases. This can cause many car owners to make the wrong purchase - saddled with a car that has extortionate insurance rates or has terrible fuel economy. Some of the worst mistakes you can make is to delegate the decision making effectively to your peer group. You have to ignore the peer pressure and go with your own instincts.