Car Buying Guide: How To Get Peace Of Mind

October 28, 2018

If you're reading this, I'm earning money. Thanks for helping to feed my family. Please see our disclosure for more information. Also, any advice provided is for informational purposes only. I'm not a CPA, lawyer, or doctor, although my parents wanted me to be all three. So, talk to a professional before acting on anything you read below.

Are you in the car buying process?

It can be quite exciting and daunting at the same time. In this contributed post, we discuss how to save money when buying a car and doing so the right way.

*******

Nowadays, cars are a natural extension of your professional and social life.

Whether you need it to get to town and meet up with friends or to commute to work.

As a direct consequence, car buying has become the kind of things most people don’t think about.

Indeed, the question is not anymore about whether to buy a vehicle or not. You have no choice; you need a car to function.

The question has taken a financial form, namely how to afford the vehicle you need.

Car buying: An introduction

Cars, as it happens, come at a high cost.

For vehicles that are driven up to 15,000 miles a year, the ownership costs averaged up to around $8,500 in 2017.

Additionally, you also need to add to the estimation the come of buying the car in the first place.

When the vehicle is involved in an accident, you also need to budget for medical and insurance expenses.

In other words, a vehicle is a significant investment that constantly drains your budget. But, you can set your mind to reducing the impact a car has on your budget without affecting your lifestyle.

Are your rights protected?

The worst thing that can happen is to be involved in a car collision.

A car accident can put devastating pressure on your finances and affects your overall lifestyle.

Indeed, even the most careful drivers are at the mercy of reckless or less proactive motorists on the road. A driver who isn’t insured, for instance, can not only damage your vehicle but also leave you with a serious dent in your budget if you need to cater for all the expenses.

You can choose to take an extra on your cover to gain protection against non-insured drivers, but that might not be enough to recover your costs.

A professional car accident attorney is your best ally when you need someone to defend your rights and financial situation. An accident, especially medical consequences, can throw your budget off.

Make it pay for its own costs

The simple fact of owning and driving a vehicle is expensive when you take into account the costs of fuel, insurance, maintenance, servicing, parking, etc.

And while most costs are unavoidable – as long as you own and drive the vehicle – there’s no reason why you couldn’t use the car to recover some of these.

If you happen to be on the road often, why not use an app like Uber to offer taxi services as you drive?

You can make a decent side hustle on busy weekends!

If your day-to-day work finishes early, you could consider offering your services as a delivery driver to your local restaurants and takeaways in the evening.

Are you incurring high maintenance costs?

Last, but not least, who says car says maintenance costs.

You can’t afford to ignore maintenance requirements. But you can save tons of money by doing most of the repairs.

With video tutorials, some essential tools, and a bit of DIY magic, you could replace your battery, your brake pads, and your air filter in an afternoon for just the cost of the parts.