Thinking of Buying Your First Car? Here's Everything You Need to Know

Driving solo on public roads for the first time can be a daunting prospect. If you don’t have the right vehicle, then the challenges might be even more considerable. Ideally, new drivers should consider a vehicle that’s maneuverable, cheap to run, and (perhaps most importantly) safe.

Let’s take a look at a few essential steps toward driving your perfect first car.

Setting Your Budget

To begin with, you’ll need to work out exactly how much you have to spend. Your budget should cover not just the up-front asking price, but also the ongoing costs of the vehicle. These ongoing costs will include insurance, tax, fuel, and maintenance. Since new drivers will confer more risk to insurers, they’ll also need to pay much higher insurance premiums. Keeping the premiums down is often a matter of selecting the right vehicle.

Choosing Between New and Used Cars

When you buy a new car, you’ll be able to customise it to fit your particular needs and budget. On the other hand, you’ll have to pay for depreciation, which could see most of the vehicle’s value wiped out within a matter of years.

As such, most new drivers will look for used cars. They tend to represent better value. Having said that, you’ll still want to work out whether the vehicle is worth the money, which often means doing some basic research. Perform an MOT history check, and check to see whether there have been any patterns of failure or neglect.

Evaluating Running and Maintenance Costs

Most of the cost of your new vehicle will be made up by the ongoing expenses we’ve already mentioned. As such, you should consider these carefully. Often, it’s the cost of repairs that can be most significant – and difficult to predict. Fortunately, there’s a great deal of information that might help to steer your decision. You might look at the results of reliability surveys, which reveal certain models to be worth avoiding. Look also at the cost of spare parts. The more obscure your chosen vehicle, generally speaking, the more expensive it will be to repair and maintain.

Understanding Financing and Ownership Options

Buying a car outright is an option, especially if you have parents who are willing to help you pay for it. However, there are other ways of financing a purchase. You might look at hire purchase agreements, which see you rent a car with a view to ultimately buying it. Or, you might look at leasing. Each option will confer costs – but you might find that the best option is the more flexible one, which will grant you the freedom to move to a different car once you have clocked up a few miles on the road.