How to buy a cheap car
Buying a car is never easy,
unless you happen to know someone who’s selling a car that happens to
be just what you’re looking for, and they’re asking a reasonable price
for it.
Usually, though it’s not that
simple.
Many people will never buy
new, and the biggest reason for not doing so is the fact that cars are
one of the fastest depreciating assets on the planet. As soon as you’ve
driven it off the forecourt, you’ve wiped thousands off the value.
So, if you’re going to buy
second-hand where should you start? If you know what kind of car you
want, hone your searches – the internet’s a good place to start – for
that particular make and model. Going to a dealer will give you some
kind of warranty, which can be reassuring if you’re not too familiar
with the mechanics of a car. You can go back to them if there are any
problems. However, dealer prices are more expensive than private
sellers’.
You may be thinking it’s time
to buy one of the hybrid cars consumers are increasingly turning to,
but these are a little harder to come by on the second-hand market as
they are relatively new and people are not trading them in as often as
conventionally fuelled cars.
Pretty much all cars are
producing lower emissions than those manufactured a decade ago, so by
trading up to a more recent model, you’ll be reducing the amount of CO2
emissions that you contribute to the planet. If you can get your hands
on one of the many petrol/electric or diesel/electric that are now
available, you’ll be saving money on fuel costs too, as the hybrids
have small fuel-efficient petrol engines that are assisted by an
electric motor.
If you find a car being sold
by a private seller, then it’s really worth paying an extra £100 or so
to get it professionally checked by a mechanic. This way you’ll get an
impartial opinion of whether the car is worth the price being asked for
it, and a heads-up on any problems that you might not be able to spot
for yourself.
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Our lives begin to end the
day we become silent about things that matter ~~ Martin
Luther King