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So, you’re looking for your first car to buy!  Congratulations! There are so many things to consider and research before you make the right decision.  As someone who’s gone through the same thing and as someone who has been in the automotive industry for the last 7 or so years I will try to help anyone who wants to listen.

When you’re buying your first car, you’re probably in your teens or early 20s and can make irrational decisions easily like I did!  I want to help as many people as I can so they can possibly avoid some mistakes.

The very first thing you have to do is listen to everyone’s suggestions, but at the end of the day you are the one who will be making the final decision because it is your car and your money (unless family is heavily involved)!

Main things to consider

Insurance

Some teens pay a few hundred every month for insurance so you have to make sure you can afford the car payment (if you’re paying a car note) and the insurance payment on top of maintenance and fuel.  If you have older siblings or parents willing to sign with you or for you that will be the best way to make sure you don’t overpay for insurance.  If you happen to need your own policy, please shop multiple companies as they will surely differ in price.  Don’t lie on your quote application because they will pull your driving history report through a service called LexisNexis.  Shop for the cars you’re actually interested in buying.

This is not attainable for everyone, but I highly suggest saving up and paying in full for a 6 month policy which will save you some money for paying upfront and you don’t have to worry about paying for this monthly.  Insurance will be cheaper if you’re buying your car cash since you don’t need a premium policy (I still recommend getting it since it’s your first car and you’re learning, but totally up to you to decide to go with limited liability which can be half the price or less).

If you’re planning to finance

If you’re looking to get a new or newer car as your first car and looking to take out a loan you need to understand a few things.  It’s not as easy as just going to a dealership and buying the car you like (it can be, but most likely won’t be that easy).  Potential things you might run into when trying to finance a car are things like having a cosigner and someone to help you make the right decision so you don’t get pushed into something you don’t understand like leasing.  In many situations leasing is suggested by the salesperson because it might be an easier  way to get to your budget, but it might not be the better decision for you.

Before anything, you have to answer these questions for yourself.

Is anyone going to help you financially (maybe with a down payment or a monthly allowance)?  If you need  financing and don’t have credit, do you have someone willing to cosign with you?  If you’re the only one on the paperwork you also need to do your research on insurance because as far as I am aware in most states you cannot be on your parents policy if they’re not on the paperwork for the car so make sure you find that out.

Okay so now you know where you stand financially and you came up with a budget.  This is great!  So you can start looking into what you can afford.  There are many things to consider when choosing your first car especially when you plan to take a loan for 4-5yrs give or take.

Make a list of what’s important to you.

If you’re planning to pay cash

If you’re planning to pay cash, most likely you will be looking at older cars maybe on facebook marketplace or craigslist.  You have to be very careful because you don’t know if the person you meet will be honest or not.  Some states can protect you if the seller does not make you sign a document saying the vehicle is sold “as is”.  If you buy privately you have to make sure the title is clear and able to be registered for road use.  If the title has any signatures on it, most likely the DMV will void it and you might end up with a car that you cannot register.  This happened to me as well.  There is not much you can do besides try to return the car (good luck) or sue the person (again good luck).  This might be common sense, but make sure all the paperwork has matching VINs as well as the car itself and the engine.  If the VIN on the engine does not match, ask why.  If you’re looking to buy cash with a private party, just make sure you learn as much as possible about the vehicle and its history.  Oftentimes you can call a local dealership and ask them to run a CarFax for you and help you inspect the vehicle for a fee (some dealers will do this some won’t, but you can find a mechanic that is willing to do it).  I would personally stick with well known brands like Toyota and Honda to lower the risk of getting a bad car.  Another thing to consider is getting the car back home.  A lot of states do not allow temporary insurance or tags so you will have to tow the car back home and wait until you register it unless the seller is willing to keep it until you get your registration.

What to look for

This is personal, but concentrate on needs first then wants.  For example, do you NEED a sunroof?  No, that’s not really a need.  Do you need a backup camera?  Yes, it’s helpful (any vehicle from 2018 and on will have a backup camera because that is a federal law).  Make sure you don’t get into a car you don’t understand.  Example, don’t get an electric car if you’re not familiar with how they work and how/where to charge it.

Safety is important so I’d make sure to watch some crash videos or look at their safety ratings.

For me, I NEED brighter headlights like LED or HID because regular halogen lights strain my eyes way too much.  I also need to have apple carplay/android auto because I use waze all the time.  I can’t get super comfortable in certain seats so that’s important for me.  If you have a large family or a lot of friends, you need to make sure they can be comfortable in the car so check out the passenger seats.  This is a small thing, but the steering wheel has to be very comfortable and it has to have an armrest that’s big enough to actually rest your arm there (I had a Subaru and it had a very small armrest which was super annoying).  It’s okay to be nitpicky because you might be driving this car every day for the next few months or few years!  If you share your car often, you might want to look into something that offers memory seats so you don’t have to keep adjusting your seats every time another person drives the car.  

Commute and driving habits

If you live and drive near or in a city with a lot of traffic you might want to consider getting a car that has some features to make your life easier such as: adaptive cruise; brake hold; auto start stop; possibly a hybrid car would be ideal.

If you drive on large roads with higher speed limits then you definitely want to make sure to get a car that can be steady and easy to drive on the highway.  If you have a smaller car with less power, it can get very annoying and you constantly have to adjust your steering wheel because your car keeps being pushed around by wind and speed.

If you love to drive or have to drive a lot, then you should consider reliability, maintenance(some manufacturers offer free maintenance for a certain amount of time when you buy new or certified), and fuel costs.  I made a big mistake with this.

If you drive on roads that are not well maintained and have a lot of potholes then you might want to consider getting a car with smaller diameter rims so they don’t get bent or cracked.  Speaking of wheels, if you do get a car with nice wheels you might want to consider getting tire and wheel protection.

What to know when looking online

Price advertised might have some nuances such as “$1,000 trade allowance included in price”.  So pay attention to the fine print.

Price advertised does not include fees which can rack up depending on your state.  For example let’s say you’re looking at a car that’s advertised at $20k online which happens to be your budget.  However, if you live in a state that charges sales tax then you’re looking at upwards of $2,500 extra on top of the selling price plus insurance and maybe any type of warranty you might be interested in buying!

If you’re looking at new cars, consider a certified pre-owned one because depending on the mileage it will offer a much longer and better warranty at a lower cost than a new car.

When buying a pre-owned one, always ask for a CarFax or AutoCheck to see the history of the vehicle.  Although they are not 100% accurate, they are a great tool to see the history of the vehicle.

Finally, test drive!

Make sure to NEVER buy a car without test driving it first unless it’s a brand new one and you have already test driven the same model with similar features.  Test drives are extremely important because seeing what you like on paper is one thing, but it could be completely different in real life.  Specifically with pre-owned cars.  What if you buy a car online and when it arrives at your house it does not look as good as it did online?!  Or what if it stinks inside like smoke or other unpleasant odors?!

Once you test drive and find the car you love, now you’re ready to do the paperwork!

What to know when you’re signing up at the dealership

Just be smart and take a look at the paperwork you’re signing.  A lot of times you will spend hours at the dealership and will be too tired, hangry, annoyed, and excited at the same time so you will want to just sign and leave.  But please make sure to review everything on the paperwork so you don’t end up with things you don’t want.  Unfortunately there are dealerships who are sketchy and will make you sign agreements you don’t understand.  If you’re having trouble understanding the numbers just do a quick simple math like multiply the monthly payment by the amount of months you’re financing and add any down payments you might have made.  If the number is absurdly high then you have to ask why.  For example if you’re buying a car that costs $20k out the door and financing all of it at 60 months with a 10% interest rate, your payments will be $425 plus anything you add on in the business office.  The total comes out to $25,500 with the interest charge keeping the loan until maturity.  If your payment is $600 then your total is $36,000 for a car that is only $20k.  So there is a problem there.  There are many tools online that can help you like car payment calculators.

Another thing to keep in mind is to make sure to get everything in writing if you made a verbal agreement to take care of something.  For example, if there was a paint chip and they said they would either fix it or get you a free touch up paint kit make sure you get that in writing otherwise they can just ignore you.  That goes for other things such as making a second key, adding floor mats, touching up the wheels, and so on.  Anything that was promised must be in writing with signatures or it does not mean anything.

I hope this helps someone out there!