How To Buy A Car >

How to quickly decide what car you want by asking yourself 10 simple questions

There are two things you need to know about when you buy a car.

1.      Cars. You need some knowledge about cars.

2.      You. The two important things to bear in mind are – as I mentioned in my opening letter - the car you buy must suit your lifestyle and must be one you can afford. If one of these forces an early change you’ll suffer the hidden horror of car depreciation.

You have to be clear about what you want. Here are 10 simple but very revealing questions. They are so simple you may think, ‘I knew that.’ You’d have the benefit of hindsight. You might like to first write your own questions without peeking at mine.

Here goes – answers in writing please.

1. What is your present car? In other words – make, model, body, trim level, engine type and size, transmission. For example a Vauxhall Corsa 3-door Club 1.3 diesel 5-speed manual.
    
2. What do you like about your car? Later, I’ll give you a memory strategy to help you with this.
    
3. What is your present car’s size and style? Is it a sedan/saloon, hatchback, estate, MPV, SUV, coupe or convertible and how many doors does it have?
    
4. Features. We’ll look at a car's fundamental features. For now you might like to list the features you think are important.
    
5. What do you use your car for? – Commuting, ferrying children, weekends only, evenings out.
    
6. Who will drive the car? Who might drive it in the future? You might think about car insurance.
    
7. What do you intend to carry in terms of people, luggage, hobbies and maintenance of your lifestyle, this year, next year, the year after and for how many years you intend to keep the car?
    
8. What type of motoring do you do? – town, country, motorway?
    
9. What’s your average annual mileage today and in the future years? This brings to mind fuel consumption.
    
10. Having answered the above questions what sticks out as being the most important to you?

Not only will this help you understand your present car, it will bring to mind the need for change and improvement.

Why answer these questions in writing? Because you can juggle thoughts around in your mind as you like. When you put your thoughts in writing on paper they become something ‘outside yourself.’ We are very judgemental about things outside ourselves – it’s one reason some find writing difficult. When you see your answers on paper you immediately begin to judge for yourself whether your ideas are true and useful.

A car buying mistake will cost you thousands of pounds.

Regards
Ralph

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