Buying your own car can be an exciting experience. If it’s your first car, you might not be looking for anything flashy, but you can still be excited about it! If you’re looking for a car of your own, you want to make sure you’re not paying too much for it, nor do you want to buy something so cheap that it’s going to let you down as soon as you’ve got it. 

There’s a lot that can go wrong, and a lot that can go right. You might find the perfect car, and at the same time you might find a car that’s going to make your life a nightmare until you can get rid of it – unless you know what to look for, you could end up with either.

Look out for used cars

Used cars should be the top of your priorities when you’re looking to save money on a car, especially when it’s your first. Typically, newer cars are much more expensive, and you don’t want inexperience to ruin a flashy new vehicle – that’s going to be very expensive to get repaired. Keep your eyes on the used car market for different options and look out for ones that would be a good fit for you. If you find one that you like in your price range, it’s time to do some research.

You should check on what others have to say about that particular model, and you should also be looking into the history of that particular car, too. It’s good to know about previous damages and current issues the car has; else you’re not really going to know what you’re getting yourself into until you’ve had it for a few days. Small things might not show until you’ve had the car for a while, and by then it’s too late to do anything about it.

Know what you want

Before you buy any car, it’s best to know what it is that you’re looking for in a car. What features do you want it to have? What do you want to do with it? If you have any plans for your car, you would be better off looking for a car that already has these features installed. You might not find one, but if you can you could save yourself some money. Adding these features to your car might not increase its resale value of it, because not everyone is interested in them – so you would be catering to a very small market when it comes time to sell.

For example, if you’re looking to install lowering springs to your car, you should find out if anyone is already selling a car you’re interested in with those installed.

Resale value

While you’re not saving money on the purchase, resale value is definitely something you should be considering if you’re looking to get some money back on your car. You’re likely not going to have your first car forever, and it would be good if when the time comes to buy a new car, you can get a decent chunk of your initial investment back. Find out about the price of your car through the years, and if that price has been steadily decreasing, just know that you’re not likely to make back much money on it once you get rid of it.

Extra work that needs to be done

Buying cheap used cars isn’t always a bad thing, especially if you’re prepared to put in the extra work to get it working as it should be. However, remember that can be quite costly to do. Car repairs are generally quite expensive, especially if you have no mechanical experience yourself. Look into the service costs and find out how much you’re willing to spend on a car before you buy one. You could save money doing it this way, but there’s also a decent chance that you’re wasting your money.

Add all of the costs up

Before you purchase, you want to make sure you’re fully aware of how much the car is going to cost you. There are a lot of additional fees and costs to be covered with car ownership. Not just repairs, but tax, fuel cost, insurance, and possibly even more if you’re looking to have extra done to it. Surprise costs aren’t pleasant, so you’ll want to learn all about how much that model of car would cost you to own before you get too invested.