FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING A NEW CAR

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING A NEW CAR

Gone are the days when a vehicle was a luxury. Every young family or individual would like to buy a car for their day to day activities. Startup companies need a car to help them in their business activities. A school needs a bus to convey the staff and pupils from home to school and vice versa.

No matter your kind of car or model you want, there are things you should consider if you are to buy a car, whether used or new. So, before you walk to the showroom or a local auto dealer, it is best you go through these points so that you will have a fair idea of what you want or need.

Purpose of the vehicle

The first and foremost factor you need to consider is what you are using the car for. Just as you buy new shoes for work, a new bag for travel, you should also have a core purpose for buying that car. For a young family, you might need a car for people of 5 at maximum. Mostly, for work and family outings. In this case you need a car with relatively small engine capacity and a better fuel consumption. So, a car with an engine of 1000 cc to 1400 cc (1.0 litre to 1.4 litre) will be ideal. For the company who needs a vehicle for its workers, they will need bus between 15 to 30 seat capacity depending on the number of workers.  If you are into construction and needs a vehicle for your daily activities, a tough robust pickup vehicle with an engine capacity of 2.5 L to 3.0 will be ideal. So, depending on your intended usage, you should pick the model that suits it. A good salesperson should educate you on this.

Consider your budget

After you have decided what you will use the car for, you now consider your cash. For every specifications of vehicle you will choose, you will have about 2 or more models that fit it. This is where the cash issue comes to play. You have to decide how much you want to spend on the car. If you visit any dealership, you will get two or more models which will fall in the range. Cars which meet a certain specifications will cost differently across various manufacturers. Prices can be also influenced by the brand power of the manufacturer.

Features of the vehicle

Pay peculiar attention to the features of the car. For a young family with little children, you need to make sure the car have features like child antilock and seating for babies. For the building contractor, you need to check for reinforced suspension systems and 4 x 4 abilities of pickup trucks. For whatever use the car is for, there are certain features you need to look out and they must be present. Aside this, you need to check for basic features such as safety, technology level etc.

Technical support

Technical support is every essential factor when deciding on the model or which OEM (Original Engine Manufacturer) to buy from. To every car you buy, MAKE SURE there is a dealership in your locality which will help you when you have technical difficulties or problems.  Some problems can be rectified by freelance mechanics but with orders you need to visit the dealership.

Even if it is not for warranty purposes, you need to make sure your car is given the best kind of maintenance. These may include updates from manufacturer, specific engine problems, transmissions issues etc. There are certain fluids which are recommended for your vehicle and can only be accessed from a dealership.

Cost of spare parts and maintenance

After the purchase of car the next phase is maintenance. For some OEM’s the cost of the vehicle itself is cheaper comparatively but the cost of maintenance is on the higher side and vice versa. As a potential car owner, you need to do thorough research about cost of spare parts and maintenance in total before cashing in on a vehicle.

Compatibility with the terrain

For every model of vehicle manufactured, it is meant for a specific market. They include North America, South America, Asia, Middle East Europe, Africa and the Oceana. The manufacturers consider factors such as road network and quality, development in auto technology, fuel quality, natural environment and legislations governing the industry. For a vehicle meant for Africa, it will come with a robust and reinforced suspension because of the nature of our roads. The fuel filtration system will be doubled because of much dust around us. So, if you end up buying a vehicle meant for Middle East market, you will always be visiting the workshop thinking your car is bad but you made the wrong choice. Most often the business class people will travel to Europe and see a car which suites their interest. They will buy it and bring it Ghana but will not make a due diligence to check if the specifications meet our conditions. They end up parking the car out of frustration.

Resale value

Every new vehicle which runs averagely a kilometer of 100,000 or 3 years is practically out of warranty in Ghana.  Also, every car depreciates 15 to 20 % every year. So, when buying a car, you need to think of how much you will get out of selling it after 3 to 5 years. If you will not get a good resale value from it, then you need to think twice.

To get a good value for money buy, you need to consider these points so that you don’t regret your purchase one day. Every pesewa should be worth it.