Essential Questions to Ask When Buying Your First Car
Your first car is not a personality. It's a box that has to start on a cold morning, stop when you need it to, and not cost more to insure than it cost to buy. Everything else is somebody selling you something.
I teach people to drive, not to buy cars, but I've watched enough newly qualified drivers get stung that I'll say this much. Ask these before you fall in love with anything.
What's the real budget
Not the sticker price. The sticker price plus insurance, plus tax, plus the first service, plus the tyres it'll need in six months. A newly qualified driver's insurance can cost more than the car. Get an insurance quote on the exact car before you buy it, not after. This is the single most skipped step and the most expensive one.
New or used
For a first car, used, almost always. A new car loses a chunk of its value the moment you drive it off, and you're statistically more likely to put a mark on your first car than your fifth. Let someone else take the depreciation hit. Buy something a few years old, sound, and boring.
What's its history
Check it. Previous owners, mileage that matches the wear, whether it was ever written off, whether there's finance still owing on it. A cheap history check is the best money you'll spend in the whole process. People skip it to save the price of a pint and inherit somebody else's crash.
Drive it cold, from a dead start, so you hear it wake up. Listen at low speed for knocks. Brake firmly once, safely, and feel whether it pulls to one side. If the seller won't let you drive it properly, that is the answer to whether you should buy it.
Running costs and the boring numbers
Fuel economy, tax band, the cost of common parts. A car that's cheap to buy and dear to run is not cheap. And an automatic is often a touch dearer to buy and service, so factor that in if that's the way you learned and the way you'll drive.
Warranties and the small print
From a dealer, know exactly what's covered and for how long. Private sale, you've far less comeback, so the history check and the test drive carry the whole weight. Get any promise in writing. "Sure it's grand" is not a warranty.
Buy the boring, sound, well-checked yoke. The exciting one is a story you tell at the roadside waiting for recovery.