Buying your first car
by Tom Callow
Owning and running a car has become an expensive business, thanks mainly to tax and high petrol prices. For first-car buyers, the damage to their wallets is often a lot worse, principally because their budgets aren’t usually as big and insurance premiums can be colossal. However, it is possible to buy and run a car relatively cheaply, providing you know what to look out for.
Through my own experience of purchasing and running my first car (a VW Polo), I’ve tried to reduce some of the costs involved, such as servicing and insurance, without resorting to buying a complete banger that would fail its next MoT.
This guide has been put together to give prospective first-car buyers an idea of what cars they might consider buying. Detailed for each car are factors that are likely to govern your decision, including prices, a typical insurance premium, performance, fuel economy and safety. The choice is yours…
Considerations
If you’re aiming to buy and run your first car cheaply, it’s important to bear in mind a few major considerations.
Price is probably the first thing you’re going to think about, before even looking for a car. In this group, the cheapest cars tend to be the oldest, but this isn’t always the case, so make sure you look at a range of cars of different ages.
The most likely first-car buyers will be young people, and motor insurance companies don’t find this an attractive trait. Although it’s not always possible, insuring yourself as the car’s named, rather than main driver for example, can lead to a huge reduction in the premium.
Running and servicing costs can vary markedly from one company to another, so be aware of this when you buy the car, especially if you intend to service the car through an authorized dealer. However, you can lower this cost by servicing the car yourself or through a local garage.
Safety is becoming increasingly important to many people and although many older, used small cars lack common equipment found on most new cars, such as ABS, buying a car with an airbag or two for example, should be within the reach of many budgets.
The future used value of the car and depreciation may also be of interest to you, particularly if you don’t intend to hold on to the car for that long.
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