How to decide on the proper automotive in your life-style

• Buying a automotive should not be a fast course of. One professional says it is prone to take a month or extra to decide on the only option.
• An individual’s life stage and funds are key to figuring out wants vs. needs when searching for a brand new automotive.

Finding the proper automotive needn’t contain a quest worthy of commemoration in track.

But it most likely shouldn’t be as straightforward as selecting which shirt to put on to your weekly bowling evening both.

After all, shopping for a automotive is usually essentially the most vital monetary dedication for a lot of Americans after their mortgage.

One key consideration is how to decide on the proper automotive in your life-style.

Needs vs. needs

Karl Brauer, govt analyst for iSeeCars.com, has a primary rule for automotive buyers: Consider wants first after which needs. The outcomes, in fact, will differ primarily based on life stage and funds.

Many two-car households have a car for one function and a second car to serve a operate that the primary car doesn’t, reminiscent of a smaller automotive for commuting and an SUV for household wants. But many patrons fall into the entice of considering they’re buying primarily based on their wants after they’re actually searching for what they need, Brauer mentioned.

A brand new Corvette is likely to be your dream automotive, but it surely may not fit your wants as an individual with a household and a good funds. If the cash’s there, nevertheless, which may not be a priority.

“If they’re buying a third car for fun and they have a fairly high budget, then they should choose a car that’s extremely fun and probably worry less about value and how to get the most bang for their buck,” Brauer mentioned, pointing to what he described as an aspirational case relatively than maybe the standard expertise.

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Examples to think about

City dwellers, rural residents, folks with households probably all have particular wants with regards to transportation.

If you reside in a metropolis and commute repeatedly at low speeds and with restricted parking choices, a smaller car, maybe a plug-in hybrid or electrical car, would possibly make a fantastic alternative, Brauer mentioned.

The reverse excessive might need you dwelling in rural Wyoming with a 50-mile commute every strategy to and from work and a have to haul supplies or to make deliveries repeatedly. That state of affairs most likely calls for a bigger car that’s comfy and has ample area in addition to the power to deal with inclement climate and the capability to journey longer distances between refuelings, based on Brauer.

Normal relatively than occasional wants

But be sensible about how usually the necessity for a particular kind of auto arises. Sean Tucker, lead editor for Kelley Blue Book, put it this manner:

“Buy the car you need 50 weeks a year, and rent the car you need two weeks a year,” Tucker said.

The biggest mistake Tucker said he sees people make is thinking they need something for those rare occasions.

“They go, ‘Mom and Dad are visiting for the holidays. I need three rows of seating.’ No you don’t. That’s another $15,000. You can rent a three-row car twice a year and buy something much more reasonable,” he mentioned.

It’s the identical considering that motivates various pickup patrons, those who solely sometimes have to haul one thing.

“You can rent vehicles for more extreme needs,” Tucker mentioned.

Traps to avoid

Brauer said he often hears people describe how they went to a dealership and fell in love with a specific vehicle. Dealers, he said, feed on that.

“Dealers are masters at presenting a car to fall in love with and recognizing when that has happened,” Brauer said.

Car shoppers who are reacting emotionally and not thinking rationally are good targets, especially when a dealer wants to move product out of his showroom to make way for new models.

“When a dealer seems very intent on selling you a specific model or even a specific type of model at their dealership, it may not be because that’s the best car for you. It may be that that’s the best car for them to get you into because it clears the lot of the car they want to clear for some reason,” Brauer said.

Ways to prepare

There should never be a rush when it comes to buying a car, Brauer said.

A month, he said, is a good minimum amount of time before buying for those who are actively researching their potential choices. Two months of more casual consideration might suffice.

Brauer advised potential buyers to start researching online, looking at reviews and pricing and considering which vehicles have the best ratings and preferred features. Have a list of three to four vehicles on the low end or seven to eight on the high end and eventually whittle that down to a few vehicles.

He also suggested a car shopper prepare financing through a bank or credit union before heading to any of the multiple dealerships the shopper plans to visit.

Finally, Brauer likes to remind potential car buyers how much power they have. It’s something many forget.

“You make it clear (to the salesperson), you better treat me right or someone else is getting my tens of thousands of dollars,” Brauer said.

The money that the dealer or salesperson is trying to get you to part with gives you as the car buyer a lot of power in the negotiation, he said.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.