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It’s always a stressful time when your car decides to stop working. After all, you need a good set of wheels to take your family from A to B. Therefore, if the garage does say your car has no hope, you need to look for a new car. However, with the average car costing thousands of dollars, it can leave your family short. Therefore, here are some tips to ensure you can get a new family car without having to splash the cash.
Always research prices before making an offer
To ensure you don’t spend too much on the vehicle, you need to make sure you do plenty of research before choosing a car at the dealership. After all, they might have hiked up their prices which mean you might spend more than you have to on the vehicle. Therefore, look online to make sure you are getting a good deal on the car. And although there are some advantages to buying a car from a garage, it’s sometimes worth looking at buying a car from a private seller. After all, you might get it for much cheaper as they want to get rid of it quickly. Just make sure you inspect the car properly before handing over the money!
Don’t buy it brand new
A lot of people opt for buying a brand new car. After all, it will have new parts that have never been used. However, to save your family a fortune, you should consider buying a second-hand car. Even if it’s only a couple of years old, you could end up saving thousands of dollars. And if it’s got a low mileage, it’s barely been used much, so it’s as good as new. Just make sure you check it over so that you are not buying something which will fall apart in years to come!
Look into finance and loan options
For a lot of families, handing over $20,000 is a no-go. After all, it’s a lot of money that not a lot of families have hanging around. For one thing, dealerships can arrange a finance option for you. That way, you can pay back the car on a monthly basis. Or you could even look into getting a loan such as loans for homeowners. These will take you humble abode into account, so you are more likely to get a substantial loan to pay out for the new car!
Don’t opt in for extras
A lot of people choose a car then are left staggered by the bill. And it’s often down to all the extras that the dealers put in. For example, they might try to persuade you to go for a built-in sat nav or rear parking sensors! Before you agree to these expensive extras, you need to think about what you really need. After all, if it’s a car for short journeys, you won’t need a sat nav! And make sure you have a good idea of your budget before you go to the dealers. That way, you won’t end up spending more than you want to on the new set of wheels.
And to help you stretch to a new set of wheels, you will need to make some cutbacks on the family spending. You can read our previous blog for advice on stretching the family budget.
