The First thing you need to do is to pick the Right Car and pick the model for you.
There are a number of things to be considered in this step.
Gas Mileage
Your monthly costs for operating your car are mostly based on the cost of Gas.
How far you need to drive and the mileage of the vehicle allows you to easily come up with a rough cost.
If you Drive 10 miles each way to work then its 600 miles per month for work.
If you are wanting to buy a big truck and it has only 5 miles per gallon mileage then you are going to burn 120 gallons just for work.
You will likely burn an equal amount for all other drving.
Now you can calculate the cost.
240 gallons are lets say $4.00 per gallon means you gas bill will be about $960.00 per month.
Wow.
If instead you vehicle has better gas mileage it can have a significant impact.
Lets say you want a small car with mileage more like 15 gallons per mile.
Instead of 120 gallons for work you would burn 40 gallons.
Instead of 240 gallons per month you would use 80 gallons.
At the same gas cost your cost would be $320 per month.
That a savings of $640 each and every month.
You will save over $7000 a year just of gas savings.
Vehicle Size
The second biggest requirement people have in their car is its size.
Not the outside size unless you have a garage to fit into.
Rather the inside size.
How many people do you need to normally fit into the car ?
Do you need a baby seat ?
How does it install in this car ?
How safe is it for your children ?
How much trunk and storage space do you have ?
How much stuff do you normally carry ?
Pick the Manufacturer
If you have certain brands you do or don’t want then add or eliminate those right away.
If you love Honda then find the different models that work for you
If you only buy North American Cars then choose from that grouping.
Find at least 2 Models
Never just pick one model that you want.
While you absolutely will have a preferred model its also important to have at least one option.
This is both for you and for price negotiating.
Pick 2 models and they definitely can be different brands.
Cross compare the pro’s and Con’s of both.
You need this to be sure both would work for you.
Also you need it when you start negotiating prices with Private owners or car Salesmen.
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