How to plan for buying a new car

Buying a new car is not a decision to be taken lightly. Choosing your next vehicle is absolutely paramount due to the price tag attached to the purchase. It’s the most important investment you will make – second to buying a home – and since a car loses value every year, it’s important to make the right decision.

This is especially the case if you want to avoid having to change the model in two or three years. A new car loses the largest percentage of its value during the first 36 months. The depreciation is strongest at this point and therefore, selling your car within this period is not recommended. When buying a new car, think of your long-term needs, and avoid buying a model that may be suitable for your lifestyle today, but not in the future.

“When a customer enters the dealership, the primary job of our sales team is to help them to understand their present and future needs so that they can make the best choice” says a sales representative at Georgetown Volkswagen.

The subject of this article is geared mostly towards young buyers and families. If you find yourself in either one of these groups, it’s important to consider how your life will change in the coming years when buying a car. You will then be in a better position to make a choice that will suit your needs as your life enters a transition period.

For young families, it’s important to think about how your family will grow in the coming months and years. If you already have children, you understand the need for space as they grow, whereas if you are expecting your first child, you may not realize at what point space is necessary, for strollers and bags, for exemple.

Even parents with older children need to understand that, when their children reach adolescence, they will without a doubt grow quite rapidly, and as a result need more space. Either way, a sport utility vehicle, a midsize sedan or minivan is likely to be the more logical choice.

It is still an important subject to consider even if, on the other hand, you don’t intend to start a family in the coming years as your financial situation may change, for the better or the worst. Young graduates and entrepreneurs are two groups in particular who must assess how their finances will vary over the next two, three or even four years.

In addition, interior space and the equipment included in your vehicle are the main elements that will make you either appreciate the car, or dislike it. One cannot predict the future, but in considering how your life will alter in the coming years, while making sure to buy a car that fits your new reality, you can then avoid changing vehicles too soon.