10 Tips on how to choose a car

NOWADAYS, you can choose a new car the old-fashioned way by walking into a brick-and-mortar dealership and checking out the offerings, or you could click through websites and various fora online. Or you could do a little bit of both. The big question is how do you choose the right car for you? Here’s our Wheels top 10 tips. TIP NO. 1

Know your budget. By all means, keep dreaming about Ferraris, Bentleys, and Paganis. But you can’t buy them with imaginary money, right? So experts advise that whatever car you choose shouldn’t eat into more than 15 percent of your monthly takehome pay. Hey, you have to eat too, right?

TIP NO. 2

Balance want versus need. You’ve been eyeing that cool two-seat sports car, but I wonder how your wife will feel about it, especially when you’ve got a couple of growing kids to take to school. Expectation, meet reality!

TIP NO. 3

Capability vs demand. This ties in to Tip Number 2. You don’t use a fork when you eat soup, right? There’s not much sense in getting a large, gasguzzling daily driver if you hardly leave the city – and you spend most of your time behind the wheel alone caught in EDSA traffic. I suggest you go for frugal and more affordable.

TIP NO. 4

Research, research, research. Know what’s out there. Don’t pull the trigger right away on a car, which is obviously a big-ticket acquisition for most of us. Go online and browse all the reputable resources you can find.

TIP NO. 5

Test drive. While we’re all for online research. Nothing beats browsing vehicles in the sheet metal. Get in the driver’s seat and, well, drive! Enough said.

TIP NO. 6

Calculate for a complete picture. I’m pretty bad at math, so I especially need this. Aside from the acquisition cost, tack on the cost of anticipated PMS or preventive maintenance. Factor in your weekly gas bill as well.

TIP NO. 7

Cheaper doesn’t mean better; neither does more expensive. Wait, does that even help? Of course it does! You may be able to save now on the acquisition cost, but later on endure headaches caused by unreliability or shoddy workmanship – a true risk in some lesser-known brands. Ask yourself too if you’re ready to commit substantial resources on an expensive car. Generally, they also entail expensive PMS work and have costly spare parts.

TIP NO. 8

Open a car account. Aside from making payments on your car loan, allocate budget for your car’s maintenance and needs, such as insurance. Yes, apparently, a car needs gas to run. And it will need TLC as well. Have a piggy bank for unforeseen expenses.

TIP NO. 9

Decide on a price point and stick to it. It’s so easy to go overboard once you get carried away by so-called deals and some good-ol’-fashioned sweet talking.

TIP. NO. 10

Think, think, and think some more. It’s hard to endure buyer’s remorse, so make sure of that decision. Sleep on it, and sleep on it again!

With that… good luck, and try to enjoy the process. Congratulations and drive safe!