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Questions to Ask When Buying a Car

Jun 2, 2015

Buying a car is a major investment. For most people, it is second only to their home in terms of expense. With that in mind, it is vital to choose the vehicle that is right for you. And while choosing a new vehicle can seem daunting, you can make this process easier by asking yourself a few simple questions.

The biggest question to ask yourself is: “What will I use this vehicle for?” If you are looking for a commuter vehicle, you will probably want a fuel-efficient sedan or hatchback with plenty of legroom. If you need lots of hauling and towing capability, a pickup is the way to go. Taking stock of your requirements for a vehicle will start to narrow down to list of possible candidates.

Two important (and related) questions to ask yourself are: “How much do I drive in a year?” and “How often do I trade cars?” If you tend to trade in cars every couple years and drive less than 15,000 miles per year, you may want to consider leasing your next vehicle rather than purchasing. Under a lease agreement, you pay to use a car for a certain period of time (generally 24 or 36 months) rather than paying to own the car. As a result, lease payments are lower than the payments would be to buy a vehicle outright. Determining whether to buy a new or used car or to lease a new car and the monthly payments of each option will let you know what kind of budget you are working with.

Having determined the class of vehicle (mid-size sedan, full-size pickup, compact pickup, etc.) you are looking for and what your monthly budget is, you can begin to ask yourself about the features that are most important to you. Do you want an all-wheel drive vehicle, or does two-wheel drive work for you? Do you want amenities like heated leather seats and a power moonroof, or are you perfectly happy with a cloth interior? Do you want technology like navigation, hands-free calling, satellite radio, and back-up camera?

By following the steps above, you will narrow down your choices to only a handful of vehicles. From there, you can do a little bit of independent research and find out how these vehicles fared in safety tests and product reviews like Consumer Reports. So remember that it’s easy to pick the right car by asking the right questions.