Saving up to buy a vehicle may take time and paying off a car loan requires a good level of self-discipline; these point straight to the fact that planning is a critical aspect of vehicle ownership. Before the actual purchase of your car, most of your planning activities will revolve around financing or saving up for your eventual purchase; after you buy the car you then begin to concern yourself with vehicle maintenance issues.

However, before you kick-start this vehicle ownership process, it will pay you to be clear about certain considerations which should serve as a guide in your pre/post vehicle planning. These considerations are what we will be discussing. With a heightened emphasis on planning, every prospective vehicle owner or actual vehicle owners must act with the practical awareness of these tips.

Decide whether your car is for ‘keeps’ or to be ‘traded-in’: and if you plan trading your car in(after use), how long do you intend using your car and what is the projected resale value of the vehicle after this period of use? A smarter way to go about this is deciding the number of years you intend using a vehicle based on your local market projections, taking account of the best time (number of years) to sell the car off to get most value for your used car.

Modern cars are hardly built for keeps and cars made by premium luxury brands even require more spending as time goes by, so you have to be smart and clear about the reasons you want/need a vehicle for the long haul.

A car is hardly an investment: however owning a car could be seen as an investment from a personal finance standpoint if owning a car truly offsets your convenient transportation cost. A car is a liability not an asset, as you spend more money in fixing and maintenance even as the vehicle depreciates further. So if there is a slim chance your vehicle will be a classic in the future and you hope to make money off selling it, you should consider parking and not using the vehicle till then.

If you don’t spend little you risk spending more: this even applies to vehicle purchasing because if you don’t spend time and a little money to do your due diligence before choosing which car to buy, there is every likelihood you will face challenges you are not ready or prepared for. An example is not spending a paltry #5,000 in testing a tokunbo #1,200,000 car only to discover a month down the line that your #250,000 gearbox is bad. The list is endless and even trickles down to simple vehicle maintenance activities which should be treated quickly to forestall bigger problems.

The type of mechanic you stick with reflects the type of person you are: the reason baba Mechanic’s shop down the road-type-of-mechanics have become a problem in the Nigerian automobile industry today is because inspite of all their crappy economical suggestions and low-level expertise in fixing cars, they still have returning customers. The mechanic you choose to stick with heavily impacts on vehicle ownership. Some mechanics will literally dissuade you from buying a car you really want simply because it comes with a more complex V6 engine he is still yet to understand how to fix properly.

Simply put, invest time into selecting the right mechanic for your car.

Drive carefully; but not too carefully: I was really surprised when I was speaking with a lady friend who owns a 2004 Audi A4 and she told me that after driving for an extended time-frame within the city, she takes the car out for a spin on the interstate express to ‘open the valves’. But why is this even necessary? City driving can be a potential engine killer! As you face the double risk of sludge formation in your engine or poor lubrication of mating metal engine parts- which eventually leads to heavy internal wear. Engines are more efficient when well heated up (close to its peak operating temperatures) and oil within it circulates properly.

So with this few tips I wish you a blissful vehicle ownership.
http://autobaseafrica.com/5-smart-vehicle-ownership-tips/

Very educative and enlightening no doubt. I guess I've learnt a thing or two from this post!.

Thanks OP.....