Buying a car could be as simple as going to a dealer’s car-lot, selecting the car of your choice, negotiating and finally paying the agreed amount before zooming off with your newest acquisition. However, buying the ‘right’ car is never easy, especially for a first time car buyer. The interesting thing about purchasing a car is exploring boundless liberty in selecting and also having to deal with limitations imposed by several factors like pricing, market preferences and season.

On the other hand, several rational and irrational considerations cloud people’s judgement when it comes to the kinds of cars they buy. Top of the list here in Nigeria is the need to drive the popular car without any well grounded reason other than the aforementioned or maybe ‘safety in numbers’and this accounts for our lopsided pricing system.

I have managed to distinguish just buying a car from buying the ‘right’ car and I will go further to elaborate on the key considerations in making the ‘right’ buy. The underlying aim of this article is to guard against[b] poor financial decisions when it comes to buying a car.[/b]

Consider the 1/10th rule: this rule which is however based on ideal terms was created by ‘the financial samurai’ to serve as an ultimate guide for car purchasing decisions. This rule simply urges spending only 10% of your annual gross income on your car! This means that if your annual salary before tax is #4m naira for instance, you should purchase a #400k vehicle. The reasons behind this line of argument are the reoccurring maintenance and running cost, opportunity cost (using the money for something else at the time of purchase), mental stress associated with parting ways with large sums and psychological reasons like wanting more car accessories and ‘feeling stupid’. The exception to this rule however is when you save over a period (2 years and above) to buy the car of your choice. For instance being patient enough to buy a brand new car will guarantee lower maintenance cost and relatively higher re-sale value.

Evaluate the cost of not owning a car: the cost of not owning a car is the cumulative cost of little considerations like frequency of laundry, stress/convenience (which has several health implications), road/commuting conditions, how much you spend on public transport and taxis etc. If the cost of not owning a car is way below the regular running cost of owning a car, then you know you could wait just a little more time before committing funds into procuring a car. Asides helping you decide when to buy a car; this will equally help in choosing the right vehicle when you decide to buy.

Your needs vs. manufacturer’s intended application: Imagine a single lady driving a Nissan Armanda with full-time 4WD? Without a doubt, if she spent less on a crossover SUV, that will guarantee more savings, lower running cost and eventually more fancy bags and shoes to stuff all around the car. The unavoidable truth here is that if your core motoring needs don’t align with the manufacturer’s intended application of your car, you are bound to incur extra expenses in running your car in comparison with other car users that buy cars that meet their core needs.

Individual flaws vs. key running requirements: whenever I am asked to suggest a car for an individual, I first try to find out the individual’s budget and then go further in considering the individual. Some of us might be very forgetful, maybe more careless than usual and even in some cases very greedy. Before spending a dime on an automobile, you should be very truthful to yourself and don’t try fooling everyone, because you know yourself more than anyone else. As observed overtime, most cases of poor maintenance attitudes are not connected one’s financial status. Even though it might seem difficult to isolate one’s finances from their willingness to spend, it won’t be wrong to say that the value people place on cars affects their perception about cars. Some might see a car as their haven which they depend on to safely commute from one spot to the other, while others might see cars as a fuel consuming and pocket unfriendly machine. Bottom-line, first consider your personality, willingness to spend and personal flaws before buying a car.

In conclusion, a more detailed approach in purchasing the right car best suited for you will begin by first gathering the necessary data about your needs before proceeding to research cars within your budget and requirement range; then you can finally proceed to compare offers and negotiate extensively.
http://autobaseafrica.com/car-money-series-1-buying-the-right-way/

Really helpful is also to compare models online and getting a gist about the current prices like http://www.carmido.com.ng/