Looking out to buy a car in 2013? If your answer’s yes, then you need to begin with the planning/budgeting to ensure that you get your hands on the right car. Whether you’re thinking of Buying a brand new car of your choice or a used one from a dealers like Sport Durst Millennium Automotive Group Pre-owned Cars – you will have to be detailed with your planning. In the following article we discuss a few tips to help you take the right decision when buying a car that lives up to your expectations…

#1: Know Your Budget

The first and foremost step is to determine your budget. In order to stop your auto costs from going overboard, plan out to spend not more than 20% to 25% on car related costs from your (monthly) household income. This 20 percent should cover all the vehicles in your household and include every cost that’s associated with your vehicle, such as maintenance, repairs, car payment and auto insurance.

#2: Understand the Ownership Costs

You might have a long list of options for your new car in hand. However, you should start to narrow it down by analyzing each vehicle’s Ownership Costs on various car pricing websites. Even with the cars that are in the same price range you will find that the actual ownership costs in a wide range. Do remember that these costs are nothing but averages, and the real/actual costs may be vary to a high extent, especially for fuel and car insurance.

#3: Look for the Best Interest Rate

If you’ve been doing your research on buying the right car, you must have come across those ads with attractive ‘zero percent interest’ financing offers. Understand that these offers are designed to pull you in, when the reality is that most of the car buyers out there don’t even qualify for the kind of ‘cut rate’ finance deals that are offered by automakers. Without assuming that you will get the best finance deal (even if you’ve got good credit), see to it that you look around and shop at your local lenders. This helps you find the best Interest Rate that you qualify for and compare the deals before you even visit the dealer.

#4: Determine the Invoice Price

If you look at the independent car pricing sites, you’ll find that they note the Invoice Price for the new cars or the “wholesale price” for second hand/used cars. Of course, this information isn’t always fully accurate, but the figures that you will find listed on these websites are really close to the real price, which makes them a great tool. The right way to go about this is to negotiate with the dealer the right way. In other words, when you’re negotiating on the selling price of your new car, begin at the invoice (or the wholesale price in case it’s a used car), and work on negotiating upward so that you can get the best deal. Do this while giving the dealer some of the profit to help him cover the overhead plus expenses.

Conclusion

Remember, things like washing your car with precision and taking good care of it come after you buy the right vehicle. So instead of worrying about these smaller details that will come into play later, first focus on purchasing a car that doesn’t put a dent in your wallet.