As you probably know, my one of my best sources of information is the Net, so naturally when thinking about buying a car, this was the first place I turned. My lovely car was getting a bit long in the tooth, I knew it would soon be time to say goodbye to it, and find a new one. I started my search about 6 months ago, knowing that I wanted a fairly small car, and a car that would be economical to run, but it also needed to be interesting and have the “cute” factor.
Research Time
I started my research about six months ago (yes, I must admit that I love researching what to buy almost as much as buying). Besides the web, research also included talking to sales staff, test driving a number of vehicles and talking to friends who owned the models in consideration. The Web is a great resource of information, but knowing what to look for is important. I guess I could group my search under the following headings.
Price Watch
I began a price watch on about 10 makes and models that were of interest. I started with the newspaper, but also used the web as sometimes there is a big price difference from one location to another. This price watch allowed me to set a maximum that I was willing to spend. I think this is important as spending all your money on a car may not be very clever.
From a young age, my father drilled into me that debt should only be used for real estate and assets that appreciate. I do try to follow this advice, but sometimes stray a little. It’s no use looking at something wonderful, but way out of my budget.
What features count?
I continued by search looking for features that might be useful. I put these into categories: mandatory, nice but not really essential, and doesn’t matter. Sunroof, silver colour, fun to drive, enough power for the Barton Highway, safe and comfortable seats started in my mandatory category. Others like Bluetooth, leather seats, hatchback, satellite navigation and more were in the nice but not essential category. Manual or automatic stayed in the “doesn’t matter” group. Some of these features moved from mandatory to nice but not essential during that last few months; while others become more important.
Resale Value
Checking resale prices of cars of interest was a useful exercise. This didn’t mean my decision would be solely based on this (obviously, as my last car was a Citroen Xsara), but it helped in making my decision.
Car Reviews
I narrowed my search list by reading reviews of these and other cars. All the sites listed below had useful reviews, but unfortunately NRMAs reviews are now few and far between. NRMA do have lots of reviews of older cars from the days when they did this better, and those should help people in selecting a used car.
Comparison Tools
Once I narrowed the number to 3, I did comparisons using the web tools.
What did I buy?
Being female, I am entitled to change my mind and last week a car I had thought of as being too expensive was advertised for many thousands less than the current price, so it jumped into my narrowed list, and after driving it for an hour last weekend, I bought one this weekend. I think this will turn out to be a great decision.
Now, I need a new research project for the next 6 months...
Useful sites
http://www.drive.com.au
http://www.carsguide.com.au
http://www.mynrma.com.au
http://www.carsales.com.au/
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