When it’s time to buy a new car

Found on www.thecitizen.co.tz and brought to you by Car Repair Salinas

Sunday, 06 March 2011 14:43

 

By Sound Living Reporter
Last week, we argued that there are times when it is best to fix the old car that you have than to make a rash decision to buy a new one. Let us now look at the other side of the coin.

For many people, buying a new car seems like an intimidating prospect. But here are a few reasons why buying a new car might be the way to go.

Avoid breakdown worries
New cars are not that perfect, but also you don’t want to worry constantly about future breakdowns. With a troublesome old car, no amount of repairing can guarantee that another breakdown won’t happen down the line. If you buy a new car, you’ll have at least three years — often far longer — before you have to worry about paying for any major repairs, and some new cars come with free standard maintenance as well.

Besides being tired of the back-and-forth to the repair shop, trips to the mechanic are costing you too much time away from work or family in addition to money.

Tired of your old car
Perhaps it embarrasses you, it rattles like crazy or you have to bang on the A/C to get it working. Every morning when you walk outside and see the neighbour’s car, you long for something new. That’s perfectly normal. Just take a good look at your budget and make an honest assessment of your financial situation.

You want something safer
New cars come with more advanced safety equipment. Features like side airbags, tyre-pressure monitors are increasingly becoming standard fare on new vehicles.

When is it time to buy?
A good rule of thumb to estimate when it’s time to throw in the towel is if the cost of repairs is greater than the value of the vehicle.

When the time comes, buying a used car is (almost) always a more cost-effective option than buying new, largely because you avoid the big depreciation hit. Just keep in mind that another used car could come with its own set of issues.

A final bit of advice
Everyone seems to have his own theory of when to repair a car and when to get a new one. But you know your needs and your car’s history better than anyone else.

Buying a new car might seem like the easy way out of a high repair bill, but it may not be the best financial decision depending on your circumstances.