New Year, New Car?
Thursday, 05 January 2012
Along with the usual new year’s resolutions (lose weight and stop smoking), drivers in particular will be looking to save money and reduce their carbon footprint in 2012. Whilst buying a new or user car might seem like an indulgence and go against saving money in the short term, it can help you achieve both of those goals: pick your new vehicle carefully and you could be entitled to cheap car insurance, and if your car’s engine is particularly efficient, you’ll save money on fuel and benefit from lower road tax – all while being kinder to the environment.
However, choosing a new car isn’t always easy, and with that in mind, swiftcover.com has put together some universal rules that should help you find your perfect car:
1. Decide what features you want your car to have before you start looking. If you want one that looks good, has an efficient engine, will get you cheap car insurance or is big enough for three kids and their school bags, then be clear with yourself and don’t settle for anything less – no matter how tempted you get by other vehicles.
2. Take it for a test drive, whether it’s new or used – this is the fun part! After you’ve checked that your car insurance covers you, take the potential new car purchase out for a spin, and make sure that you drive on all kinds of roads, from motorways to winding country lanes and city traffic. Put the engine through its paces (carefully) and you’ll stand a better chance of noticing problems before you buy.
3. If you want to save money then stick to used cars – they depreciate at a much slower rate, which means you won’t lose as much money when it comes to selling on your car. But having said that, there are some big name brands that do keep their value better than other makes and models.
4. Take precautions! There are a number of checks you should make before buying a car, so do some online research around ‘checking a used car’. Even better, if you have a car-savvy friend who’s happy to take a look with you or you know someone who is a mechanic, then take advantage of some expert opinion before committing to a purchase.
5. For used cars particularly, go and see them in daylight as it’s much easier to determine knocks and scratches, as well as to have a good look under the bonnet and vehicle itself.
6. One easy thing to do is to make sure that the number given on the car’s registration documents matches the engine plate, and that neither has been tampered with.
7. As a rule, cars with smaller engines will get you cheaper car insurance (saving your wallet) and be kinder to the environment (saving the planet) – bear that in mind if you’re tempted by a big engine!
8. Find out how much a car would cost to insure before you commit to buying it. If you’re out and about then you can go to swiftcover.com on your mobile, and get a quote online in just a few minutes. That way you won’t have a nasty surprise when you get home and have to take out car insurance!
There are many other tips so do let us know if you have any of your own. Join the debate with more than 25,000 others at www.facebook.com/swiftcover or follow us on Twitter @swiftcover.
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