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From the Dealership to Your Driveway

First thing: pick the right car—for you!

The single biggest mistake new-auto shoppers make is a failure to select a good vehicle for their needs. All too often, people buy the wrong cars for the wrong reasons. They let emotion take over what should be a fairly rational decision, and they drive home with a new set of wheels they don't need, something that's ill-suited to their purpose and that's going to strap them into big car payments for a long, long time. In three months they hate it. Happens all the time.

True Story

A guy and his wife had narrowed their vehicular choices down to three: A domestic 4-door sedan, because they sometimes liked to take friends to dinner; a domestic sporty coupe, because they thought it looked cool; and an import pickup truck, just in case they wanted to go camping. Not only did they not know what kind of car they wanted, they didn't have the foggiest idea what they wanted it for. They are not alone—not by a long shot.

Figure It Out

If your family consists of two parents and three kids, you need at least five seatbelts. If those kids are in child safety seats, one of the parents is going to have to clamber around the back seat to help those kids in and out of the seats, belts and buckles. You will also need room for strollers, groceries and so forth, and probably another couple of seats for when the grandparents come to visit. We're talking minivan here, folks, with sliding side doors and upholstery that's durable and cleans up easy.

If you take clients out to lunch and want your car to look nice, so you make a good impression—but you live in a place where it's tough to keep a car clean or you just don't like to mess with getting it washed—don't get a dark color, no matter how cool you think black looks. It'll never look good while you have it.

Your Options

If you never go off-road or seldom get into bad weather, why buy four-wheel drive? If you don't have a big family or tow a trailer, why even consider some big sport-utility vehicle? If you regularly have to help your elderly parents get around, you need a roomy back seat and big rear doors.

Dogs will tear the daylights out of leather upholstery. Do you really need to spend a couple grand on a navigation system that you'll almost never use? If you're height-challenged, why get a big car that's difficult to see out of?

Look Around

It's wise to look things up on the Internet, but be careful where you look. Refer to a recommended source, one you can trust. Visit the particular manufacturer's web site. Check out unbiased, third party reviews. Make some comparisons, but make sure you know exactly what you're comparing.

Apples and Apples

And don't make your vehicle comparison choice based on price alone. More than you can imagine, people compare prices of cars, but they're making that comparison between two different kinds, or sizes, or classes, of cars. It makes as much sense to compare the price of a refrigerator to that of a stove.

The worst car you can buy? The one someone else thinks you should get (or the one you think someone else thinks you should get). They won't be driving it and they won't be paying for it. Take some time, do your homework, conduct a little research, think about what you really need and want—and why. Know what you can afford, be honest with yourself—then get what's right for you.