Buying your first car - tips and tricks

Basically every teen and young adult dreams of his own car, regardless of their financial status. Some people need a car more than others, for example – a young adult in a rural region needs a car to get to the grocery store, while a young adult in a big city with a decent public transportation service doesn’t really have the need for the car. Whilst everybody thinks he has to have an expensive car e.g. a BMW with heated leather seats, they don’t think about the basics of car shopping. It really doesn’t matter what the make of the car is or what accessories it has got. The only thing that matters is that it suits your needs. If you live in a big city you don’t really need an SUV with four wheel drive, but you can buy one if you prefer. 
The most basic things to do before buying your first car is determining your budget and asking yourself how are you going to finance that car: Are you paying the whole price? Or are your parents paying for the car? Or maybe you’re going to split the cost. Before buying your first car you should visit multiple car dealerships to see what’s on the market. Please don’t go and buy a car because it’s the first red car you have seen in the dealership. While you are at home do some research about the dealerships around you. There are a two ways you can buy a car: new cars and used cars. New cars are more expensive but shouldn’t have any malfunctions or broken parts, while used cars are much more affordable, but they come in a variety of malfunctions e.g. You will pay for a new Mitsubishi Outlander $23,000, but you can pay around $14,000 for a used one. You should be aware that there are many scam artists if you are buying a used car. There are two ways of financing your car: leasing and buying.  Leasing means that you are paying a specific amount of money over a specific period of time and after that time you return it to the dealer, it’s like renting your car. 

Good things about leasing a car is that many dealers require no down payment or only a small one at best and you can probably lease a more expensive car than you could actually buy, but the downside is that the dealers put a limit to the miles you may drive in your leased car and you need to pay extra if you go over that limit. With a car comes great responsibility. Maintaining your car isn’t cheap, a car has many extra expenses, like gas, maintenance and servicing. Your car is like a pet, it needs its food regularly – gas, so be sure that you can afford it every few days, also it could be of help if you check gas prices from time to time because they are constantly changing.

The tires are also wearing out so check for tread wear on them. You should also change the oil regularly. Also there is car insurance. Those are some car maintenance expenses.
It’s not very cheap and easy to have a car, but don’t let that discourage you. Cars are a good way to travel around but they do have some downsides, but if you do get a car please stick to the laws, so don’t go over the local speed limit, always wear a seatbelt, use your signals, don’t drink when you drive and don’t talk on the phone while driving.