What Car Should I Buy? Questions To Ask Yourself

https://www.leasefetcher.co.uk/guides/car-buying-guide/what-car-should-i-buy

What's Covered

In a dream world, buying a car would be as simple as walking into the showroom and picking out a model.

Unfortunately, the question of “What car should I buy?” isn’t that easy. There are an abundance of questions likely to be hurled at you.

How many doors do you want? Which car body style would you like? How powerful an engine are you after?

It might feel overwhelming deciding on the details, but getting it right means driving away with the perfect car for you. In this guide to what car you should buy, we run through all the questions you need to ask yourself. We’ll cover everything to consider like buying new or used, body style, fuel type, safety and cost.

New, nearly new, or used?

First decision is whether you buy new or used. How much you’ve got to spend will probably influence this decision, but budget shouldn’t be your sole decider.

Buying a new car means you get the benefit of the manufacturer’s warranty, covering you for at least 3 years. On top of this, you know that it’s got no wear and tear issues to deal with. You get to decide exactly what you want, and choose the specific colour, engine type and trim. Basically, it can be tailored to exactly what you want and need.

However, buying new does come with its caveats. New cars can lose a huge chunk of value in the first year alone, resulting in a pretty big hit if you decide to re-sell. You might rather not think about it, but depreciation is an important factor to consider if you’re not planning to have your car for the long term.

On the other hand, buying a used car has a bunch of benefits. New cars are often much cheaper, and you can even get a nearly new car to avoid that first gut-wrenching depreciation hit. Unfortunately, you’re unlikely to have the manufacturer’s warranty (generally unless it is less than 3 years old), and it could come with unknown problems.

How will you use the car?

Next up to consider is how you actually plan to use the car. When your main use is the school run or trips to the supermarket, you’ll want to prioritise space and practicality.

If you’re often making long commutes on the motorway, fuel efficiency should be at the top of your list. Regularly driving friends, family or colleagues? You’ll want to consider how many seats are enough, and whether a 3 door could be a hassle for drop-offs.

Even pets can be a huge factor. Choosing the best car for dogs involves a lot more than a big boot. You’ll need to think about the interior material, door and boot height and whether you plan to use a car harness.

Body style

With so many different car body types nowadays, choosing the right one can feel overwhelming. What really is the difference between a sports car vs supercar? Or a crossover vs suv?

Luckily, it doesn’t have to be complicated. You can narrow it down by thinking about three key aspects of the body style - doors, seats, and space.

Doors

If a three and five door car both have 5 seats, it might seem like much of a muchness. But getting it right between the two can have a huge impact on how practical your car feels.

For drop offs at school or work, a three door can start to feel like a huge hindrance. You can’t pull over in a rush, as you need to stop somewhere safe to let the backseat passengers out. If you often find yourself taxiing for the kids, a five door is a better bet.

Seats

Seats may be an obvious thing to consider, but not all cars have five or even four seats. While it might be easy to assume a five door comes with 5 seats, many, like the Volkswagen Up come with just four.

If you’ve got a family of five and think you’re not often in the car together, going for a four seater probably isn’t worth the potential savings. It’s likely to be how you discover that you do in fact, need five seats.

When the car is primarily for just you (or one passenger), you can choose from any of the best small cars or most affordable sports cars that take your fancy.

Space

Testing out the car space just once in the showroom can be a little misleading. If you’ve sat in the back for 2 minutes and ignored that it's a little tight… it’s probably going to be an unpleasant situation for the passengers that sit there every day.

Though you can get smaller cars with spacious interiors, you may want to consider the additional room of a larger car. An SUV, 4x4 or crossover all provide that extra room for your friends, family or groceries.

But it is worth thinking about whether you’ll be comfortable with a larger car. Driving and parking a bigger vehicle can feel like driving for the first time again if you’re not used to it. When you’re accustomed to small cars like a city car or hatchback, navigating the roads and other cars with a bigger car can be a challenge.

Fuel type

The decision between diesel vs petrol is a difficult one. While petrol is better for drivers taking shorter trips, diesel is best suited if you’re often commuting or doing long drives.

But now there’s more than just petrol or diesel to choose between. Stricter legislation regarding the environmental impact of CO2 emissions has seen a huge rise in electric and hybrid vehicles.

Electric cars have zero emissions, making it one of the more environmentally friendly ways to drive. On top of this, electric car running costs are lower than ICE cars. Though EVs are currently best suited to drivers doing shorter distances, this looks set to improve as manufacturers release more and more electric models.

If you’re not ready to let go of a conventional ICE car, a hybrid car is a great alternative. Available with a self-charging electric motor or as a plug-in hybrid, you can reduce your car running costs while still using fuel for longer trips if you need to.

Some cars only come with certain engines, so it’s worth checking out your options before you get your heart set on a model that doesn't offer the fuel type you want.

Safety

It’s fair to assume that if a car is on the road, it’s reasonably safe to drive. But unfortunately not all cars were made equal when it comes to safety.

The safety of a car can refer to a car’s safety features, its reliability, or even how safe it is for you specifically.

For reliability, you want a car with few reported faults and low repair costs. You can check a car’s rating in the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), or check out our top 10 most reliable cars, and top 10 most reliable small cars.

Infotainment

It’s likely somewhere last on your list (if it made it all), but your car’s infotainment can make a big difference.

Providing both information and entertainment, your car’s infotainment is actually a pretty important feature. Though how high-tech it is will depend on the spec of the car, most basic modern cars will feature at least a radio, SatNav and Bluetooth.

With the cars offering smartphone connectivity, you get the benefit of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, where a number of apps are designed specifically for safe use in your car.

If it’s a challenge to entertain the kids (or yourself) on lengthy trips, a good infotainment system is a worthy investment.

Insurance Costs

When you nail down the make and model, a final expense to consider is the car insurance cost. A number of factors come into play with car insurance premiums, including your age, profession, claims, and address.

Though it seems like the last step in your search, it’s worth checking out early on what it’s going to cost for different models. You don’t want to find your dream car within budget, only to discover at the last stage that the insurance cost takes it wildly out of what you can afford.

Cost of the Car

Last but most certainly not least, is deciding the best way to buy a car, or finance a car.

There are a number of great options to choose from when covering the cost of your car, and these may well influence which car you buy.

The first step, however, is deciding whether you want to own the car. Cars might have once been seen as an investment, but depreciation unfortunately means you’re more likely to take a hit than make a profit from a car.

If you’re eager to own your car, you can choose from:

Other than buying outright, these options all specifically spread out the cost of your car over a number of months, meaning you don’t have to pay the entire amount upfront. In most cases you’ll need a fairly decent credit score.

It’s worth checking this in advance of buying your car, as you’ll have more time to build up a better rating if necessary. You can check it for free on sites like Experian, ClearScore and Equifax.

If you’re certain you don’t want to own the car, car leasing (aka Personal Contract Hire) is a great alternative to buying. There’s no long term commitment - you simply hire the car for a term of up to 4 years, then hand it back.

Conclusion

Deciding what car you should buy is no easy decision. If you’ve narrowed down your decision to a few cars, it’s worth making a pros and cons list for each to compare.

Whatever car you go for, be sure to check out some of our car buying guides like the best time to buy a car, the documents you need to buy a car, and the best way to finance a car.

If you decide to go for leasing, Lease Fetcher can help you compare the best car lease deals on the market. You can even search by make, range, budget and body style to find the exact specification you’re looking for.

About The Author: Chloe Murphy

Chloe is our resident wordsmith. If you're looking for car leasing tips and tricks, advice for car maintenance, or information about the latest car technology, Chloe writes easy-to-understand posts that cover all bases!