The 3 Most Important Things to Decide Before Buying a Vehicle.

The 3 Most Important Things to Decide Before Buying a Vehicle.

You’ve decided you need a vehicle, so now what? Before you start looking at the vast sea of options, take a couple of minutes to figure out the following things:

1. Budget

Your budget should be a realistic, unexaggerated calculation of how much you can afford for a down payment, and how much you can afford for a monthly payment.

Make sure that this calculation includes all vehicle-related expenses such as fuel costs, maintenance, and insurance. These costs will all be dependent upon the type of vehicle you purchase. It is also important to include unrelated expenses such as the amount you spend on groceries and monthly bills.

Practical Money Skills Canada offers a great tool to calculate the right price range for you to shop for a vehicle in!

2. Needs

The kind of vehicle you decide to purchase should be practical for how you intend to use it over the next couple of years.

Do you do a lot of highway driving, or will you only be driving around the city?
Do you have kids or plan to have kids within the next couple of years, how big is your family?
Will you need to haul anything with this vehicle, like a trailer or a boat?
How much storage will you need?
What is the weather like where you live? (Harsh winters or mild all year round)

3. Wants

Don’t worry, your wants are still important in a vehicle!

Make a list of the features you would like to have in a vehicle, and then rank these features from most important to least important. Features can include, but are not limited to, digital display, heated seats, cruise control, sunroof, auxiliary input, or backup camera.

Now that you know how much you can spend, and your needs and wants for your vehicle, let DirectFS help you find it!

Contact us today!

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