If you’re looking to buy your first car then you’ve probably got dreams of a glamorous convertible, a sportscar, serious luxury or something a little leftfield. That’s nice, everybody should have a dream.
You might need to get real if you don’t want to get stuck by the side of the road in a clapped out dream machine that will cost a fortune to repair, though, and you might need to think about insurance. If you’re young then the premiums will rule out everything but the smallest-engined hatchback.
So even though a Nissan Micra or Ford Focus isn’t quite what you dreamed about when you started looking at cars, it might be only real solution available to a new driver. It’s no bad thing.
If this is your first car then you really don’t need sportscar power. You need to master the controls, learn to develop roadcraft and to learn the road ahead. You might have a driving licence, but you don’t really start to learn until you’re out on the road on your own. So if you don’t have the power to get yourself into trouble then it’s probably a good thing.
There are a huge number of these cars for sale and that means there will be good ones and, of course, bad ones. The only way to be sure is to buy a brand new car, but that’s beyond the reach of most people buying a first car.
Decide how much you have to spend and don’t forget to factor in insurance, servicing, a slush fund for emergency repairs and even petrol. If you splash all your cash on the car and then cannot afford to run it, you’re in trouble.
Then decide where you’re going to buy from. It’s tempting to hit the auctions, or to trawl the bargain basement offerings on your local Facebook groups, but it’s buyer beware and you can get burned.
For your first car, the safest way to buy is through an established and reputable dealer. You’ll pay more for the privilege, but you get a certain amount of protection when you buy from a proper dealer. Under the Sales of Goods Act, you can expect the car to be of satisfactory quality, meet any description given to you and be fit for purpose. Beware of the ‘sold as seen’ dealers, you just don’t need to give them your business.