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How To Choose Your First Car

Considering how to choose your first car when you’re about to, or have just passed your test, will be better for your wallet and your health.

Statistically it’s a true, albeit pessimistic fact that you are more likely to have a crash in your first few years of driving, than later on.

So, money and safety should be your first two thoughts when choosing your first car.

Now, nowadays, it’s not just a matter of the cost of buying a car; that’s key, of course, but you have to think of the added costs of depreciation, running it, insuring it and taxing it.

Okay, car first. Think about what’s just been said about the first few years being the most difficult, and give that some thought. Should you buy your dream car straight away? No, and okay, that might sound unromantic, but cars do get a good kicking from day to day, especially in cities, and there’s nothing worse than seeing your pride and joy being bashed by parked car doors and supermarket trolleys. In the end, you pick up a knack for avoiding such situations, like never parking next to a wreck in a car park, or avoiding other people around you who are determined to take a slice of your paint job.

No, what you need when you first hit the open roads by yourself, is a nice, reliable, small engined, easy to handle hatch-back, or small saloon. Use that to collect the small knocks and scrapes, and get your hours logged while becoming a more experienced motorist. It is not a matter of becoming a better driver – everyone thinks they are the best driver in the world – it’s a matter of becoming experienced on the road.

So, you’ve get your eye on a car and you know what you can afford, and also how you can afford it: cash, finance, or lease.

Now think about those other things. Depreciation is a car’s worst enemy. Cars lose value over the years, but they tend to do that at different rates and much of that comes down to the mileage. Also, how much will it cost to run? What does it do to the gallon (miles per gallon); how much of that expensive juice will I have to put in for every mile travelled? How much will it cost to service, or keep mechanically sound? How much will the types cost to replace? On some cars not a lot, on others, if you’re caught unawares, it may cost you a fortune.

The cost of insurance could actually dwarf the payment for the car. Insurance these days, especially for young, inexperienced drivers, can be pricey and you need to think of your own profile (age, job, address etc) and also think you need to get a car with the lowest insurance group possible. And don’t buy your car without getting a number of insurance quotes.

Finally tax. With the government imploring us to take more care of the environment, tax is arguably as important in terms of cost as insurance, but it does pay to keep an eye on it.

For example, buy a car that’s been registered before 1 March, 2001, you get two bands of charges. For cars not over an engine size of 1549cc it’s £120 for 12 months tax; for cars over 1549cc, it’s £185.

Get a car registered on, or after 1 March, then it gets a bit more complicated, as its based on your cars fuel type and CO2 emissions with the tax charges going from zero (emitting less than 100grams of CO2 per kilometre), to £400; quite a difference.

How to choose your first car; think about your money and safety.

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