6 Factors to Consider When Buying a Car

Our 6 factors to consider when buying a car can save you some money too; in our case it was over $6000 off the MSRP.

When buying a car, what you should know depends on different factors, but buying a car should not be as hectic as it is.

Believe it or not, we planned years in advance to buy a bigger family car. We had a Toyota Camry that ran great and did the job. But, with two car seats, luggage, and all the food we had to take with us when traveling anywhere because of numerous food allergies, it got cramped fast.

We planned on which year it would be financially best for us to buy, started saving and pricing. We watched videos and read reviews.

Is it better to buy new, or used?

We went back and forth until we finally decided. It was a very tiring process of going back and forth. Was it worth it to upgrade and get the built-in GPS? Which model did we really want?

To say we didn’t get frustrated with each other would be a big lie!

You know that feeling when you are just completely drained mentally, physically and emotionally? Yeah, that’s where I (Ash) was at the day before we made the purchase.

It had eventually turned into an argument so I shut down the conversation. I shelved it for another day.

The next morning, when I was rested and calmer, I was able to voice my feelings of being unheard and like my opinion didn’t matter. Marcus was apologetic and assured me that had not been his intentions.

Marcus emailed a few dealerships within the driving range we were comfortable with and got an Out the Door Price agreement.

It just so happened that there was a dealership right in our town that had the exact colors and model we were looking for.

He came in and told me he found the one I wanted in the color I’d wanted. We loaded the kids in the car and went to buy Ash’s dream family car, the Toyota Highlander.

As a married couple, buying certain items certainly requires some form of collaboration and communication, with the goal of making the best decision for the family.

Communicating on such purchases also prevents most issues from happening down the road due to that particular purchase.

The most important factors we considered in buying our car were:

1. Why we are buying a car? ( for the family, dream car, work car, etc)

2. How much will it cost us over the long term?

3. How long do we want to drive it for?

4. The resale value in “X’ number of years?

5. Customer reviews?

6. The must-have options like cruise control, gas mileage, miles per gallon, etc.?

We had two choices for brands; our first choice was Toyota, then Honda. We shopped within a comfortable driving range for more options and better pricing.

If you do choose to buy used, we highly recommend a trusted mechanic inspect it. Or get a certified used car,

We’d always done that in the past, telling the car dealership we needed some form of full warranty so our mechanic could inspect it for us, and if our mechanic decided against the purchase we could return the car for a full refund which the dealer agreed.

We enjoy going on long rides, grocery shopping, and the bigger trunk space.

What we learned

The important marriage lesson we learned was being able to communicate without fighting, feel heard, and agreeing on all the 6 factors we considered above.

As a result, making that purchase has greatly improved our communication and enabled us to make decisions easily. We are both happy with our purchase, enjoy going on long rides, grocery shopping, and having a bigger trunk space.

In addition, getting an out-the-door price agreed upon before going to the dealership made the whole buying process much easier.