Welcome back and Happy Labor Day to all that are reading this! I hope everyone has had a great weekend thus far. I know I have! I was able to accomplish a lot this weekend including a goal I set for myself months ago. That goal was getting a new car for myself and I finally made my big purchase!
Here is a guide to buying your first car:
I purchased a black 2013 Honda Civic EX.
When I saw this car it was love at first sight. I HAD to go home with it. I knew exactly what I wanted and that this was perfect for me. It took months of research to get to this moment, but looking back it was all worth it! I think everyone that is looking to get a used car should take their time when shopping and research, research and research some more! To help a bit I wanted to give you guys the steps I took while looking for my car.
Here we go!
Step 1:
Get pre-approved for a loan.
All car dealerships have financing available for customers, but that isn’t always the best route to go. I decided to get pre-approved for a loan from State Farm. (Yes, State Farm! They finance vehicles as well and not a lot of people know about that.) I went this route because I wanted to know what I could afford to spend before I walked into a dealership.
This helped me tremendously because I was able to give a strict budget to the car salesmen I would speak to. It saved time during my search because I only searched for cars within my budget. Getting pre-approved for a loan and setting a budget was the starting point in my car search.
Step 2:
Researching different cars and asking yourself what you want out of a car should be your next step! Once I was pre-approved my online search began. I asked myself a series of questions such as;
-What are the top things you want out of a car?
-What year do you want your car to be?
-How many miles do you want your car to have?
-What features do you want in a car?
After answering those questions I had a better idea of what I was searching for. I wanted a reliable car that was good on gas, a make & model between the years 2012-2015, below 60,000 miles and I wanted bluetooth, an ECO button and a back-up camera. IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO STICK TO WHAT YOU WANT WHEN LOOKING FOR CARS. It is very easy to get swayed into changing what you want, but STAY STRONG! (lbs) Now, i’m not saying that you shouldn’t keep your options open. Of course there are different circumstances for everyone, but I knew in my heart that I wanted those specific things out of a vehicle.
Step 3:
Lastly, after I narrowed down what I wanted exactly I did more research. I would literally search “most reliable sedans from 2013” on Google and search through answers from reputable car sites such as Car Guru’s , Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds. This is how I found the make and model I wanted, which was a Honda Civic LX.
I wanted this make and model because it was within my budget, had the features I wanted and had high overall ratings for the year 2013.
These three steps helped significantly and allowed me to get the car I wanted with no problem! As you are searching for a car remain patient. As I said above, I did research for months! (4 to be exact) But, I did not give up. I found what I wanted and i’m so happy I waited it out.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading this piece! Comment below if you have any questions/words of advice for those looking into getting a used car.
