6 TIPS FOR BUYING A NEW CAR || KELLEY BLUE BOOK BEST OF AWARDS
This “Tips for buying a new car” post is sponsored by Kelley Blue Book but as always all opinions are my own.
I never drove an SUV until I had kids, I zoomed around in my little sports car in my early 20’s and thought I was just all that and a bag of chips. Then I graduated to a 4 door sedan when we were prepping for Keatyn. I drove that car with her the entire time. When I became pregnant with Charlie, we knew we had to upgrade to an SUV. We had zero room in our backseat fir 2 car seats. Well now I know what I was missing. It’s so nice having all of that room. But alas the grass is always greener. Now that Charlie, my youngest, is a toddler we need more space once again. We are looking at purchasing a large SUV so when we take road trips or have family in town we can all comfortably fit in the car. So what are some tips for buying a new car?
Tips For Buying A New Car:
- First off decide how much you’re willing to spend. Budgets are a necessity in every part of life but definitely when searching for a new car. You need to figure out how much your current car is worth if you’re selling or doing a trade in and what your down payment is gonna be. Then you need to figure out what you can afford, are willing to spend monthly for a car payment and how long you plan to finance it.
- Choosing your vehicle. This just depends on what each individual needs. Suv, sports car, space etc. When you’re buying a car finding the ideal fit can be tedious and stressful. You are trying to make sure you don’t get taken advantage of and are getting the most for your money. Since I bought my first car on my own at the age of 20, I have always used Kelley Blue Book as a guide when purchasing my cars. My dad did and does as well. They split their list of Best Buy Awards into multiple categories to suit every consumer’s needs so you can see the best of the best and compare. There are so many impressive vehicles to choose from as you can see from our 14 categories representing the 2019 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards.
- Research the car. Check previous history of the car to make sure it hasn’t been involved in sever accidents or has any faults. Kelley Blue Book also has an option to view Vehicle History Reports under their Research Tools section so you can check information on that vehicle. Also talk with your insurance agent to make sure the car you’re wanting doesn’t hijack your insurance costs.
- Test drive your car. Make sure you feel comfortable in the car and it drives to your liking. You can learn more by driving the car yourself for a few minutes than hours of online research.
- Get dealer and seller quotes. Shop around to get the best pricing. Look around at different dealerships and price shop online.
- Make sure you’re getting the best deal from the dealer. A lot of car dealers make their revenue by financing. Get a pre-approved financing offer from your bank. The dealer then has to offer a better deal if they wanna make that sell. If the offer isn’t up to par then walk away. Your confidence is powerful enough to show them you mean business.
About the Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards
The awards is the peak of a year-long regimen of expert vehicle evaluation where nearly every new vehicle available in America is tested then given an analysis of vehicle data, pricing, 5-Year Cost to Own data (which includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance, financing, fuel, fees and taxes for new cars), consumer reviews and ratings, and vehicle sales/retail sales information. There is more than 300 new car models available for 2019 and the Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards narrow them down to a few dozen contenders broken into 15 categories. They then spend several weeks testing and evaluating the vehicles head to head to decide on the winners.
The winners are the best combinations of different topics like dependability, maintenance cost, quality of vehicle, affordability and the driving dynamics. 5 years in, Kelley Blue Book definitely makes shopping easier and helps buyers get the best deal and vehicle for their needs. KBB spends a year driving and reviewing hundreds of new cars, trucks and SUVs to compile evaluations in Expert Reviews, Buyer’s Guides, Top 10 comparison tests. Then a few months before the end of the year, they retest the previous year’s winner of each Best Buy category and measure it up to the brand new segment’s competitor. This a vital step to the decision process to really determine the best of the best.
I hope these tips for buying a new car helps you in the decision making process and I really suggest checking out Kelley Blue Book to shop around for the best vehicle for you.
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