That may sound like a stupid question but it is something that you should give a serious thought before buying a car. Heck, we'd all be driving sports cars if situations permit but aside from the money issue there is the psychological readiness that is even more important than having the money to buy the car. Believe it or not, there are a ton of drivers out there who should not even be trusted with a toy car.
Here are some of the questions that I should have asked myself before purchasing my first car and then the upgrades and the upgrades and the upgrades. I had a big problem with questions #1 so make sure that you don't.
#1. Are you financially able to own a car?
This is common sense but a lot of people fail to think about the costs of owning a car. Some people do not think beyond the down payment and end up getting in trouble when expenses start pouring in.
So what I'm trying to say is do you have a stable job that can support the cars expenses? This holds true even if you buy the car in cash and even more true if it's on installment. Car financing terms are from 12-months to 60-months so imagine how burdensome the monthly repayments will be. If you don't have a good enough job with a good enough salary, you'll risk having the car repoed and that hurts like hell.
Aside from the monthly repayments, you'll also need to consider gas expenses, regular maintenance, and if you're a car junkie like... many people out there you'll also have to budget for body kits, wheels, cold air intake, racing seats, high performance shocks, high temp brake pads, catalyst back exhaust, and so many more. You can't get enough of them. If and when you have them all, then there's stage 2 of those and... Yeah.
There's a great app that I just discovered and it helps to determine the cost of owning a car. It's FREE. Check it out here.
#2. Are you psychologically ready to own a car?
Now this is a huge topic and there are different factors that could determine your mental readiness to be out and driving in traffic.
- Do you get easily aggravated by situations on the road? Somebody will cut you off for sure, a motorcycle will zoom by in the middle of traffic, a luxury car or a sport UTE will flash you or tailgate because they want you to move aside (who wants to move aside right? They can overtake if they like :)), and many more patience testing incidents.
- Do you have a problem with the police? You will get pulled over a few times in your lifetime so if you like arguing with authority figures, you better save up for payment of fines too.
- Do you easily get persuaded to do something stupid? Yeah, we all have that friend who will say, "run that red light", "let's see how fast this goes", "there's a cop, let's go on a chase". If you get excited by all these, buy a car when you're wiser.
- How are your manners? I know a lot of mild mannered people who literally turn into monsters on the road. I have no idea why and how it happens but it does. It's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it's crazy. Try driving around first using your parents car maybe and see how you behave. You should be scared of yourself if you turn into a monster because you could get yourself in trouble.
I hope I was able to give you something to ponder on here. We should all work on having safer roads and it will only happen if we work together. So before buying a car better make sure that you can afford it and you are ready for it. Think of it as an insurance for yourself and for others. Social responsibility my man. :)
