The do's and don'ts of buying a new car

Consider the true cost of owning a vehicle

Most car buyers focus on the monthly payment. But there are four major contributors to the cost of ownership that are better indicators of how your car will affect your long-term wealth. Once you know what you need in a vehicle, you can narrow your search by focusing on these cost drivers:

Worrying about the monthly payment alone disguises the actual cost of owning a car. Armed with this information about where your money actually goes when you purchase a vehicle, you have some options to contemplate.

Consider not buying a new car

Having a shiny new car to show off is appealing, but the best way to save money on a new car is to not buy one. In most cases, the logical decision is to keep driving your existing vehicle.

Even if your older car is costing you a few hundred dollars a month for repairs, it’s still probably less costly than a new car would be. Depreciation is no longer an issue most as cars have lost around 70% of their value after five years and are virtually worthless after ten. Interest is out of the equation after the loan is paid off. And insurance is often cheaper for older cars because you can remove unnecessary coverage.

A new $30,000 car will cost you $1,200 per month in the first year on interest and depreciation alone. Even if your older car needs significant work, you will likely still come out ahead by hanging on to it.

Read our blog,“Do I need collision insurance on an older car?”

Buy used instead of new

There’s something to be said for reliability, however, and sometimes it’s worth spending a little more to have a car that’s in good shape (and under warranty).

Dealers like to use fancy math to trick car buyers into thinking a new car is a better deal than a used one. They’ll show you the payment on a new car and compare it with the payment on a similar used one. The used car will have a shorter loan term and higher interest rate, making it look unattractive next to the new one.

Shrewd car buyers know that the monthly payment, while important, has more to do with cash flow than the actual cost of the vehicle. A two-year-old car, already having taken the brunt of its total depreciation, will cost far less over its lifetime even though the payments may be similar to those for a new car.

A brand new $30,000 car with a 2.99% loan will cost you around $23,000 in depreciation and interest over the first five years. The same car purchased two years later with a 9.99% loan will cost approximately $17,000 in interest and depreciation over the first five years. That’s an average of $100 per month in savings for choosing a late model used car over a new one.

Visit Ratehub.ca’s car buying guide: How to buy a car

When buying new, make dealers compete for your business

If you’re set on buying a new car, one of the best ways to get a deal is to treat it as a commodity and force dealers to compete for your business.

A litre of fuel is pretty much the same no matter where you buy it, so most drivers choose which gas station to visit based on price.

The same is true for cars.

Car dealers make money a lot of different ways. Still, their biggest paydays come in the form of volume incentives from the manufacturer. The more vehicles a dealer can sell in a month, the bigger their bonus will be. Some dealers have made it their business model to sell a high volume of cars at low margins to cash in on these incentives. Even more than buying a car at the end of the month, finding a dealer that’s in it for sales volume can get you a deal.

To make this work, you need to be extremely clear on exactly what it is you want. Once you’ve done all your researching, test driving, and tire kicking, you should know every detail about the exact vehicle you want to buy. You should know the make, model, trim, year, colour and specific options. Understand the parameters of your financing, including your trade-in (if applicable), down payment, whether you want to make monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly payments, and the length of the loan you want.

When you know precisely what you want and how you want to pay for it, it’s time to call every dealer you’re willing to drive to. The last time I bought a new vehicle, I contacted six different dealers in my area and asked for their best price on the exact car I wanted. Most of their quotes were within a range of about $1,000. And one came in about $5,000 lower than their next-closest competitor.

Read our blog, “How to negotiate a new car“

When buying a new car, make your offer conditional

When you make an offer to buy a home, it’s wise to make your offer conditional on a few things. Most homebuyers want a satisfactory inspection and a chance to secure financing.

There’s nothing to stop you from making your next offer to buy a vehicle conditional as well. Use this as an opportunity to weed out any “gotcha” charges that may be built into the price of the car. Consider making your offer conditional on:

• Inclusion of all taxes and fees in the price. There’s nothing worse than shaking hands on a new car purchase only to find out that the $1,500 PDI charge wasn’t included.
• Satisfactory mechanical inspection. Especially if you’re buying a used car from a private seller, you will want to have an expert look under the hood.
• An extra or two. When dealers can’t budge on price, they can sometimes budge on other things. Asking for a spare key, detailing, or even a year of free oil changes is a great way to squeeze more juice from the lemon.
• A full tank of gas on delivery. You’re forking over thousands of dollars. It’s the least they could do.

Even if you don’t get what you want, using these conditions gives you some means of negotiation beyond just money. As the old saying goes, the surest sign of a good deal is when both sides feel like they got screwed.

Keep your cash flow under control

Most people prefer to look just at the monthly payment when shopping for a car. But the size of your payment isn’t necessarily correlated with the cost of owning your car. Your monthly cash flow is just as important as long-term savings for most family budgets. If a lower monthly payment is what you’re after, consider the following:

• Save up a bigger down payment. For most Canadians, paying cash for a car is not an option. If you can’t save up the total purchase price of a car, a more significant down payment is one of the most effective ways to reduce your monthly car payments. On a $30,000 car financed at 2.99% over five years, a 20% down payment of $6,000 will lower your monthly payment by $108 compared to the same purchase with no down payment.
• Compare car insurance before you buy. The make and model of your vehicle can have a significant impact on your car insurance premiums. Before you decide on the car you want, compare car insurance online and see how different vehicles will affect your insurance costs. You might find that a vehicle with a higher monthly payment will cost you less overall because the insurance is cheaper.
• Check your credit score and make improvements if needed. If your credit needs work, you might be limited to car loans with unreasonable terms and high-interest rates. Before you start car shopping, check your credit score to make sure you’re in good shape. If your credit score is below 680, improve it. You can do so by paying all your bills on time and reducing credit card balances.

Read our blog, “TCO – Total cost of ownership“

Sell your old car yourself

Dealers have a lot of different ways to manipulate the sale price of a car. One of the most famous of which is to pretend like you’re getting a high price for your trade in.  The reality, however, is the money is coming from a discount that’s already available on the car. If you’re genuinely motivated to save money, you can get far more for your car by selling it privately rather than trading it in.

The trade-off in selling your car privately, of course, is the investment of your time. Selling a car takes a lot of effort, and it might not be worth it for a couple thousand dollars.

I’ve tried to buy a used car privately in the past. I was utterly frustrated by the futility of the endeavour. I implore you, please take this advice and catapult yourself into the top percentile of competency among car sellers.

The bottom line

There are lots of ways to save money when it comes to buying a car. Savvy buyers are aware of two things: their actual, real-world needs in a vehicle, and the overall cost of ownership.

The best way to save money on a vehicle is to resist the urge to buy the car you want, and instead, buy the car you need. By foregoing unnecessary features (I, for one, will never pay extra for built-in navigation again) and disregarding fantastical and infrequent use cases, you may be able to translate that discipline into thousands of dollars in savings.

The next-best way to save money on a car is considering how depreciation, interest, auto insurance, fuel and maintenance all contribute to the overall cost of owning a car. Choosing to repair your old car or buying a used one may not look like money-saving options on their face, but they are proven to be better for your long-term wealth than buying new.

First time car buyers have lots of smoke and many mirrors in which to navigate. Stay focused on your needs and make smart financial decisions. Knowing where your money goes when you buy a car, helps you take the rest to the bank.

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