Five Steps to Purchasing Your First Car

Consider your needs - Do you want a manual or automatic transmission? Do you want 4WD? What safety features are important to you? Two or four door? Knowing exactly what you want will help save you time and money in the long run.

Think about your budget – What do you plan on spending on a vehicle? If you are financing, what can you afford to put towards car payments every month? Don’t forget about insurance rates and gas prices when factoring in your monthly car budget. A good rule of thumb is that your monthly car payment shouldn’t be more than 20 percent of your monthly take-home pay.

Book your test drive – Nowadays you can book your test drive online. This saves you ample amount of time as the dealership will have the car fueled and ready for you to drive when you get there. I would suggest test driving at least 3-4 vehicles before making your final decision. Your list from considering your needs will help you narrow your choices down to a few different makes and models.

How to test drive a car – Of course we all know how to drive a vehicle, but do we really know how to test drive a vehicle? Test driving a used car properly helps you decide if it is the right car for you. It will also help you determine if the vehicle you are interested in is in good condition.  Once you’ve situated yourself behind the wheel, ask yourself if it is a good fit. Does it offer sufficient headroom and legroom? Are the steering wheel and other controls positioned at a convenient location for you? Take your time and be sure to turn off any distractions while driving, including the radio.

Making your decision – Once you’ve decided on that perfect used car, it’s time to fill out the paper work. Before you go to pick up your new vehicle make sure you’ve made the trip to your insurance broker and to the Ministry of Transportation to pick up your new license plate or register your old one. Once all that is done and you pick up your car it’s finally time to relax and enjoy your new ride!

Advantages of Buying a Used Vehicle

There are many good reasons to buy a used vehicle. Number one? Affordability. Buying a new car is much more expensive than buying a used one. The advantages of used car prices can also allow you to step up to a nicer model without breaking the bank.

Also, a major pro of buying used is depreciation value. As soon as you drive your new car off the lot it loses value. In fact, some models can lose up to 35 percent or more in the first year alone. With a used car, there’s no depreciation hit as soon as you leave the dealership.

Used vehicles also tend to give you less expensive insurance rates. Insurance rates are usually affected by the age of your car, among other things like driving experience and driving record. Going for a used car will likely make a big difference on your insurance premium. However, checking insurance prices before buying any vehicle is usually a good idea. You’d hate to be hit with a premium you weren’t expecting that’s way out of your budget.

At My Next Car we bring you the tools that make it easier than ever to buy a used car. You can search our inventory online, get a price quote or apply for credit – it’s all just a click away.

Our large inventory, wide selection of models and competitive pricing allows us to make you a great deal on your next used vehicle. Come on down to the largest indoor used car lot in Ottawa and let us assist you in making a confident decision on your next used vehicle purchase. 

Bad credit? Re-establish your credit with a car loan!

Do you have bad credit? Do you feel you won’t be able to get a loan from anywhere? Don’t worry, you are not alone!

For most of us the second biggest purchase in our lives, after a house, is a vehicle. It’s not always luxury but a necessity. Trying to keep up with both ends is not always easy and sometimes misfortune comes knocking on your door and starts hammering down on your credit score for various reasons: bankruptcy, late payments, collection, repossession, a divorce or even just being self-employed or being new to the country can cause headaches. The bottom line is that you end up with a low credit score.

“In Canada in 2011 personal bankruptcies dropped by 16%, while consumer proposals increased by 6.4%. Overall there were 77,993 personal bankruptcy filings, and 45,006 consumer proposals filed, for a total of 122,999 filings.” - Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy

This article will show you how a car loan can help you rebuild your credit history and regain the financial institution’s trust.

Probably the best thing to help you rebuild your credit score is a car loan. Why? Because it involves a substantial amount of money and there are many programs available for credit issues not just from banks but from other financial institutions as well like Carfinco and Rifco.

“Bad credit auto loans are designed for people who have a less than stellar credit history…” - Lisa Armstrong, Bubble Economy.

Before going further, you need to cover your base and make sure you have a source of income and that you are determined to rebuild your credit score. You will also need to deal with a good professional Business Manager that is specialized in credit issues so he can build a solid case to submit to financial institutions.

So without further due, here is the plan:

You sit down with the Business Manager of your preferred dealership (that deals with credit issues) and you listen very carefully at what he has to say. Be as honest as possible. Remember that his paycheck is directly related to whether or not he gets you approved. In most cases, the Business Manager will tell you how much you can afford and will also direct you towards a short list of vehicles you can choose from. It may not be the ride of your life, but have faith, it is only temporary and you need a set of wheels, don’t you?

Now this is where the ball hurts. There is a good chance that your interest rate will be high, usually between 10% and 30%. Remember, the financial institutions don’t trust you and you have to gain back that trust, but unfortunately until then, the risk for them is high and this is reflected by high interest rates. Be wary of in-house loan, these loans are often extremely expensive and most of the time no data is sent back to credit bureaus therefore has no effect on your credit score. Remember that you want to rebuild your credit history so you do want the credit bureaus to know you are making your monthly payment on time.

This is where it gets interesting. If you are steady and make all your payments on time for the first 10 to 12 months, you may very well become a favorable client to financial institution and they will most likely drop you interest rate after that period and allow you to refinance your vehicle. Guess what, you may even be able to trade that vehicle for something more to your likings.

 
So this is how you gain back the financial institutions’ trust and re-establish your credit while driving a vehicle that you love for a payment that you can afford!!!