Alexis Rebholz
Being new drivers the majority of Pewaukee high school either has their first car or is looking for their first car. In this article, It will show smart tips and tricks to keep in mind when looking for that car.
The first tip to follow when searching for a car is to shop smart. In a study done by AutoTrader.com approximately 41% of parents said they paid in full or at least half of their son/daughter’s first car. Therefore, more likely than not, at least some of the expenses will be paid for, which either goes to the price of the car itself or paying for insurance. Assuming that there will still be a large portion that you will have to be paying for there are some rules to follow. Looking at the fun, fancy, cool-looking convertibles would not be your best bet, especially in Wisconsin winter when the top gets stuck down, very cool. So style is not always key, finding cheap but a reliable used car would be the smartest choice in most scenarios. Those 2-5 grand cars that you find in smaller dealerships will usually provide the best price for what you are getting. Another smart rule is to think about your personal travel needs. If all you do is drive yourself to school/work then back home you wouldn’t need the extra expense of backseat butt warmers, you would need good gas mileage that would last.
Lastly would be to budget. Saving up for a car is a huge expense and on top of the initial expenses, there are other long term expenses to keep in minds such as gas, oil changes, and emergencies. By putting away a small portion of your paycheck each month that can be used for all vehicle expenses. Once you have enough saved to purchase the car/ put the first payment in you should save about 25% of that amount to put into an emergency fund. Although buying a cheap car is a fantastic idea money wise, if the car ends up breaking or something goes wrong it can turn into what I call a “Garbo car”. Owning a garbo car can cause major troubles if breaks wear out or if worse comes to worst the transmission breaks, so having an emergency fund is crucial to have.
Buying your first car can be scary and there are many more things to look into before spending that much money but with time and good research, anyone can become an expert.
Alexis, I'm so glad you wrote this! It's unfortunate how unreasonably expensive some cars can be, and although I'm thankful that my parents will be helping me, I still need to budget some time and money into car searching! The concept of a "Garbo car" is interesting... my brother had a "Garbo car" and it was such a hassle because my family kept paying money to fix the car, yet every couple of months it would break down again. So thank you for this wonderful advice!
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of surprising how unreasonably expensive some cars are in this market, my parents are letting me use one of their cars so I haven’t really experienced this but I still need to know how to do this in the future. Grabo car is quite interesting. I know some people who have had a “Grabo car” and the money going into fixing the car every so many months started to add up to the price of just getting a new car.
ReplyDeleteThis a great relatable post for most high schoolers as currently a lot of us are looking to buy our first car and need tips and ideas on how to buy a good first car. A lot of high schoolers need to know what the best way to go about doing it is, and this post has great tips for explaining what truly is important in your first car as a high schooler. As you said in your post, having seat warmers in the back won’t be necessary for your first car if all you need to do is get from point A to point B. Gas mileage is much more important than seat warmers for a first car. It’s also a great thing you included budget as one of your tips. High schoolers don’t have all the money in the world, and neither do parents. The smartest and most respectful thing to do is to budget yourself when buying your first car. This will certainly relate and help students who are currently looking for their first car to drive.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that budgeting for a car is difficult for most people. If somebody wants a car that will last them a few years or won't brake they are realistically looking for a car that work 3-5 grand and if a kid hasn't had a job before getting there licenses this can be a lot of money. Personally I had to pay for half my car and so my dad paid for half and I had to pay for the other had but my dad had me do something interesting. I had the money to pay for half the car yet he made me do monthly payments to help build a credit score in my name. If somebody is budgeting for a car and know how to budget doing at least a few monthly payments could help you pay for car and build a credit score for your future.
ReplyDeleteSaving up for a car does happen to be a huge challenge. Long term expenses increase the difficulty by a trillion notches. Saving has to be done first, then the small paycheck portion can be put forth for all vehicle expenses. It's still agreeable that Parents still allow kids to use their cars.
ReplyDeleteThis information is pretty useful to keep in mind! As I’m working towards getting my license and hopefully a car, there’s so many different pieces of information that I’ll have to keep in mind if I wanna get a used car. That’ll probably be my best bet, as it won’t be too costly and hopefully it won’t be a ‘garbo car’ as you said. I’ve seen videos about what to look for to try to prevent the getting of a car like that, because in the long run it probably ends up costing more than just getting a different, more expensive car. Saving up will be a long journey, but I think that eventually I’ll be able to do it. Or I’ll have to, at the very least. Always having an emergency fund for really anything is a good idea, although hard to really create right now as we’re all in high school.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this article, reliable cars are always the best bet because high school students don’t really drive far distances. Especially in Wisconsin the weather gets pretty bad and having a good car for harsh weather conditions is a good safe idea. Students when having to pay for their own cars would probably have a hard time budgeting. But I like the idea of saving money and putting it away. A way that would help storing away money is having your parents take the money out of your paycheck, so your not obligated to spend the money.
ReplyDeleteI liked this blog comment because it is very insightful into what some options are for getting cheaper cars but I wish there would have been more options outlined.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the tundra that sometimes comes with living in Wisconsin,your vehicle of choice has to be able to fit the requirements of the climate you live in and how much your actually use your vehicle. I believe that all of the statements that you suggested are insightful to know when planning to either partially purchase or fully purchase a cheap but reliable car.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%. Buying a new car and first car is terrifying, but there's so many aspect to consider. I think msot kdis just want the fun and fast car but have their whole lvies to save up for that car that they eventually want. I think all these aspect are super important when considering your first car.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you because most of the time you don't see students driving long distances, so you should be getting them a more reliable car for the colder winter months where you need your car to start of else you will be left without a car in the freezing cold conditions we call winter. Also you should always be saving money off of every paycheck to make sure you are saving and not just spending everything.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of good tips in here! I love that you added your own voice into the post too with your "garbo car" information. Is there a certain place that you would put your money while saving up for a car, like a savings account or investment or something? How do you know how cheap is too unreliable vs a good deal? Your post is a good reminder of not to worry about all the little extra things (like seat warmers), especially on your first car!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic. Most people either try to get the nicest car possible or cheap out, when in reality they should be finding the happy medium. A lot of people also forget about the costs of gas, insurance, and other expenses when building a budget, they save up for the car, but then don't have enough money for the expenses. Making sure you have enough money before buying a car is vital for your savings.
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty important topic. Unless you're living in a big city where public transportation is very popular having a car is often essential once joining the workforce. But cars a such a big investment. Even the smallest repairs can stack up to hundreds of dollars. Owning one of these can be sort of intimidating. Honestly thinking about what kind of vehicle you REALLY need versus what car would be nice to have is a good reminder. However super cheap cars can become just as expensive as new ones if there is a constant need for maintenance. These are good reminders for when we'll have to start browsing for our first cars.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fitting topic for our age group. Having a car is pretty essential unless you live in the city where public transportation is accessible. Buying a car can get really expensive that is why it's to important to buy something you can afford, it might not be the nicest but it will be better in the long run. Cheap cars might be good but, you want to make sure it runs well so you aren't paying more for repairs when it breaks.
ReplyDeleteThis was super helpful because I'm trying to save up for a new car right now. I like that you mentioned that a first car doesn't need be some luxurious fancy car, all that matters is that it gets you from a to b and is reliable.
ReplyDeleteThe choice of a car can make or break your ability to get around. Your post really highlighted some of the important aspects when picking a car. Sometimes people forget to take the climate they live in into consideration so I think it's a good point to talk about.
ReplyDeleteGetting your license and getting a car is a norm, learning how to find and budget for one is also essential. Getting a car now is very different then getting a car later in life. Now would be the time to get a cheaper car knowing you will only be traveling shorter distances at a time and going to college in a few years.
ReplyDeleteI love this topic and the tips you gave. It 's smart not to go for the fancy first car and to start out with something not new but reliable. Cars can get really expensive especially our age with such high insurance and having a higher chance of getting in a accident you don't want to spend money of a expensive car when you could just wreak it the next day and all that money went down the drain and your insurance would raise higher making it harder to buy another car.
ReplyDeleteCars tend to be a topic that is discussed as if everyone has 20 million dollars around. They will talk about if a rotary is better than V, should Jaguars and Porches not become electric, are turbo's worth it even with the lag,etc... But in reality the best most people can do is a inline 4. No one every talks about the Nissan and the Kia, your article provides actual information that benefits us all.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is great considering many kids do have to buy their own car and it can be hard to make that big of a decision. It truly is a careful balance between finding something affordable that won’t turn out to be a ‘garbo car’ while not spending so much on a brand new car that you might end up crashing in a few days. Thinking about personal travel needs is a very good tip as well, I feel like teens don’t think about gas mileage that much but it really is important if you’re trying to budget in the time after you purchase your vehicle as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is smart to buy a cheap older car. When doing so you need to have a check list to go over to make sure the car will not break down and make sure you have a backup fund before buying the car so if something does break down you can get it solved immediately
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything you said in this article, and I think its a great topic to bring to people's attention. While most people would love a stylish sports car, that isn't always the most affordable or reliable option. I definitely think that for most people, some sort of budget is probably going to need to be set in place before making such a huge purchase.
ReplyDeleteI think it's safe to say that we've all dreamed about having our own car but the reality is for teens is that sometimes you have to buy your own car or at least pay for some of it in order to live that dream. It's a big expense that many can't or struggle to afford. This blog post is a great tool for new drivers to learn about the various way to save money for your dream car while also being practical. Even I can admit that I don't have the greatest looking car but since I only have to drive short distances usually and college is right around the corner it's not practical to blow my paycheck on something that I don't really need. This blog post talks about how to find that balance of practicality and what you want, which is beneficial especially for high school students.
ReplyDeleteThis is really good advice that not everyone wants to hear. I know that when I was looking for a car for myself I got really drawn into the cars that looked cooler rather than the ones that looked practical. It's a really good idea to go with one of the used cars that get you more bang for your buck, especially since cars can last a lot longer than they are expected to if they are old. My last car was in the family for 12 years and had 210,000 miles on it before it was totaled. It just goes to show that a car with 100,000 miles on it will be cheaper and could still last for a long time.
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