St. Petersburg Kia Offers Tips for Buying Your First Car

Jul 27, 2013

For the first time car buyer, buying a car can be overwhelming. How do you know which car to buy, how much you can afford, or how to negotiate with the dealership? There are many things to consider when car shopping that goes beyond finding a nice looking car in your favorite color. Here are some tips from your St. Petersburg Kia dealer for buying your first car:

Getting Your Finances in Order

Buying a car actually starts at home, where you spend some time fine tuning your budget. You need to know how much you can afford before you decide on a car you want to buy. If you’re paying with cash, you’ll know exactly how much money you have to shop with. If you’re financing the purchase with a car loan, you’ll need to consider what you can afford in terms of your monthly payment and all additional expenses – such as car insurance, registration, gasoline and maintenance.

If you have a small budget, you might start by looking at used Kia vehicles. You can often get a vehicle with just a few years and few thousand miles on it for several thousand dollars less than you can buy the newest model.

Visit Our Website or Dealership

Once you have an idea for how much you can afford, you can browse our inventory of vehicles on our St. Petersburg Kia website or at our dealership. Make a list of cars that both fit your need for vehicle in terms of size and features, and that also fall within your budget.

Armed with your short list of possible vehicle options, call your car insurance agent or go online to get insurance quotes for each vehicle. You may be surprised to learn how different car insurance premiums are for each type of car.

Double check Consumer Reports for reliability information to help minimize your long term maintenance expenses for any vehicle you choose.

Take a Kia for a Test Drive

By this stage in the buying process, you probably have just a couple of cars you are interested in. The best thing you can do to finalize your decision is to take the cars for a test drive to see how it feels in the driver’s seat and how the car handles.

Negotiate

All dealers need to turn a profit on the sale of their vehicles, and as a buyer, you want to get the best price possible on your purchase. When negotiating, don’t negotiate based on the monthly payment – negotiate the price of the car itself.

If you are going with financing, make sure you get pre-approved for a car loan with a lender outside the dealership so you know what your interest rate would be, and then also allow the dealer to offer financing to you. Use the loan with the lowest interest rate and best repayment terms.