Nothing beats that feeling when you climb into your newly purchased car and drive it home. You adjust the seat and mirrors just how you like. You fiddle with the environmental controls until you hit that sweet spot. Perhaps you load in your favourite music and take that long scenic route. It’s an incredible experience all new car lovers crave.
Nothing can turn that blissful memory into a sour experience more than the savage pains of regret when you come face to face with the following…
You Paid How Much?
A few years back in late spring I bought a new car. It was exactly what I wanted, the price and financing was reasonable. I was on the fast track to that beautiful dream of the perfect new car purchase. Then it hit: The next year’s models came out. It’s already confusing enough that new cars come out in the middle of the calendar, but they also can arrive at different times (usually between summer and fall). So I watched gape-mouthed as the very same model of car I bought for the perfect price was suddenly much, much cheaper.
This is a common theme when buying a new car. You sit down sometimes for hours with various car dealerships in your area and perhaps you even take the initiative to get the advice of mom or dad on the phone. You feel clever, in control and the master of your future and you negotiated your way to a good price. But in the world of commercial sales, price is such a flimsy thing that sales and rates bounce back and forth. Anything from that End of the Year Clearance to a blow-out sale that you just didn’t know was coming can make your stomach twist when you envision that nice TV you could have afforded with the difference.
And don’t even get me started on MSRP. The ‘S’ stands for Suggested for a reason.
And What About The Extended Cost?
Interest rates can get even worse if you don’t understand what it means. Even someone with abysmal credit can get a decent rate if they shop around or just find a little more to add to their down payment before they take that beauty home. But hey, you can’t be blamed. It was just so pretty and drove like a dream. Not to mention all the opportunities for selfies you can post on Instagram with your new car, so you forget the lower monthly payment comes with the cost of paying that interest in the future.
Then there is the misunderstood value of a car. Buying new generally means better warranties and hopefully more reliability. But the moment you drive it off the lot, it just lost value. Yep, it’s a fact. First time ownership is the single biggest hit of depreciating value for any automobile. The car will never lose more numbers off its investment price then when you take it home.
When I was younger, I got my first car for a steal. But being young and reckless I also had pretty horrible credit. I signed off on a contract that was not only horribly unfair in the interest rate (32%, seriously) but also required titanic monthly payments I couldn’t afford on my very meager salary. I would have been forced to sell the car and take a huge loss if not for one saving grace which ended up being worse.
The Crash
Let’s be honest, crashes happen and they are commonly unavoidable (there are a lot of bad drivers out there folks, be careful). Thankfully my crash was relatively mild and entirely not my fault. Despite me being a careful driver, someone who apparently thought stop signs were purely for decoration came by and decided our vehicles needed to hug… At forty-five kilometers per hour.
Now at this point you might be thinking, ‘Hey great! You got out of that nightmare of a payment schedule.’ But I did not, at the time, have such a clarity of thought. Instead I was heartbroken to see my first car crunched into a mess of debris all across the street. I wasn’t considering how I just dodged a bullet, I was seeing myself walking in shame to the grocery store where once I rode in this magnificent mechanical steed.
So as I stood there on the sidewalk depressed, I started to think…
Regrets and Revelations
You can avoid the mistakes I made by simply doing two things:
- There’s never such a thing as too much information so research, research, research
- Don’t make rash decisions and weigh out all possibilities
With all the potential dangers to new car buyers out there, it’s no wonder the experience can get soured. Have any nightmare stories of your own? Share your biggest regrets to buying a car in the comments below:
