The saying goes, “if we didn’t own cars, we’d
all be millionaires” – and it’s true.
Owning a vehicle costs far more than you
think! If you are planning to buy a car consider the costs:
The initial deposit
Loan repayments and the
cost of interest
Cost of registration
Cost of warrants of fitness.
Cost of maintenance and repairs
(allow at least $1,000 per year on a good car)
Running costs
Insurance costs.
Depreciation costs
However, for most of us, a car is not
a luxury.
Here are some tips to save money on vehicles.
If you need to borrow to buy a car, try to borrow the money
through a bank rather than a finance company (usually recommended
to you by the dealer). The banks’ interest rates are
generally much lower – even for a personal loan. Of
course you will need to have established a good credit rating.
If
you can add the cost of your car to your mortgage, this is
even better, but check out any associated costs.
Shop around for insurance. If you already have house and contents
insurance with one company it’s usually cheaper to
insure your vehicle with the same company. But not always.
Check it
out!
Keep your car serviced. It will run better and therefore
cost you less. When it comes to reselling, it will be easier to
quit a well-maintained vehicle.
Insurance cover offered at point of sale. The merits of this
type of insurance are debatable. If you buy the vehicle from
a MVDA tradesman, you should be covered for any major faults
by the Consumer Guarantees Act and the Motor Vehicle Dealers
Act. See the link to www.consumer.org.nz for more info on
this insurance.
It’s better to buy from a registered motor vehicle dealer
(they’ll have the letters MVDA after their name). You
have no comeback if you buy privately. Buying at auction
is also risky.
Try to have the car checked by an independent
assessor. You’ll
pay extra for this, but it may save you some grief.
