Buying a car is not easy. There are so many things to consider, from price to durability and everything in between.

What’s more, the auto industry changes constantly — models get discontinued, new features pop up, and cars are modified over time with recalls or manufacturer updates. With all of these factors at play, it can be hard to know whether you’re getting a good deal on your next ride (and if it’s even worth buying).

To help simplify things for you, we’ve created this ultimate check list of questions to ask yourself before buying your next car.

How to Buy a Car? The Ultimate Car Buying Checklist

Takeaways
Hybrid cars are an excellent choice for car buyers who prioritize fuel efficiency, environmental impact, and saving money.
Before purchasing a hybrid car, consider factors such as budget, car models, safety ratings and resell values.
Doing your research and using checklists can make the car-buying process less stressful and more informed.
Regular maintenance and proper handling can help extend your hybrid car’s lifespan.
Leaning towards hybrid cars is a good step towards embracing a more eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.

Maintenance costs

Before you buy a car, you should know how much it will cost to keep it running. The more expensive the car is and the older it is, the more often you’ll need to get repairs done (and sometimes fixed by professional mechanics).

The first thing to check when considering a new car purchase is what kinds of maintenance costs are associated with that particular model so that you have an idea on where your money will go over time. Here are some things to consider:

How often do I need to take my car in for maintenance?

Do I have access to any discounts or free services at local shops?
What kinds of parts may break down—and how much will they cost me? Note: Parts can range anywhere from $200-$2,000+. For example, if your transmission goes bad at 100K miles, this could easily run upwards of $1k in labor charges and another $1k+ for any parts required. Yikes!

Whether you’re a first-time car buyer or an experienced one, purchasing a hybrid car can be a great choice for you and the environment. Our Ultimate Hybrid Car Buyers Guide will walk you through everything you need to know before making the switch.

Financing

Now that you’ve found the car for you, it is time to decide on financing. Financing is how much money you need to pay for the vehicle up front. In order for a bank or dealership to approve financing for a car, they will look at several key factors: your credit score, work history and income.

Your credit score indicates how responsible of a borrower you are and how likely it is that they will be able to collect payments from you if they lend money. Your work history indicates whether or not they have reason to believe that your income level will allow them to collect payments from you over time (if possible).

In short: The more reliable these two factors appear individually—and together—the better chance there is at getting approved!

Car history

You should also get a car history report. This report will tell you every owner the vehicle has been through, as well as any accidents or modifications that have been made to it. You can find out if the car was stolen too.

If there are any outstanding recalls on your selected vehicle, make sure that those are dealt with before you sign for the car.

Safety features

Safety features can be expensive, but they’re worth it. You’ll need to decide whether you want to go for the top-of-the-line safety features in your new car or add them aftermarket.

If you’re buying a used car and want to add some of these features, you can do so by purchasing them from an auto parts store or online.

Making the switch to a hybrid car can be a wise financial decision for any car owner. Browse our Top 15 Hybrid Cars That Will Save You a Fortune on Gas to find the best hybrid car suited for your needs, budget, and lifestyle.

Fuel efficiency

Fuel efficiency is measured in miles per gallon (mpg), and it’s a measure of how many miles you can drive on one gallon of gas. The higher the number, the more fuel efficient the car.

For example, if your vehicle gets 30 mpg on average and you drive 20 miles to work each day and fill up your tank once each week, then your car will cost $1.15 per mile over the course of a month.

If an improved model were to get 40 mpg—a 25% increase in efficiency—then your costs would decrease to only $0.67 per mile for commuting (and any other trips).

Brand	Model	Combined MPG	City MPG	Highway MPG
Honda	Insight	55	49	60
Toyota	Prius	56	58	53
Hyundai	Ioniq	60	57	59
Kia	Niro	49	45	50
Ford	C-MAX	40	42	38

This table compares the fuel efficiency of popular hybrid cars available in the market. Fuel efficiency can be a major consideration when deciding to purchase a hybrid car as it helps reduce the carbon footprint and long-term costs of ownership.

Insurance costs

When buying a car, you’ll usually have to pay for insurance up front. Insurance companies take a lot of factors into account when figuring out how much you’ll pay for coverage, so it can be hard to tell what your rate will be before committing to the policy.

However, there are things you can do before purchasing your vehicle that can help reduce the cost of insurance by hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year.

Here are some tips to get started:

Get quotes from several different providers and compare them: You may not realize this but there’s actually quite a bit of variation between rates at different companies. In fact, just by comparing different quotes you could save up to 30% on your premiums! Start with this list of top insurers and then move on to these other sites as well (we’ll update them as they come out).

Consider bundling auto and home together: Insurance providers love getting more customers because it makes their business more efficient—they don’t have separate teams managing each product line—so if one person is already buying two types of coverage from them then chances are high that offering additional discounts would make sense financially speaking.

Shop around during renewal periods too! Most insurers offer deals when people renew their policies; if yours doesn’t then just switch over after six months since most plans go into effect immediately upon purchase anyway.

Don’t forget about discounts! Some common ones include paying termly rather than annually (you’ll get $10 off per month), taking defensive driving classes ($25-$50 off), having newer cars (better safety ratings mean lower rates) etc., so check out our guide here for more info about how these work.* Make sure everything

Unsure if a hybrid car is right for you? Learn about the pros and cons of owning a hybrid car and decide whether it’s time for you to make the switch with our Pros and Cons of Hybrid Cars guide.

Market value

You’ll want to know the market value of your car, so you can do some price comparison. You have a few options:

Check Kelley Blue Book. This is a classic source for determining how much your car is worth. It’s free and easy to use—you just enter its make and model, as well as optional features like leather seats or navigation, then click “Get Your Instant Trade-In Value.”

The result will be an estimate based on national averages for similar cars in good condition with low mileage (Kelley uses recent sales data).

If you’re shopping around at dealerships, this number will help you figure out what their offers are really worth compared to each other. Plus, if they end up offering less than that amount when they finally come back with an actual offer (which they almost certainly will), then it means they’re scamming you!

Look up cars like yours on Autotrader or Craigslist under “sold listings”. You can often find out what people actually paid for cars just like yours by searching through sold listings on these sites—just look for ones that match your year/make/model combo plus whatever extra conditions apply (like having all four doors).

Then add about 10% onto those numbers; this should give you a pretty accurate idea of how much money someone else would pay for something similar today (and therefore how much money it would cost them).

Reliability

Be sure to check the car’s history. A vehicle’s safety features, fuel efficiency and insurance costs can be determined by its reliability. In order to make the most informed decision possible before buying a car, research the market value of similar vehicles on the market.

The exterior condition of your potential purchase should also be taken into consideration by checking for dings, scratches or other signs of wear and tear around the vehicle. The interior condition is important as well because it will give you an idea of how long it has been owned by its present owner and whether or not they cared for it properly during that time frame.

Looking for the latest hybrid car models to hit the market? Check out our 10 Best Hybrid Cars of 2023 list and discover the most fuel-efficient and eco-friendly hybrid cars available today.

Warranties and service contracts

Warranties and service contracts are essential if you want to be sure your car will be reliable.

Warranties, which come in two varieties: manufacturer’s and aftermarket (or third party). The former comes with the vehicle when you buy it directly from the manufacturer or their authorized dealer.

Aftermarket warranties are sold separately by companies not affiliated with a particular carmaker.

Regardless of what kind of warranty is on your mind, make sure it has at least a 3-year coverage period and covers all major components; engine block and cylinder head corrosion, transmission failure resulting from internal transmission defects (not including normal wear),

electrical system failure due to wire harness corrosion/seizure/breakage under normal driving conditions, damage caused by road hazard such as potholes or gravel kicked up by other vehicles into your windshield wipers (but not glass breakage), loss of coolant due to a crack in the radiator shell but only once every 5 years after purchase date (unless otherwise stated).

You should also look at how many miles before coverage starts – typically this is 12k miles for new cars but may differ depending on make/model year etcetera.”

Brand	Model	Warranty	Service Contracts
Honda	Insight	3 Years/36k miles	Available for purchase
Toyota	Prius	3 Years/36k miles	Available for purchase
Hyundai	Ioniq	5 Years/60k miles	Standard and available for purchase
Kia	Niro	10 Years/100k miles (powertrain only)	Available for purchase
Ford	C-MAX	3 Years/36k miles	Available for purchase

This table compares the warranty and service contracts offered by popular hybrid cars available in the market. Car buyers may consider these factors when purchasing a new hybrid car as they can affect the insurability and reliability of the vehicle as well as the cost of ownership over time.

Used or new car?

There are several things to consider when deciding whether you want a used or new car. Here are some of the advantages of buying a new vehicle:

New cars depreciate faster than used cars, so if you’re looking at resale value, it makes sense to buy new.

Manufacturers provide warranties for new cars; with used ones, you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket if something breaks down within the warranty period. This can be expensive and a hassle if you don’t have access to auto repair facilities nearby that know how to work on your specific model—or any car at all!

Because they’re newer models and thus less likely to break down in their early life cycle (most manufacturers put fewer miles on them), new vehicles tend to be more reliable than their older counterparts—you won’t deal with issues like bad transmissions or worn tires as often as would happen with an older model car.

Also consider that because many people keep their vehicles longer these days due in part because of rising costs associated with ownership (paying off debt is harder than ever), there may come a day when driving becomes impossible or unsafe due either directly or indirectly through age related issues such as reduced eyesight or hearing loss which could potentially lead up until then though these days aren’t necessarily far away either depending upon how long someone lives after retirement age).

Buying newer means better safety features such as airbags built into seats instead having them installed separately by sitting close enough together inside cabin; crash tests also show much safer results coming from modernized designs versus earlier models without them installed (though they were always available).

Should you go for a gasoline car or a hybrid car? Discover the difference between the two and see which is the better choice for you with our Hybrid Cars Vs Gasoline Cars guide. Our guide will give you a detailed comparison of each car type, from fuel efficiency to long-term costs.

Exterior condition

Check for rust. Rust can be very expensive to repair, so it’s important that you do your due diligence before buying a car. Look for any areas of rust on the body, undercarriage and wheel wells. Also check for discolored paint or peeling paint on the exterior of the vehicle.

Look at dents and dings in the bodywork. You don’t want to buy a car with lots of dents, especially if they’re noticeable from afar—it could mean that previous owners have driven their cars recklessly in order to avoid getting into accidents (or worse).

Look at scratches and fading on the paint job—these are signs that a vehicle has been in an accident at some point during its lifetime, even if repairs have been made since then by an unskilled mechanic who didn’t know how to properly buff out scratches or replace damaged panels with factory-quality parts (which can be more expensive than what they’re worth).

Interior condition

Interior condition. This one’s pretty simple–make sure the car is in good condition inside and out. If you can, check any interior wear yourself by opening doors or turning on the lights (if it’s night time).

Interior features. Look for things like power windows and locks, air conditioning, cruise control and even a CD player or USB port.

Depending on your budget and needs, these features may or may not be important to you; if there are options for this kind of thing–look into them! You never know when those little extras could come in handy later down the line!

Interior comfort/noise level: It’s important to find an appropriate balance between comfortability and noise levels in your vehicle so that it doesn’t become too loud while driving around town during rush hour traffic jams (which happens all too often nowadays).

If possible try spending some time driving different cars around town before deciding which one feels right for

Brand	Model	Interior Condition
Honda	Insight	Excellent
Toyota	Prius	Very Good
Hyundai	Ioniq	Good
Kia	Niro	Fair
Ford	C-Max	Poor

This table compares the interior condition of popular hybrid cars available in the market. The condition of the interior could be a factor when considering whether to purchase a hybrid car as it may affect the car’s resale value and overall appearance.

Conclusion

We know it can be overwhelming to try and figure out all of these things, but we hope this checklist helps you.

If you’re still unsure about anything on this list and need more information, contact us! We’re here to help and want you to have all the facts before buying your next car.

FAQs

What factors should I consider when buying a new car?

Some factors to consider when buying a new car are:

Budget
Car’s make and model
Safety ratings

Fuel efficiency
Warranty
Resale value

How much down payment should I make on a new car?

Typically, 20% of the car’s purchase price is recommended as a down payment. This reduces the cost of the monthly payments and the interest paid throughout the lifetime of the loan.

Should I finance or lease a new car?

The decision to finance or lease a car depends on your preference and financial situation. Financing a car gives you the ability to own the car and build equity while leasing a car can offer you lower monthly payments and the option to drive a new car more frequently.

Do I need to get a pre-purchase inspection when buying a new car?

While it is not mandatory to get a pre-purchase inspection when buying a new car, it is still a wise choice. A pre-purchase inspection can detect any potential problems that the car may have and prevent future issues.

How can I negotiate the price of a new car?

Negotiating the price of a new car can be intimidating, but doing your research and understanding the current market value of the car can give you leverage. Consider non-price factors like color, warranty and add-ons to negotiate the car’s total value.