What To Know Before Buying A Car In 2019

Modern vehicles work differently than those of the past. Everyone is quite comfortable with onboard computers today; they were relatively new in the eighties, and until the nineties, they couldn't be accessed from without. Today's cars include Internet of Things (IoT) devices which can be interfaced with—your vehicle can be hacked. This wasn't an issue in the past.

Following, technological details as well as several other considerations will be briefly examined to help give you an idea what to watch out for as a buyer in 2019. Remember: newer can be better, but it isn't always better.

1. Computer Considerations

This was touched on in the opening: you want to know what sort of computer options come with your vehicle. There are ways to disengage certain computer systems, but it will depend on the vehicle, and how imbedded these systems are with your vehicle's functionality. In an emergency, having some computer system which can send a distress signal can be fine.

However, as self-driving cars become more viable, and IoT tech increasingly permeates vehicular use, there has been a rash of hacking wherein safety features or even control of your vehicle itself can be influenced. Beyond being frightening, such hacking can be potentially deadly. You need to know how to secure yourself.

2. Towbar Considerations

Sometimes a towbar doesn't come standard with the vehicle you're considering, and there's no dealer option. This is rare, but it's not unknown. Towbars, meanwhile, have a lot to recommend them for a lot of reasons.

For example, you can increase the capacity of your vehicle to transport goods, you can hitch a small camper or a travel trailer or a boat, and you may even be able to help someone out in need.

Beyond that, a towbar provides an additional point of contact should your vehicle be sent into a ditch or something where other means of towing aren't available. For more information on towbars, you can try this website.

3. Avoid Financing

Be very careful you don't fall into the debt trap. This can take many forms. You might have heard of a “zero down” deal, and “zero financing fees” for one year. Sometimes this refers to interest, and sometimes, this is only possible because within a year they hit you with an exceptionally exorbitant interest fee covering their “losses”.

Generally, you want to avoid financing. Doing minimum payments can keep a car from being truly yours for twenty years. Beyond minimum payments, you're going to have issues where your vehicle breaks down, or is damaged. The warranty typically isn't longer than 100,000 miles on most new vehicles. If you get past that and haven't finished financing, then you have to cover parts and labor on a vehicle you don't even own.

Buying Used, And Making The Right Choice

You might actually consider buying used and paying everything off immediately. Here's the thing: on average, you're going to pay between $2k and $5k on your vehicle before gasoline. That $2k to $5k will include repairs, oil changes, insurance, tickets, etc. If it takes you ten years to pay off a new vehicle, you've got $20k to $50k in addition to the cost of the vehicle.

A high enough interest rate can sometimes double the cost of your car; so if it were $30k, it could be as high as $60k or more by the time you “own” it. The value will have gone through the floor by then, and you won't recoup much of your spending when you sell, if you can. Altogether, you're looking at $80k to $120k over ten years depending on varying issues for something you don't even own until the very end.

Meanwhile, if you spend $5k on a used car and get two years out of it, you've spent $9k to $15k, total, gotten the same use as a new vehicle, and saved tens of thousands of dollars. Even if you do that at a high-end $7.5k a year cost over five vehicles ten years, that's still cheaper than $80k for the new car after interest by $5k. In all likelihood, you'll find something used that lasts longer than projected here, too, by buying the best cars from Carzaty in Oman.

There's a lot to take into consideration when buying a car in 2019. There are accessories dealers don't offer, there are technology issues, and there are debt traps you need to avoid. Whatever you do, research beforehand, and go into vehicular acquisition with a plan.