Essential Factors for Buying a New Car

David emphasizes the importance of considering key factors and doing thorough research when buying a new or used car.

### Essential Guidelines for Buying a New Car: 10 Key Factors to Consider
* 🚗 Buying a new car is a **significant investment** that requires **careful consideration** and can feel **overwhelming**, but following some important guidelines can **simplify the process**.
* 📊 The first guideline is the **80/20 rule**, suggesting that you should purchase a car you will use **80% of the time** rather than one for rare occasions; for infrequent needs, consider **renting instead**.
* 💰 Next, focus on the **life cycle cost**, which includes not just the **purchase price** but also **maintenance, fuel, insurance, and resale value** over the time you plan to own the car.
* 🔧 Reliability is crucial; gather data from sources like **Consumer Reports** and avoid buying new models in their **first or second year** to ensure you choose a **dependable vehicle**.
* 📝 Emotional attachment to a car can cloud judgment; prioritize your **actual needs and objective data** over initial feelings about design or brand loyalty when making a decision.
* 🔍 Assess the vehicle's capabilities against your requirements, such as **towing capacity** or specific features like **adaptive cruise control**, to ensure it meets your practical needs.
* 🏪 Research the dealer network and service quality; a **reliable dealership nearby** is essential for **ongoing support and maintenance** of your vehicle.
* 🔮 Consider the past, present, and future of the vehicle and market trends, especially with **rapidly evolving technologies like electric vehicles**, to make informed long-term decisions.
* 🚙 Evaluate the pros and cons of new versus used cars; in the current market, it may be more beneficial to buy new due to **high used car prices** and the advantages of **warranty coverage**.
* 🎨 Lastly, don't overlook the importance of color; **brighter colors can enhance safety and affect resale value**, so choose wisely based on these factors.
* 🛣 Finally, always conduct thorough test drives to ensure the car **feels right for you**; aim for **longer test drives** and compare multiple vehicles on the same day for the **best assessment**.

Hi everyone, it's David from Auto Press. As you guys know, buying a new car these days is one of the most important things we have to do because it costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. But trying to figure out which car to buy is also

like trying to figure out a puzzle; it's complicated. It's like a matrix of things to consider, and there are so many factors and criteria to consider that some of us just get confused. And you know what? Sometimes we just give up. But maybe if I can give you some important

guidelines, you might be able to make the right decision faster and easier and end up with a car that you're going to be happy with. So, as an engineer, let me give you 10 important criteria or factors to consider when buying a new car so that

you are able to make the right decision. Let's [Music] go. Welcome back. So, how do you decide which new car to buy, or maybe even a used car? Well, it takes some patience, takes effort and knowledge and insight to figure out what to do with your next

new car or next used car. But I think I can give you some really important guidelines that will streamline your process and help you decide the right vehicle for you. In fact, I'm going to give you 10 things to consider. The first rule is what I call the 80/20 rule, which

is very simple: buy a car that you need or you want to use 80% of the time versus trying to buy a car that you might need once in a while. For example, most of the time maybe you just need an SUV like this one right here. This is my Land

Cruiser and then maybe once in a while you have your in-laws or some extended family coming to visit you and you need a minivan because you need a seven passenger or eight passenger vehicle so you decide I think I should just buy a

minivan or big SUV with the three rows because you know what whatever once a year twice a year I got to drive some people around well that's the wrong decision because if you really need to get a minivan or big SUV to move some people around once or twice or even

three times a year go and rent it it's way cheaper to do that than to compromise your purchase and buy something that you don't most of the time so 80/20 rule maybe even 90/10 rule buy a car that you want or you need

80 or 90% of the time and for the occasional times when you need a minivan or a truck or something to tow then rent them or borrow from your friend but don't make a decision based on the small percentage of time that you might need

that car for so that's rule number one 80/20 rule or maybe even 90/10 rule the second really important factor to keep in mind is what I call the life cycle cost now I talk about this in my business classes because corporations and businesses also make the same

mistake and that is don't make a decision based on buying price or the price you're going to pay when you first pick up the item this applies to whether you're buying a car or anything else you're buying but instead take into account the entire cost of ownership

over the time you're going to keep the car so let's say you're going to keep the car for 5 years then figure out or estimate the buying cost minus the resale cost which will give you the actual cost of ownership over the 5 years or

longer and then take into account things like maintenance because maybe maintenance will be included as part of a package obviously fuel cost the insurance cost can be dramatically different from one type of car to the next type of car especially if you're buying a sports car versus let's say a

minivan so take all these into account and calculate out the life cycle cost take the purchase price minus the estimated resale value then take the difference divide up by the number of years you expect to keep the car add the annual maintenance cost add the annual insurance cost add the annual fuel cost again

based on the estimated range that you're going to be driving and then package that up and figure out the actual cost per month and that way you can do a fair and honest and accurate comparison between a Model A and a Model B or Model C because sometimes the cost might be a

little bit higher than you want to but the resale value is super high like this one right here in the Land Cruiser and therefore the actual ownership cost could be lower other times you buy a car that's really good price with a promotion but the resale value is terrible

and maybe the fuel and the maintenance cost is high then the total cost of ownership could be higher than a car that you buy that is more expensive so again number two life cycle cost calculate it out don't base it on the pure purchase cost take into account the

entire cost the third factor to keep in mind is also very important that's reliability now in some cases it's hard to predict long-term reliability such as this one right here which is a 2.4 Turbo Hybrid in the Land Cruiser because it's

a new engine new model and we don't know yet how good the reliability is over the next 5 to 10 years until much later on but assuming you can get some data maybe from Consumer Reports which isn't too bad maybe even from J.D. Power which isn't the

best source but but combine data from different sources go and take a look at some of the forums which will also give you some idea uh also go and talk to the um the service shop or mechanics and service department at the dealership sometime they'll be honest enough to

tell you don't buy a BC or CDE because they had some troubles in the past so try to get a kind of both objective and some subjective data around reliability and then use that as one of the factors to decide which car you should buy obviously you want to buy a car that's

most reliable and that also means that generally speaking don't buy the first year maybe not even the second year of any new models from any brand that includes Toyota and Lexus even though in the past I said it's pretty safe to buy a Toyota or Lexus model in the first or

second year I just wouldn't do that anymore because of the recent recalls and issues they had so even for a brand like Toyota I would just wait one or two years uh ideally you buy the facelifted model which will be usually the fourth year

or sometimes the fifth year, that's when they fix all the bugs and issues with any brands, with any automakers. So yes, look at the reliability data. If you don't have enough data, then just avoid buying the first couple of years and buy the third or fourth year or maybe even

wait for the facelifted year, that would be the best year to buy in terms of reliability. The fourth reason is being objective versus being subjective, so more to do with emotional attachment to a car. And this one is a bit hard to explain because most of us have some

kind of attachment or some kind of desire or love for a particular car. For example, I've always wanted a Land Cruiser, so it didn't matter that it has a 2.4 Turbo Hybrid instead of a six-cylinder engine, it doesn't have a naturally

aspirated engine, but I always wanted a Land Cruiser, so I bought one. And as you guys know, I buy and sell many different cars over the years, but what I have learned over the years is that most of the time when you have some kind of

emotional attachment or emotional desire to buy a car, well some of those things will just wear off after two to three months, well maybe six months, let's say. It doesn't matter how much you love the car when you first bought it, maybe the design or the interior or the color you

really fell in love with it. If something is not quite right with a car or if it's something that doesn't quite meet your need, I guarantee in 3 to 6 months' time you're going to get tired of the car, even though you might have fallen in love

with it before, so make sure that your decision-making process is more to do with what you actually need, is more to do with objective data and more to do with your experience driving the car when you take it for a spin versus whether or not you like the color or the

exterior design or just attachment to a particular brand or a model because they tend to wear off. And the flip side of the coin is that sometimes there are cars that I don't really like at all in terms of design; it doesn't look great, maybe I

don't like the color, but I fell in love with it after owning it for a few months because it drives so well, it matches to what I need. So the opposite can happen as well, and so the best advice I can give you is go and drive many different

cars and make sure that your decisions are based on actual experience of driving it and looking at it and sitting in it as opposed to your emotional attachment based on exterior design or your first glance or first love. So that's something to keep in mind. The

fifth point is somewhat related to the fourth one, and that is make sure that the capability of a vehicle you're buying matches to exactly what you're looking for and your needs. I don't just mean in terms of SUV versus minivan, but

I'm talking about features. For example, I often do long drives to Seattle, so having an adaptive cruise control that is also almost autonomous is extremely helpful for me on this Land Cruiser. I do have to hold on to steering a little bit, but for the most part it will steer itself and

makes the long drive two or three long hour drives so much easier so that is a very important critical element for me on the other hand the stereo system on this Land Cruiser isn't all that good but it doesn't matter to me because I'm not always listening to stereo I'm

usually listening to podcasts or something else so it's not so critical that I have the best stereo system but maybe for you having the best stereo system is critical but maybe having adaptive cruise control is not so you got to figure out and dial in exactly

what you need if you need to tow a boat for example you have to make sure that uh there's enough towing capacity to match whatever you're towing and if you want to go camping and fishing like I do then obviously you want something that's more practical for that purpose

so so make sure that you write down exactly what you're looking for in terms of features and don't compromise them because again later on you'll regret if you don't have those things for me for example the some of the most important thing is to have adaptive cruise control

to have a decent stereo but not great stereo and I need a space in the back to put things for my fishing and camping those are critical things and I also want fun to drive character I don't want to drive a vehicle that has a really

light steering or poor handling those are important critical things for me but you might have different needs and different requirements make sure you write them down and list them out and match it to the car you're looking for the sixth important factor is to do with

a dealer Network and dealer service for example let's say you fall in love with an Alfa Romeo Stelvio but the dealer is 700 miles away or almost 1000 km away well that doesn't make any sense because for one the Alfa Romeos aren't reliable and

if you have taken it in for service often it's going to frustrate you like anything if it's really far away so you want to make sure that there's a dealer that you trust or you like close by is not too far away and that they

have a good service and support system for your vehicle for your brand it's possible that you end up with a car that you really like but you can't stand the dealership because they don't take care of you and that could be just an added

stress so I always say go and hunt around for the right dealership go and talk to the service shop and go and talk to the parts department make sure you get to know the dealer as a whole because you want to make sure that you have a dealership close by that you

trust and that you feel comfortable with now keep in mind that if you go to the more of a upscale Brands like Lexus versus Toyota you will always get better service and that's also an important factor if you want the least amount of stress from a dealership then you should move

up to a more of a upscale brand premium brand generally speaking they will take better care of you as I witnessed with the Lexus model compared to Toyota models although for me I know these dealers so well that I get a really good service regardless but I wouldn't buy

from a particular brand just because I know that they don't have a good reputation for servicing and those things are really important later on as you continue to own the vehicle because something's always going to go wrong. What else can you consider and think about as you

try to figure out the best car for you? Well, the seventh factor is what I call the past, present, and the future. What do I mean by that? Well, first of all, don't let the past always dictate your present moment decision. For example, 10 years ago

you had a bad experience with a particular brand, so you swore that you will never buy that brand. Well, obviously, 10 years later, things can be very different. At the same time, the reverse of that could also be true, in a sense that maybe decades ago your family

bought a particular brand and they were very happy with it, so you want to stick with it. Well, once again, things change, so the past does not dictate the present or future. So, first of all, don't let the past hold you one way or the other. Second thing is that don't always base

it on the present moment. So, for example, you might get some really good deals right now on EVs because the EVs aren't selling as well as they should, and some dealers are giving some discounts on EVs. Even Toyota is giving a huge discount on the bZ4X, but in 4 to 5 years time

the battery technology is changing so much. If you buy an EV right now based on present technology and if you keep it for 5 or 6 years, it could almost be obsolete because technology would have improved so much to the point that whatever we have right now in the

Current EVs are kind of meaningless, so if you're going to keep the car for 10 years, I wouldn't buy EVs right now, but instead I would wait a little bit longer so the present doesn't dictate the future either. So what do I mean by that?

Well, always look ahead. If you're going to keep a car for 10 years, then think ahead and say in 10 years' time what will happen to the market. And that's a bit of a crystal ball prediction, of course, but we can make some simple predictions in

the sense that the EVs will continue to evolve, and therefore EVs will be the most difficult thing to buy right now if we want to keep it for long term. On the other hand, if you buy a gas GLE or V8 powered car now in five or six years, it

might be difficult to sell because most people might not want to spend a lot of money for fuel. So those are some important factors to keep in mind. I mean, in terms of my own personal suggestions, I will hold off on the EVs for now if you're going to keep it for long term

because the technology is changing. I also wouldn't buy a really old-fashioned technology like a very large displacement V8 powered car unless you want to keep it for 20 years, because again, they might be very difficult to sell down the road. If you're looking

through my channel, you kind of will know which cars are really popular and which ones are hot, and they tend to move in the right direction. So if you buy something like a Land Cruiser right now, you know for a fact that in five or six years, it will retain good value.

because the nameplate is there and this particular model is in high demand with low volume of production so keep that in mind and try to predict into the future depending on how long you want to keep the car and so focus your decision mostly about the future as opposed to

the present or the past. The eighth decision point is whether to buy a brand new car or used or slightly used cars which includes demonstrators and demo models. That's obviously all to do with pricing and your budget, but keep in mind that because used cars are so expensive

these days, especially hybrids and Toyota models, that if you buy a two or three-year-old, uh, let's say Toyota RAV4 hybrid, you're kind of better off to just wait a year or so and try to get a brand new RAV4. Maybe you have to come down in

terms of trim levels, but it's better to buy a cheaper brand new model than to buy a more upscale used car right now just because the used car market is still pretty high and it's going to take a little bit longer for things to settle down. So lately I've been telling people

if you're going to buy a, a two-year-old, let's say RAV4 hybrid with 40,000 kilometers or something like that, you're better off to just wait a year, put a deposit and buy the base model RAV4 hybrid brand new.

You get a full warranty and it's going to hold its value anyway. So those are some of the things you have to keep in mind. Having said that, at the end of the day, used cars are always cheaper than new cars and they're many, many good

choices in the used car market so don't ignore that there's some really fascinating cars and of course sports cars, convertibles, and premium cars tend to depreciate a lot so you can get some really good deals if they're two or three

years old. Just make sure that there's some kind of extra warranty applied to the vehicle if it's a used car and I would kind of avoid buying a car that's really old even though I do that from time to time just because they're a handful and you have to be prepared to

spend time and money fixing them and keeping them up to date. So those are things I wouldn't do it for a day-to-day driver, uh but again think about the used car versus new car, which one is the right one for you right now. I'm kind of

leaning toward new cars just because the warranty is good and the used cars are very expensive. The ninth factor might surprise you and that is color. Why does color matter? Well, for two reasons. One is that it's safety related. If you buy a bright colors like white, yellows, orange

or actually any bright colors, then the statistics show that there are as much as 10 to 20% less accidents with cars that have a brighter color. So if you're very safety conscious, then buy a brighter color. But the second thing is that it affects the resale value quite a bit

more than you think. Anything in terms of the top priority for colors such as white, silvers, grays and dark grays, maybe even blacks are generally speaking quite popular and therefore when you want to sell the car down the road it's easier to sell with those kind of colors, but if

you buy let's say a bright green or bright yellow or bright orange or maybe even purple, which you find these days, you're going to have a heck of a time finding a buyer for them. And even the dealership might not want to accept your

car as a trade-in because they know it's going to be difficult to sell. So unless you're prepared to keep a car for a very long time, avoid strange odd colors that might only appeal to a small percentage of buyers. Stick with the most popular colors which in North America, once again,

are the Whites, Silvers, Grays, dark Grays, and then maybe even black. That's actually quite popular as well. And in the sports car, actually red is acceptable, but even for for car yellows, oranges, greens are not very popular, and you're going to have a heck of a time in

selling those. So keep in mind the colors are subjective, but you have to keep in mind the resale value. And of course some colors are safer than others, so keep that in mind as well. And finally, some colors are easier to take care of than others. So lighter colors like whites and

Silvers are very easy to hide dirt and also other stuff that gets on the car. So you don't have to watch those cars as often. If you buy a black, it shows everything, it also has shows all the scratches, so it's a lot more upkeep, and

that's something to keep in mind. Also interesting enough, if you get into an accident, actually some colors are more difficult to match. For example, Silvers and grays are really hard to match, and therefore, even if you take it to a reputable body shop, you can actually see

the unmatched paint because they can never quite match silvers and grays so those are all the interesting factors to keep in mind but yes color does come into play in terms of deciding which car to buy think of those things the 10th and the final things to keep in mind is

that I'm still surprised at how many people will buy a car without test driving or at least doing a proper test drive some people just put a deposit and buy a car without ever driving it other people take it for a five minute drive and they think they know the car and

those are some of the things that you should not compromise because once again until you drive it for let's say at least half an hour you just don't know whether the car is right for you and if you're comparing three or four different cars don't drive one car on one day and

then drive the other car the second day or third day again you just won't be able to remember your body won't be able to remember exactly how the car felt so do all the test drives in the same day back to back drive the RAV4 then the CRV

then the Nissan Rogue and then you'll know exactly which one is the right one for you and ask for at least half an hour of test drive time from a salesperson tell them that it's a lot of money for you it's it's a huge

investment and you want to make sure that you have the right car in hand uh so drive it for a long time do a back to back and also drive it from different environments like drive it on a sunny day and maybe go and test drive again in

on a rainy day or maybe even a snowy day so they can figure out whether you like the car under many different circumstances as opposed to one condition if you're able to let's say rent that car from a rental car company or from something like Turo then yeah go and

rent it out that's even better or maybe your friends have one see if you can borrow it and drive it for a couple of hours or a day that would be the best if you're looking at some of the more upscale models then sometimes the

dealership will let you take it overnight and that would be the best thing to do because you'll know for sure if you like it and sometimes you don't notice a few things like oh I can't squeeze into my garage because it turned

out to be much bigger than I thought so those are some of the things to keep in mind don't compromise the test drive make sure you drive it long enough make sure you drive different models back to back and if you can take it for overnight or for a couple of hours to

drive and that will really really help you to decide so I hope this video was helpful I gave you 10 things to consider in terms of so buying a new car or maybe even a used one and if you take these things to account one by one from

1 to 10 you will likely make a good decision and there will be less chance of having buyer's remorse because you would have gone through all the important factors and criteria that will get you the car that's right for you if you have some comments or questions

Please let me know if you haven't done so yet, give me a thumbs up, and if you are not a subscriber, I would truly appreciate it if you can subscribe as well. If you've got more questions, let me know. Until next video, I'm signing off for now.

ENGINEER EXPLAINS HOW TO DECIDE WHICH CAR TO BUY // 10 KEY FACTORS // GUIDELINE TO HELP YOU DECIDE

AutomotivePress

Introduction and Overview of Car Buying Challenges

Buying a new car is a significant decision due to cost and time commitment.

Choosing a car is complex with many factors to consider, leading to confusion and potential giving up.

The video will provide 10 important criteria for making the right car-buying decision.

The process requires patience, effort, and knowledge.

Key Criteria for Choosing a Car: The 80/20 Rule and Life Cycle Cost

Prioritize needs: Buy a car used 80-90% of the time; rent for occasional needs.

Consider life cycle cost: Total cost of ownership over time (purchase, resale, maintenance, fuel, insurance).

Reliability: Research data from various sources (Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, forums, mechanics).

Avoid first-year models due to potential issues; wait for facelifted models (year 4 or 5).

Objective vs. Subjective Decision-Making; Capability Matching

Prioritize objective needs over emotional attachment; initial feelings may change.

Ensure vehicle capabilities match specific needs and desired features (e.g., adaptive cruise control, towing capacity).

Consider dealer network and service accessibility and reputation.

Past, Present, and Future Considerations; New vs. Used Cars

Don't let past experiences solely dictate present decisions; consider changes over time.

Don't solely rely on present deals; consider future technological advancements and market trends (EVs).

Evaluate new vs. used car options considering current market prices and warranties.

Color considerations: Safety (brighter colors), resale value (popular colors), maintenance.

Thorough test drive is crucial: At least 30 minutes, compare multiple cars on the same day, consider various driving conditions.

Summary: Consider all factors to minimize buyer's remorse.