When you buy a car, you bring home a new family member. This member will take you to your office on time, let you take your love to a long romantic drive and make you feel young again with its speed. Also, a good car costs a fortune, so it is very important that you know your ride well before bringing it home.
Here is a List of 5 Car Features You Must Look for Before Buying:
Safety
Your car might thrill you at 140 mph along with the luxuries and fancy facilities, but if it doesn’t have the required safe features, your ride might be a time bomb waiting to explode. The reason safety is the first priority is that the numbers of road causalities are very high. A good safety device can definitely reduce the majority of it.
Sadly, many people overlook the safety features which later costs them heavily. Many people know about the airbags, but what the majority is unaware of are curtain airbags. They are meant to drop down from rooftop to protect your head in case of a sudden impact.
Every car goes through the crash test, after which ratings are given from 1-5, 5 being safest. So, make sure to go for the maximum. Also, make sure that you have these safety features installed in your ride:
i. Anti-lock brakes
ii. Electronic stability control
iii. Safety alerts
The Engine
After making sure that your car is safe, the next thing is, well, the one for which you were waiting – speed and fuel efficiency. Both of them depend on the engine. Now, the ideal combination would be to keep both the speed and fuel efficiency in balance.
What you need to check here is the overall displacement of the motor in liters and the number of cylinders in the engine. Confused?
Here is an example to clear your doubts –
- Most of the small cars you see, usually have 1 to 1.5-liter engines with three or four-cylinders, which is excellent for fuel efficiency but lacks in speed.
- Then there are those flashy sports cars. They usually have 3 liters but have turbochargers to get more power. The Supercars such as Ferrari and Lamborghinis have engines larger than 6 liters with 8 cylinders. This allows them to pass others easily but also drinks a lot of fuel. Also, when you are stuck in traffic, the rapid acceleration won’t be of any help.
Therefore, chose the one that is balanced. Hybrid is a better choice to have better efficiency.
Cost
Unless you’re a millionaire, cost of the ride is a very important aspect for common people. Always make sure to talk freely with the dealer about all the hidden as well as the additional costs that you have to bear. It is also advisable to talk to several dealers before finalizing so that you have different options on your plate.
One very crucial part is in this aspect is the car insurance, as it can go a long way, especially in the bad times. So, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Transmission
Whether you like the automatic transmission, where the car does everything for you or you like the traditional stick shift transmission, or the new “semi-automatic” transmission, make sure to know all about the transmission of your ride, as it might not affect the performance but will definitely affect the fun element and cost. Therefore, choose wisely according to your needs and preference.
Warranties
Even though the concerns regarding servicing and maintenance arise after a year or so, it is advisable to look for the best warranties for your ride.
In an era of excellence, where people have understood the importance of performance, many car companies are giving warranties of 5 long years. So, never hesitate to get the correct information on whether the warranty depends on years or miles driven as this will ensure the smooth running of your car.
Finally, we have a bonus for you:
Depreciation
Have a good knowledge of how much your ride’s value will degrade over time. Why? Because we live in a time where what’s new today, might be a history tomorrow. Most of us look for a newer model or at least an upgrade. If the resale value of your ride is good, you could at least pay the down payment for a newer model. Needless to say, this will save lots of bucks.
Once you have checked for all these car features, make sure to take a test drive because no amount of information can comfort you as a real drive will do. If your car ever stops running, you can quickly sell it for cash
References
- Car Wale
- Business Today
- Road and Track
- Google Images
