Some car magazines’ specification pages include an estimate of how much a car will be worth in three years but there are also car price guides you can look at and some car-selling websites include depreciation information. These will give you an idea of how a car holds its value but take care with a new model because it may do better than a previous, not so well designed version.

Servicing
Car Servicing is easier to check. Generally, a car with a long service interval costs less because it needs less attention, though this may be academic if you do low mileage because manufacturers normally say servicing is required every so many thousand miles or every year. So, if you only do 8,000 miles a year you’ll need to get it serviced annually whether it does 10,000 or 18,000 miles between services. However, some older cars need an intermediate service, say, every 6,000 miles or six months. This is usually little more than an oil change, but it adds costs. A dealer should be able to give you a ballpark figure for a service, but when you compare them make sure you are comparing like with like because though a car may be serviced every 10,000 miles, more may need to be done at 20,000 and 30,000.

Tax
Every country has some form of road tax, properly called Vehicle Excise Duty in the UK. On vehicles registered since 2003 VED is based on carbon dioxide output, quoted as C02 grammes per kilometre (g/Km). Cars first registered before that date are taxed based on engine size, which means you can pay less tax for running an old car that pollutes more. When looking at tax, though, remember it is over a year and even though you currently pay more tax on diesels, it is far less than the amount you save on fuel and every time you buy fuel you are paying more tax.

Insurance
Insurance can be very frustrating to buy because there are so many variables. In general, the newer, more expensive and more powerful the car and the younger the driver, the more you pay. But where you live, what you do for a living, whether you are married and what sex you are all have an effect on premiums. If you already have insurance, get a quote for the car you are planning to buy to see how much more or less it will cost than your current one. That gives you an idea of whether it is affordable, but seek quotes from other companies when you do buy the car because you may get better deals elsewhere.
Do not assume that because the car is the same insurance group as your current one it will cost the same, the fact that it is newer has a bearing on how much you pay.

Top car buying tip

“If this is your first car, get a couple of quotes to help decide if it is affordable before you choose the car. Most insurers won’t mind if you explain what you are doing and ask for quotes for two or three different models.”

There are two main types of car  insurance: comprehensive and third party, fire and theft. The former covers everything so if your car is damaged the insurance company pays for the repairs to it even if nobody else was involved: this is the cover to have if the car is a decent one. Third party, fire and theft only covers what the name suggests – if you have an accident the insurance company pays for repairs to the other person’s car, but not yours so it is only cost effective if the car is a cheap one you can afford to.

write-off if repairs are expensive. Whatever insurance you buy, read the policy so you know what you are covered for.

Broker or direct? Brokers
The simple way of getting insurance is to use a broker who should get the best quote from a number of insurance companies. However, the fact that you can get different quotes from different brokers shows they are not always as thorough as they claim. You may also find brokers do not give the best quotes if you are young, have a poor driving record, if you want to insure something unusual or if you have an unusual job or one they consider high risk (anything from pop star to a professional like a doctor or journalist). If you are a young pop star with licence points wanting to insure a Ferrari, this is probably not the best way. The many online instant quote websites often become far from instant in these circumstances, usually asking you to ring them after filling in many pages of questions.

Direct
If there is anything unusual about you or the car, you are often better off seeking quotes direct from insurers. If you have a specialist car, check adverts in magazines for that marque or type or join an owners club to look for favourable rates. If the problem is your job, look in your trade magazines for adverts from insurers. New drivers taking the Pass Plus course (ask your nstitute of Advanced Motorists. Some car manufacturers have set up insurance schemes for their cars which can provide cheaper quotes especially for unusual marques, though, again, your individual circumstances can erode the preferential rates.

The idea of this car shop site is to help the ordinary driver, not the enthusiast or amateur mechanic, learn responsible car ownership from purchase through to trade-in or scrapping. We’ve tried to make it non-technical and easily understood but to help you, any word in the glossary on page 203 is in bold type when it first appears in the text. Hopefully, this book will enable you to buy a car as painlessly and securely as possible, though even the experts sometimes miss things when buying something this complex.

Once you have bought the car, this car website will help you keep it safe and running efficiently. It is not intended to enable you to carry out a major service but should help you to realise when things need replacement or professional attention, and will explain how to get that attention.

It should be useful even if you run a company car. It is your licence and your safety at stake if something should go wrong between services, and many companies and leasing firms demand penalties of drivers for damage resulting from neglect or ignorance.

While this car buying guide is as comprehensive as it has space to be, it is not a replacement for your car’s handbook.