Buying a new car is typically one of the most fun purchases men make when it comes to shopping. After all, there are all those perfectly legitimate hours you can spend researching vehicles to sort out the options — hey, there’s no harm in looking at million-dollar sports cars even when you have a family and a beer budget, is there? It’s all a way of learning, right?! Next, you get to go and test drive a bunch of your top contenders, plus you can then enjoy seeing the look on your neighbor’s, friend’s, co-worker’s or family member’s face when you rock up in your sweet new ride.
However, amidst all the fun of buying a new car, it’s also important to be practical. Not just about the price you pay and the type of vehicle you purchase, but also about its level of safety. If you’re keen to find a car that ticks all the boxes, read on for some key things you need to check before you part with any cash.
Read Testimonials and Reviews
The first thing you should think about doing when you’re searching for a vehicle is to check out testimonials and reviews on the top five to 10 cars that you’re interested in. Look online and in magazines to see what customers are saying about the makes and models you are considering, and see if that changes your mind about any of them.
If possible, it helps to chat with friends, family members, or colleagues who have the cars you like, as you can ask them specific questions tailored to your particular interests and needs. It pays to ask things such as how the car drives over the long term, if repairs and maintenance are more expensive than expected, what the vehicle is like when it comes to fuel consumption, how spacious the trunk is, and how comfortable the seats are.
Check the Service History and See if There Have Been Any Recalls
Once you have your list narrowed down, don’t move forward unless you have checked to see if the car has been serviced regularly over its life. A car which has been properly maintained through regular services will not only typically be safer, but also in better condition.
When it comes to recalls, be aware that unfortunately thousands of vehicles do actually get recalled every year because of some type of hazard found by the manufacturer or government body that oversees vehicle safety. This covers even the most popular brands, which you may not expect. For example, many General Motors cars have been recalled over the years, and the company has had multiple wrongful deaths, and hundreds of crashes, linked to their delayed actions in initiating some safety recalls.
The fact is that lots of people end up needing to speak with a specialist legal service every year to find out about compensation after they or their family members have been hurt in a crash because of a dangerous vehicle. You don’t want this to happen to you, so do your due diligence before you part with any cash.
You can perform a search on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) website to see if the vehicle you’re thinking of buying is at risk. Just enter the VIN. The current owner (or a previous one) may not have realized that repairs needed to be made if they didn’t hear about a safety recall, or they simply may not have bothered sending in their car for the work. Either way, you need to know what potential risks you could face if you were to buy the vehicle from them.
Lots of different defects can trigger a safety recall, but some of the most common include a loss of steering, or stalling in traffic, as well as faulty brakes, exploding air bags, axles which break, seat belts which fail to protect passengers in a crash, engines that burst into flames, and wheels that fall off.
Look for Safety Features
When you shop for a car, it also pays to think about the particular safety features that a vehicle might have. On top of the fact that the size and weight of a car can make a difference (larger, heavier cars are typically provide more protection to passengers than smaller, lighter ones), there are also factors to keep in mind such as airbags, crumple zones to absorb the force of crashes, adaptive headlights, auto-brake systems, blind-spot detection, and collision warnings.
Maintaining Your Vehicle
Lastly, once you have purchased a vehicle, make sure you spend the time and money needed to maintain it. There are numerous things involved in this, but in particular make sure that you keep tires pumped up and balanced, and that you replace them when the tread is wearing thin. You also need to check the lights and blinkers on your vehicle on a regular basis, get windscreen cracks repaired before they can be a hindrance to your vision when driving, and make sure that the oil and coolant is changed regularly (although this can be a part of a service).
