BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS -- It’s your first car and your extremely excited! Well you should be however do your research first and your will find that perfect vehicle just for you.

First Things First – You Need Credit:

Your greatest asset when buying a car is your credit score. “Make sure your credit is clean before you apply. Make sure your financing is straightened out before you even get to the dealer.
Just A Note: If you’re saddled with monthly student loans payments, you may actually have an advantage here: it shows you are responsible with installment payments, the same kind as with any car financing. This makes you a more reliable buyer than recent grads without any loans.

Now To Find The Right Car For You:

Being as informed as possible is your best defense against paying too much for a car. Use the consumer reports provided by websites or magazines to determine just how much the cars you’re considering are worth.  Though there are many car search websites to choose from, some perennial favorites like Kelley Blue Book, Cars.com, Consumer Reports' website, Yahoo! Autos, and Edmunds.com are usually very dependable. You’ll find payment calculators, reader reviews, and industry reports, making it easy to find the most fuel-efficient/safest/most popular car in your price range.

At the dealership

“With first-time buyers, you have to go through a little bit more of a process,” says Brian Munroe, author of Car Buying Revealed: How to Buy A Car and Not Get Taken for a Ride.

When you’re finally filling out the paperwork, you will need to prove you’re employed, either through a letter of employment (if you have yet to start) or with a pay stub. Many companies like Jeep offer special programs with lower interest rates for recent college graduates. Just be aware that anything negative on your credit score can potentially knock you out of the program.

Buy or lease?

The upside to leasing is that payments will be lower in general, but this route is only ideal for a small group of people. “You really need to examine your future three years out before you sign a lease,” Ostroff says. A lease is a contract, and if you suddenly decide it’s not the car for you . . . too bad.

If you still think leasing is the best option for you, then lease away. If not, finance the car, but make sure you can afford it. “

Buying a car may involve taking out a loan from a bank or financing through the dealership itself, but having a sizable down payment will always help offset interest accrued over time. Save up about 20% of the car’s price, at least. Be conservative, know what you can afford, and don’t overspend.

Maintenance and the little things

As you are probably aware, there’s a lot more to buying a car than paying the monthly bill. Obviously there’s gas, and with this wildly fluctuating market, you should make allowances for spiking fuel costs in your budget. Then there’s oil changes, new wiper fluid, a broken headlight, etc. You also need to replace your tires every five years or so. Four new, high-quality tires cost about $600. You should set money aside for bigger repairs as well. Also, will you be responsible for taxes? Registration fees? And the big one: insurance?

A lot to think about I know however walking out of the dealership with the keys to your brand new car is PRICELESS! For more information please visit our dealership or go to our website www.realdonjohnson.com