Help In Buying 1st Car

Marcsmein SG

Hi peeps.

I'm new in this car scene and i thought of buying a car for myself.

i planned on getting a 2nd hand car costing around 50k to 60k.

what im unsure is that, if i cannot come up with at least 15-20% of the downpayment but i wuld like to keep the monthly instalment for roughly 400, is it possible? not OPC though.

im wondering cos i've seen websites stating 'zero dwnpayment'..'low interest rates' ....' as low as 250/mth'

so, how do i go about with this?

the Bear SG

advice will have to be this: do your own math..

those who advertise "as low as..." or "0% downpayment" will tie you into their loans for a long long LONG time... or hit you with high instalments for a long time...

the first step to avoiding these is to find out by calling up and asking them

check with the places if they have their own loan schemes.. when i bought my car at Borneo Motors, they gave out $2,000 discounts if i used HSBC's car loans.. and if you do your sums right, you may end up with a real discount like i did.. in the end, the total interest of the loan was only $1,000 and with a discount of $2,000, i actually got $1,000 knocked off the cost of the car..

another "hidden cost" is the consumption of the car as well as the tax and insurance you have to pay... maintenance comes in too..

my car does 14km/l while my friend's car does 9km/l so he pays almost 50% more running costs in petrol.. coz i'm middle aged and have my driver's licence for more than 20 years, my insurance is pretty low and with my no-claim bonus, it's discounted too.. taxes on the car can be kept to a minimum by buying a car with a small engine capacity suited to your needs...

there are 101 things to look out for.. list them out as you go along, and as you find out.. work things out and don't buy a car on a whim.. buy it only when you have figured things out and know what you're getting into..

good luck!