Owning a car is incredibly practical and incredibly liberating and something that many of us would not be without. However at the same time it is also incredibly expensive and the amount of different bills and costs that add up can make it too much of a financial strain for some of us. The temptation then is to just buy the cheapest car and the cheapest insurance, and to assume that this will result in the lowest overall cost. However that might not always be the case, and there are a lot of factors here to consider. Here we will examine some ways to keep the cost of your car down.

Choosing the Right Vehicle

For example, when choosing your car, try and pick one with good fuel consumption as this will massively affect how much you spend on it over time and this is something we all forget. And while you look for a car that’s cheap obviously, make sure you still pick one that isn’t ‘bargain bucket’ and that is reliable. Ensure it has its full service history and that it has as few miles and as few problems as possible. This way you will save yourself money in the long run by avoiding lots of expensive repair jobs and accidents. This is another good reason to take out use car loans to ensure that you get something reliable.

Choosing a new car in fact in many countries and states can also mean that you don’t have to pay for your MOT for a number of years at all which will knock of some money. However, at the same time the choice of your car can affect the cost of your insurance. For example if you choose a car with a large engine, then this will mean it’s more powerful, more likely to be driven quickly, and more likely to be crashed in theory as a result. Similarly more expensive vehicles are more likely to cost you money to insure, which is one reason not to pay too much. It’s worth then looking at the insurance before you make a purchase.

Keeping Down Your Insurance

Once you have your car there are yet more ways you can bring down the cost of insurance down. Car insurance is one of the regular expenses that affect us the most, it is not a negligible amount that comes out of our accounts each month or each year, and yet if we want to drive then there is no avoiding it. Firstly doing a Pass Plus or other form of lesson after your test will bring down the price a lot by demonstrating to insurers that you are a good driver and have been taught things such as how to drive on the motorway. Finding somewhere safe to store your car is also a good idea, so try and ask others if you can borrow the garage if you don’t already have one. This obviously brings the cost of insurance down as it means the car will be less susceptible to being burgled or vandalised.

Finally depending on your insurance company you may be able to lower the cost of your insurance by adding other drivers onto the policy. This is normally the case if the driver is someone who has a good track record and the idea is that the insurance company then thinks that someone experienced will be driving the car for at least a percentage of the time. Of course you can look at getting third part insurance rather than fully comprehensive in order to keep the price down in the short term, but at the same time you also need to bear in mind how much it would cost to replace your car without first party cover and decide if that’s a risk you can take (normally this will depend on the value of the car). Shopping around with different car companies is also a good idea and can help you to find the best deal so take your time and go to price comparison websites as well as visiting other sites personally (not all insurance companies are on these sites, as this costs them money by staying off comparison sites it’s actually possible for them to charge less). Some companies will offer better deals for certain groups for example those that only provide for female drivers and can thus charge less due to their statistically lower number of accidents. Age can also affect your insurance too, and so it’s worth looking around for insurance even if you’ve been with the same company for a long time.

Driving Well

Finally how you drive will also affect your costs. For instance using eco driving and generally being conscious of your fuel consumption will bring the cost of petrol down. Things like avoiding having too much in or on your car can help this too, and filling up when it’s cold will actually mean you get marginally more petrol for your money. At the same time driving in a way that’s good for your car for example avoiding riding the clutch or driving too fast over speed bumps will prevent you from doing damage to your vehicle over time which you will have to pay for in repairs and MOTs.

Of course accidents if you drive recklessly will be very expensive in the short term and you will have to pay an excess on your insurance which will then go up. More pressingly though it will also prevent you from getting a ‘no claims’ bonus, which is a great way to keep the cost of your insurance down significantly. Likewise speeding tickets and other points on your license can also increase the cost of your insurance.

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