You might think that when you buy a car, you know what you’re getting into. You’ve saved up to buy the one you want, and you’ve budgeted in things like petrol.
You have also used an insurance comparison site to find the best deal and make sure you’re not getting ripped off. After that, you looked at tax and adding it all up, you know you can afford this purchase. But what you’re forgetting is the unexpected costs of a car once you have it on your possessions.
Let’s look at a few of these and make sure you know how to handle them.
#1 Maintenance Repairs
You might think that you have managed to save money on your car by purchasing one pre-owned. This makes sense financially because cars depreciate in value. So, if you buy one brand new in a couple of years, it will have lost nearly half its value. But there is a downside here.
Older cars are more likely to need maintenance work which can be quite expensive and yes, unexpected. You might take it in for a service one year, and the mechanic will tell you that there are numerous issues that need fixing.
It is worth pointing out that you need to make sure you are using a mechanic you can trust. It’s not unknown for mechanics to add on more expenses to make a larger profit on car repairs.
You can learn about choosing the right mechanic on www.quickenloans.com/blog/5-ways-pick-mechanic-trust. Still, you have to factor in that a car repair could cost between a couple hundred and a couple thousand. That’s why it’s best to have this type of money in savings so you won’t be stuck with an expensive bill that you can’t afford.
#2 Accident On The Road
Another unexpected cost on the road is an accident. An accident is never going to be expected, but you can bet that it will be expensive. It could result in car issues that need to be repaired or even injuries that need medical treatment.
Either way, you could be looking at heavy financial bills. What if your car is totalled? Repairs for a car in this condition will likely cost thousands.
To deal with this, it is important that you contact a lawyer after a car accident. According to www.tulsapersonalinjuryattorney.pro/tulsa-car-accident-lawyers/, with the right legal advice you can make sure that you get the support you need and that you are able to seek a fair amount of damages.
The money claimed when an accident is not your fault can be used in any way. Typically speaking, however, loans like this are used for the purpose of paying for the expenses left by the crash.
#3 Trouble With The Law
Lastly, you do need to be careful that you always obey the laws of the road or you could be looking at a hefty fine.
You might think this easy but be careful because that isn’t always the case. We can look at speeding as an example here. You might think it’s easy to stay at the appropriate speed limit, but there’s often a ten percent discrepancy in speedometers of older cars.
As such, you could think you’re travelling at the right speed and still get pulled over and fined.
Have you ever dealt with any of these costs? Share your story in the comments below.
Cheers!
