Plan your vehicle budget before visiting the dealership

A lot of new or pre-owned vehicle buyers do not plan their budget before visiting dealerships in search of their next dream vehicle. That’s a big mistake which, along with making the vehicle purchasing process more complicated, can lead to financial hardship down the road.

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If you are paying cash for your next vehicle, it is a bit easier. The only thing you have to know when setting your budget is that there will be a lot of fees added to the MSRP of a given vehicle you see in dealerships and in ads.

So, if your maximum budget is $30,000, you should know that when you include taxes, delivery fees, and transport and preparation, your next vehicle’s MSRP can’t really exceed $20,000.

If you are leasing or financing, you need to set the maximum monthly payment you want to pay, but also the maximum amount of time you want to pay, but more importantly, you want to make sure that you know how long you want your financing or leasing contract to last.

That’s very important because it is easy to lower the monthly payment simply by extending the term of the contract. Moreover, know how much you want to pay as a down payment.

Thank you to King Mazda for their help with this article.