I Passed the Road Test

How do I go about getting a car? What's the best car for a relatively young and inexperienced driver? Do I get insurance before the car, or the car than insurance? Any other tips and suggestions? Thanks.

reply to post by Amelie


First: Determine how much money you have to spend on a car. If you have a couple hundred bucks or a couple thousand - this will make the difference in the type of car you buy (New or Used). Shop Around and compare cars.

Second: Does the potential car get you from Point A to point B - Test drive it. See how it feels. Ask about the required checkups (and documentation proving that the car has had all the necessary tune-ups done to it. That way you don't spend a bunch of money on a car thats just going to cost you more money in the end because the seller lied to you.) Find out fuel efficiency (trust me, this will save you some cash in the end).

Third: Determine how much you're insurance will be (you can do this by calling your insurance company I think. Thats what I did and they gave me an estimate).

Fourth: If you like the car, you buy it, and get temporary insurance on it so you can drive it to your insurance broker and put the plates on.

I bought mine in a city away from home, I had someone drive me to the closest insurance agency where I had temporary insurance put on (i don't know if you can only do day insurance - I'm pretty sure thats what I had - so you'll have to check into that), I drove it home to my town, and the next day I had my car put under my insurance and the plates put on the car.

Just a couple of suggestions.

- Carrot





[edit on 1/20/2009 by CA_Orot]

I would do some research on the internet,plenty of sites that will tell of recalls and problems of said vehicles,then when looking at an individual car I would 1st see if they had maintenance records,you could buy same car but if one hasn't been maintained properly you might end up with a money pit,take your time buying,I know your probably anxious to get a car,but from my experience I had many a cool looking car become my new girlfriend a gold digger lol,just be cautious and ask lots of questions if seller is annoyed by this then could be something they aren't telling you,well anyway good luck,as my 16 yr old is applying for his driving permit Friday

Thanks for the advice guys.