For those of your newly-passed drivers, you will know that buying a car is now a lot less exciting than it may have been in your head. Now you need to worry about the maintenance, fuel, insurance, parts that are worn and torn and a lot of other things. It’s common to want to save as much money as you can when you are under 21 and you don’t have a lot of money to spend on anything, not just on a car. So we thought that we would give you some honest tips on saving money when you are trying to get your foot on the car ownership ladder.
Seek reliability
Yes, we get it, you want to get a sports car. But you aren’t going to! So you should focus on reliability and only this, to begin with. This is the bar that you need to set. A car that is reliable, will usually be fuel-efficient as well. Seek a car that can drive 5,000 miles before you need to do an oil change, 10,000 miles before you need to do a full maintenance inspection and can drive for 20,000 miles on the same pair of tires.
Insurance
Where you will be saving the most money is in your insurance. Look for specific car finance under 21 and you will find the best deals for young drivers. It’s a 3-step process and you can quickly search, find and choose your plan for your car and driving experience. Insurance is getting more and more expensive, especially for the inexperienced driver. So only get a deal that caters to your age group!
Don’t use premium
For some reason, you may think that premium fuel is better. Well, no, it’s not! It depends on the engine. If your car was not designed to take premium fuel then you should not use it. It may give you a bit of a boost in bhp and the engine might seem to run smoother, but it’s not going to be by much. You may not even notice the difference. Engines are designed to run on particular fuel quality, so only pay for the fuel that your car wants.
Do not press…
When you start your car you should not press down the throttle. This can potentially flood the engine with fuel when it doesn’t want it. The way the engine starts is by the ignition, which will spark the cylinders which will always have residual fuel left inside them. If you press the throttle, the fuel pump engages but your engine isn’t in the process of combustion yet. So it could hurt your engine if you don’t keep your foot on the gas pedal when starting.
Gentle driving
When the car is cold, it will suffer from joint pain. In other words the parts that are supposed to be moving seamlessly will be grinding on each other and trying to loosen up. Drive slowly in this condition to prevent damage to your car!
If you’re under 21, you should remember these tips so you can save money in the long run, and also when you are buying your car. It’s now time to be responsible and financially prudent as a young driver on the road.
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