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How To Understand Car Depreciation

February 27th, 2021 Posted in Money Tips, motoring
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Depreciation affects nearly everything, and for cars, it can be very critical when you want to resell. Once you drive a car out of the car lot, its value depreciates alarmingly. Experts estimate that brand new cars depreciate by up to 20% when they are driven from the dealership to the home. There has been quite a misconception about car depreciation, and this article aims to bring a level of understanding of the whole issue.

understanding car depreciation - car financing image

Understanding Depreciation

Depreciation is the term that refers to the difference in the value of a car from the time you buy it to the time you intend to resell it. Studies from CAP Automotive indicate that average depreciation costs as much as three times what you spend at the petrol pump.

Although the depreciation level varies from makes and models, generally, the range is between 15-35% in the first year. By the third year, depreciation rises to 50%. According to motoring cost experts, it is better to choose a car that retains its value than focusing on fuel economy. This means you may recoup much more if you decide to sell your car.

What Affects The Rate Of Depreciation?

Different things affect the depreciation of a car, but here are a few of the general reasons why some depreciate more than others.

Mileage

This refers to the number of miles that your vehicle has been driven. In essence, the more miles you have on your car, the less value your car holds. The average mileage is about 10,000 per year.

Reliability

Cars come in various grades of quality, and some are more reliable than others. Based on usage, experience, expert reviews and others, some cars for sale have built a reputation of reliability over the years. So, for instance, a Mercedes may be more reliable than a Toyota.

Ownerships

The more owners a vehicle has had, the more unreliable it seems. This is because if it is assumed that if it were durable, it would not be sold as much. So the fewer owners a car has, the better.

Overall condition

This plays a vital role in the ability to resell your car. Any damage to the body, exterior, interior, or malfunctioning features will definitely decrease your car’s value.

Service history

You should ask for the service history complete with receipts as it is a very important detail before purchasing a car. The service book must also indicate that all servicing was done as recommended by the manufacturer. With this, you can tell how often or what fixes the car has undergone.

Length of warranty

This ensures that any resell goes smoothly; most people are quite sceptical when it comes to warranty. Three is a good deal, but some manufacturers are now offering up to seven years which can really aid the sale of your car.

Tips to reduce depreciation

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Even though depreciation is bound to occur, there are a few things you can do to slow down the rate. Firstly, try not to exceed the average mileage. Also, service and maintain your car regularly and desist from making race modifications. Lastly, sell before the new models are released.

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How To Save Money As A Driver

February 25th, 2021 Posted in Money Tips
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Owning a vehicle of any kind, such as a car or a motorcycle, is a costly thing to do. You need to factor in costs for fuel, for insurance, for maintenance, for taxes, for parking, and sometimes for storage too. Yet for many people, it would be impossible to carry out their daily tasks – including heading to work – without a vehicle. The good news is it’s possible to save money when you’re a driver by implementing a few changes and paying attention to what you need to do. Read on to find out more.

How To Save Money As A Driver - car maintenance image
Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

Maintenance 

One of the biggest costs associated with owning a vehicle is maintenance. Having your car or motorcycle tuned up at least once a year will ensure that it runs more smoothly and lasts longer, so it’s a good idea to have it done (and it might be a contractual requirement of your insurers or the company you are leasing or buying the vehicle from, so you must check this out). 

The problem is that paying out for this work to be done once a year and sometimes more depending on how many miles you drive is expensive, and when there is nothing wrong with your vehicle, it can seem like a waste even if you know that it’s potentially preventing a bigger problem in the future. 

To keep costs down when it comes to the basic maintenance of your vehicle, you can do it yourself. Even if you’ve never looked under the hood of a car and you don’t understand the workings of a motorcycle’s engine, you can learn what you need to know. You can also purchase any equipment or parts like BMW engine parts online, ensuring that you always have what you need. Of course, major repairs and more complicated jobs should be done by an expert, but the smaller stuff can be done at home for a fraction of the cost. 

Change Insurers

Another big cost for vehicle owners is insurance. It’s a legal requirement so you can’t go without (if you do you risk fines or even disqualification from driving), but it can cost a lot of money each year, even if you pay it monthly. The more claims you have made, your age, and even where you live can all have a bearing on the cost of your insurance, but did you also know that the cost is not set? In other words, you can shop around for a better deal when you need to renew your policy. 

If you choose to do this, you may well find that a different insurer will sell you a policy for much less than you’re paying right now. Remember, though, that you’ll need to ensure the level of cover is the same if you want a really good deal. 

Change Your Tires 

You might not realize it, but your tires might be costing you money. If you have uneconomical tires on your vehicle, your fuel consumption will be higher, and, simply put, that means you’ll be topping up the tank much more often. Switching your tires to more economical ones means that you’ll save a lot of money on fuel over the year compared to not changing the tires.

You might be put off from doing this because the tires you need to change to are more expensive, but the fuel savings should offset this issue, and since the tires should last for several years, will make you money in the end. 

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How To Lower Your Regular Transport Costs

May 3rd, 2018 Posted in Money Tips
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Family life brings a lot of regularly occurring costs that often rip a hole through your budget. Spending money on transport is one example of these costs. If you drive a car, then your family will rack up loads of fuel costs every year, not to mention maintenance as well. So, here are some smart ways to lower your regular transport costs.

How To Lower Your Regular Transport Costs - car and calculator image

Lower your transport costs. Flickr

Be A More Careful Driver

A very easy and effective way of lowering your regular transport costs is to be a more careful driver. How does this help the old bank balance? It’s simple; careful drivers are less likely to get involved in accidents. This means you’re less likely to spend money on repairs for your car. Not only that, but it also means your insurance policy can be cheaper as you have no accidents on record. Finally, driving carefully helps keep your car in a much better condition, which extends the life of its components, meaning you don’t need to service it as often.

Change To A More Efficient Car

Sometimes, the reason you spend so much money on fuel is that your car eats up petrol like it’s a bowl of cheerios. Cars with a poor fuel economy will cost a lot more to run than those with a good one. So, sell your car and change to a far more efficient one. Nowadays, you can get used car finance as well, which takes some of the sting out of buying a replacement car and spreads the payment out. With a more efficient car under your belt, you can now use up less fuel whenever you drive. The overall savings will be quite dramatic, believe me.

Avoid Driving If You Can

I understand that this point isn’t going to work for everyone as some of you may live in areas where you absolutely need to drive your car. However, if you live in a nice urban area – where your house is within walking distance of a lot of things – then try and avoid driving if you can. If the weather is nice, why don’t you walk the kids to school? If you work close by, why don’t you walk or cycle? If you don’t want to do this every day, then you can at least do it for half of a week to cut down on fuel costs for your car?

Buy The Cheapest Public Transport Tickets

Instead of driving, you may take public transport from time to time. If so, then you can still rack up some pretty substantial transport costs. One idea here is to buy the cheapest transport tickets you can find. A good rule of thumb is to buy before you board, as it’s normally more expensive to buy tickets on a train/bus. Train tickets purchased way in advance of your travel date can also be a fraction of the price as when bought on the day. Finally, think about getting weekly tickets if you travel every day, as opposed to getting a new ticket every day. Normally, the weekly one will be much cheaper than the sum of the singles combined.

Try these tips, and your family will soon save a lot of money on your regular transport costs throughout the year! http://credit-n.ru/offers-zaim/platiza-mgnovenniy-zaim-online.html

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Start Saving on Family Transport

March 14th, 2017 Posted in learning about money, Money Tips
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start saving on family transport - family driving in car image

Image from Flickr

When you have a family, getting everyone around can be tricky. It’s especially hard when you have babies or toddlers, who require a lot of stuff. In the car, you need to have everyone in car seats, unless they’re tall enough or old enough not to have one. And when you use public transport, keeping track of everyone can be nerve-wracking. One of the trickiest parts of family transport is the cost. Running a car can be expensive, but relying on public transport often is too. And when you go abroad, it can get costly too. If you want to reduce the costs of family transport, there are a few tricks you can use.

Look Into Family Discounts on Public Transport

Many families use public transport for both long and short journeys. You might not own a car, or you don’t want to drive in congested areas. Having the kids in the car when you’re stuck in traffic isn’t fun. You can use buses and trains and in some places trams and underground trains too. The great thing is, kids usually go free up to a certain age. Children under five are often free, while those older (usually up to 16) are often half price. There are also offers you can use to save, such as a Family and Friends Railcard, which allows up to four adults and four children to travel together.

Reduce the Costs of Running Your Car

Having a car makes things a lot easier for many families. However, with the costs of tax, insurance, petrol, and maintenance, they can get expensive. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce the cost of your car. One of the major expenses is insurance, and you can often find a better deal than the one you’re currently paying for. It’s a good idea to use a comparison tool, like the one on Money Expert’s website. You can look at different providers side by side and find the one that will work best for you. You could also reduce the cost of your car by taking good care of it, helping to reduce maintenance costs otherwise a visit to PMJ International may be required for certain spare parts.

Walk and Cycle More

Are you guilty of piling everyone into the car when you could walk or cycle somewhere instead? You might think it’s quicker to drive, but getting everyone in and out of the car could take a lot longer than walking to wherever you’re going. If it’s a short distance, a stroll could get you where you’re going in a few minutes. When it’s a bit longer, everyone could get their bike out. Little ones can go in bicycle seats or trailers attached to the back of adult bikes.

start saving on family transport - family cycling image

Image from Wikimedia

Share Rides with Others

There are several opportunities you might have to share a car with friends, family or other parents. You don’t always need to take the whole family with you when you go somewhere, so taking your half-empty car can seem silly. Perhaps you’re taking one of the kids to a birthday party, and you can team up with a classmate’s parent. Sharing trips can be useful for the school run too, or perhaps you can carpool when you go to work. There’s no need to take the car all the time if it’s just you or you only have one passenger.

Condense Your Car Trips

Another thing that could be costing you more in petrol is taking lots of little car trips. Instead of popping to the shops for ten minutes every day, why not condense everything into one trip? You can often get away with only doing one shop every fortnight, perhaps with a top-up visit to more local shops in between. If you have something you need to do that doesn’t need to be done right away, you could wait until you have another errand to run. Then you can do both at the same time, instead of making two separate trips. You can also do things on the way to doing something else, like picking up the kids.

Skip the Shopping Trips

You can also try skipping the shopping trips altogether. Online shopping will get you just about anything these days, from milk to new clothes. Shopping with the kids isn’t much fun anyway, and it’s not always easy to find time to do it without them. You can often get free delivery when you shop online, and when you do have to pay, you can get it fairly cheap. For example, if you do your food shop online, it might only cost a pound to get it delivered during a quiet time.

You can save on your family’s transport costs with some clever tricks. It’s an important part of your budget, so seeing how you can cut the expenses is essential.

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