Ready to buy a new car online? It is so much better than the alternative of going to a dealership and playing all of the games car salespeople play. Not only do you save your time and dignity when you shop at home, but when you buy a car online with NowCar, you save money, too. Unlike traditional dealerships, we don’t have to pay car salespeople for haggling with you, nor do we have all of the extra inventory and costs to own the building.

But before you get too excited about buying a car online, there are some things you should do to make sure you don’t make any mistakes on your next car purchase or lease.

Budget

With NowCar you can get very accurate estimates of your monthly payments based on the cost of the car, type of deal (finance, lease or cash) and your credit. These estimates make it really easy for consumers to get a good idea of what they can afford before they start getting to invested in one particular type of car, feature or brand.

Budget Again

So finding out how much your monthly costs to buy or a lease a car is just one part of the financial equation. Determining your average fuel costs, the cost to insure your new vehicle, taxes, fees, tag and title are just as important.

If you’ve been driving around a used 2003 Honda Civic that averages 25 mpg, it wouldn’t be wise to not consider how much extra you are going to spend on fuel and insurance when you get a new Dodge Charger Scat Pack or Chevrolet Camaro 2SS. To prevent getting a rude (financial) awakening, use a gas calculator to compare your current fuel costs with the estimated fuel cost of your new car, and call your insurance company to get the rates your insurance will be on the new car.

Just think -- if your insurance increases by $40 per month and your new vehicle averages 20 mpg as opposed to 28 mpg and you drive 680 per month (20 miles on weekend and 30 miles for round trip commute 5 days per week) - you will be spending an extra $63 per month for a new car. That is not too much more money, but it is way better to anticipate it not having that money than being surprised by not having it.

Research and Compare

All cars have their unique quirks, features and looks. If there is a particular car you want, say muscle car or luxury car or fuel efficient car or SUV or electric car -- don’t just choose your “favorite” model or the first model that meets your needs -- compare and see what else is out there. Maybe two cars have almost the exact same mechanical specs and perform about the same, but one is covered by a 5-year o 60,000-mile warranty like Kia or Mitsubishi vehicles, and the other car is only covered by a 3-year or 36,000-mile limited warranty -- it definitely is a way better choice to go with the car that has the better warranty. It’s little things like that that can make a big difference in your ownership experience.

NowCar has an awesome way for shoppers to find and compare cars. You can start shopping here. Want to learn more about how to buy a car online with NowCar? You can view the NowCar FAQs page here.