Tips for buying a New SUV from an Authorised Car Dealer

Aug 11
13:10

2011

Hugh McInnes

Hugh McInnes

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

Purchasing a new SUV is challenging enough, not to mention managing the sales pressure from the car salesman. Here are a few buying tips when trying to purchase an offroad vehicle from an Authorised Dealer.

mediaimage

SUVs are very popular in Australia because they offer comfort,Tips for buying a New SUV from an Authorised Car Dealer Articles reliability and ability to go off road when necessary. SUVs have been the biggest sellers in Australia for many years now, and even with creeping fuel prices, they remain popular and very useful. New SUVs, however, can be very expensive due to their size and complexity, and so new SUV buyers should follow certain tips when choosing their off road car.

New Car Buying TipsThe first tip is for new car buyers is to decide what they want and then stick with it. This doesn't mean settling on a specific model or manufacturer, but rather a design philosophy. Not all SUVs are built the same, and they make certain trade-offs in order to push certain advantages. SUVs which are better at off-roading tend to be less comfortable and have a higher center of gravity, making them more wobbly in terms of handling. Likewise, on-road SUVs tend to lack ground clearance and off-road traction controls. Therefore, a potential buyer should understand what they want and what they will be using their car for the vast majority of the time.

The second step is to do some basic comparison shopping. New SUV's within a specific sort of make, model or design theory will vary greatly in price, build quality and reliability. Before purchase, buyers should do research on the models they are most interested in, determining what the advantages and disadvantages of each model is. Consumer reviews, especially those relating to reliability, comfort and safety. New models and new re-designs should be approached cautiously, since the problems and shortcomings of such new builds have not yet manifested themselves. Ideally, the best SUV to select is one which has been in production for a number of years and shown improvement each year, and is known to be reliable and worth purchasing.

Once a specific model has been selected, the comparison shopping continues, but on a dealership level. Authorised car dealers nonetheless are permitted to set the prices on their vehicles, and the sticker price is inherently negotiable. Additions, options and extras can add a lot to the cost of an SUV, and many dealers will raise or lower the price of these extras based on availability and difficulty of installation. Therefore, clever negotiators will chase down the lowest prices and either insist upon them or seek them out. Most dealers are very happy to offer trial prices, and pitting one dealer against another one is an excellent way to chase down the lowest price or the best deal.

When a model and dealer has been settled on, the next step is to conduct a test drive. Most people make the mistake of buying the car that they test drive, usually because such test drives are new, exciting and fun experiences. It is instead best to wait a few days after test driving a vehicle, or even to test drive several over the course of a week, so that one can make the best decision. An SUV, after all, is an expensive big-ticket item and the decision to purchase should not be entered into lightly.

Lastly, once you've purchased an SUV that you bought after going through a good deal of choice and selection, it is important to get out and enjoy it. At the end of the day, the vehicle you end up buying will be the best one you could with the available information, and any shortcomings or problems will have been nothing you could have avoided. Fortunately, most SUVs in Australia today are excellent models, and the careful selection process detailed above should help anyone to get the sort of SUV that they want the most.

Categories: