VietWheels.com — Buy and Sell Quality Cars in Vietnam

Choosing your dream car is an emotional experience and can be stressful, and the VietWheels team is here to help! Only next to purchasing a home, buying a car (especially in Vietnam) is a big financial decision in your life so take care with your decision making.

In terms of choosing the right car for you it’s important to set your most important priorities. In this article, we’ll address some of these priorities that may resonate with your personally and how they’re relevant in your car selection process. Here is the process when choosing the right car for you:

Step 1. Know what you want

The “right car” for you depends on your personal wants and what you expect from a car. There are several reasons why buyers want cars, for example some buyers what to make a statement and show their status by purchasing a luxury type car, others want to feel more connected to the environment and so they seek hybrid cars and for most they want reliability and trusted brand and go for a mid-sized sedan.

For most people, cars are used for daily duties like commuting to work and travelling with the family in the weekend and therefore practicality is more important flash. Here are some practical considerations to keep in mind:

  1. How many passengers will you need to carry in vehicle?

  2. How often will you use the vehicle in terms of mileage and fuel consumption?

  3. How efficient is the car’s fuel consumption?

  4. What is the primary use of the car? E.g. family car, off-roach (all-wheel drive), company car, etc.

  5. How important are safety features?

  6. How important is the brand, reputation and status of the car to you?

  7. How important are additional features to you such as power-steering, GPS, sun-roof

Step 2. What’s your financial budget?

Unless you’ve got a pile of cash lying under your bed, you’ll probably need to take out a car loan. It’s smart to keep your total monthly car expenses — payment and interest, insurance, fuel, maintenance, repairs, registration. You should budget typically 15% or less of your monthly take-home pay for these expenses.

The general rule is that your monthly new-car payment should not exceed 15% of your monthly take-home pay (please note that this is not financial advice). A used car will be less expensive, but the same rule should apply. Don’t forget to factor in taxes. Knowing your budget beforehand will help you when negotiating the right car for you.

Step 3. Do your research

Now that you have a good understanding realising what you exactly need and the budget to work with start doing some research. Make a short-list of the desired cars that meets your requirements (and fits your budget). Car selection comes down to a personal and emotional choice, some cars may tick all the boxes but may not be the exact look and feel you’re after.

Use our recent car reviews to get a good understanding of some of the models available to you. The beauty of our online platform is you can keep a list of ‘favorites’ and monitor and compare live car listings for your research. Given it’s an expensive transaction, be happy with your short-list of desired cars. Do go for practicality but also go for what will make you happy and proud to drive your new vehicle — it is a significant financial decision and you want to make sure you’re happy with what you go with.

Once you’ve selected a few models, compare the prices and mileage using our Search feature. Try and find the best deals for you and don’t be afraid contact the car seller directly to ask any questions you may have. When you find a good potential deal on our website you can simply bookmark the listing as a favourite and come back to it later.

Luckily for you, on VietWheels.com we have plenty of car models to choose for you. To help you choose the right car for you read our article “Checklist for buying a vehicle in Vietnam”.

Step 4: Inspect the car and take it out for a spin

It’s extremely important to see the car for yourself before committing to purchase the vehicle. You can simply book an appointment with the car dealer using our website. We suggest seeing a few car models in the same dealership to compare and source the best car model and deal for you. Try to schedule a few appointments back to back; it will make comparing the cars easier and give you a graceful exit from the car dealership.

Once you visit the car dealer, ask many questions about your desired car and make sure to take it out for a test-drive. Drive your three target cars back-to-back so all your impressions are fresh in your mind. When you test-drive the vehicle, think about whether this is the right car for you and if you can envisage yourself driving this car daily.

While the salesperson will want to talk numbers after a test drive, you might not be ready. This is where the next and final step comes to play.

Step 5: Review your research and make your decision

The most important tip is to not rush with your decision. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your emotions and intuition will play a large part in your choice. This is normal and there’s nothing wrong with this — have a good time and enjoy the experience. But don’t let your feelings run away with you. Cover the practical bases first, and then open the door to the fun factor. Then you’ll have a car that you enjoy and that serves your needs.

After researching and test-driving several cars, your choice should be crystal clear. If it isn’t, sleep on it. In the morning, you might have your answer. If not, you might need to take a few steps back and review more cars. It’s better to take longer in the shopping phase than have buyer’s remorse later.

When you’re ready to make a deal have a solid game-plan and do not rely on “winging it” on the spot. Have a set maximum budget and stick to it. If the deal doesn’t match your maximum budget move on and try and find something that does.

We hope that this article has helped you pick the right car for you. Choosing the right car for you is a major decision in life and do not take rush into things without careful research and planning and VietWheels is here to help you! Please take the time to search and compare both new, used and reconditioned car suits your preference check available cars using this link.

If you found this article useful, please visit our other News and Reviews. For example, you may be interested in our article “Checklist for buying a vehicle in Vietnam”. On behalf of the VietWheels team we wish you all the best in finding your next dream car in Vietnam. Tam biet and best wishes!