Goal Essay

The idea of buying a new vehicle is exciting and fun. Although, it can be challenging in today’s

market such as considering the best gas mileage due to the fluctuation of gas prices. For me my next

vehicle I’m looking at is a truck because I need to haul heavy trailers. But I’m also looking at the long-

term aspect of it, like is hauling heavy trailers just a temporary thing or is it long term? So, I’m making

this to show my processes of what I’m looking for when buying a new vehicle. In order to get a better

understanding on how to make the best vehicle purchase, as the consumer I must find a vehicle that

meets my needs, establishing a budget, and seeking what are the necessary options I need towards my

vehicle.

The first step of buying a new vehicle is, finding out what vehicle meets my needs. Like am I

going to be towing stuff if so, is it going to be heavy or light? If it is going to be heavy I would be looking

at a large SUV or a truck, but if it is going to be light I would be look at an SUV or if it’s extremely light a

car with a hitch that would be able to pull it. Am I just going to be driving by myself or am I going to be

driving around a party of people? If it’s just me I would look at getting a car but if have a lot of people I

would look at an SUV. Next, I’m going to have to do research on my vehicle. This will involve looking at

reviews and going to the dealership to ask questions. Next I will need to take the vehicle on a test drive

to see how it feels and if I like it. After, all this I should be able to narrow my list of vehicles down to

about three to five possible candidates.

Next to reach my goal, one of the biggest if not the most important deciding factor is

establishing my budget. I am also not looking at spending more than 15-20% of my total monthly

income. So, I’m going to need to find out if I’m buying the vehicle outright, or if I am going to lease or

finance it, there is pros and cons for both. For financing a vehicle some pros are I can modify my vehicle
the way I want and save money in the long run, because there will be no penalties for driving excessive

millage. Also, I can use the vehicle as a trade-in for my future vehicle. Now some of the cons are a higher

monthly payment, responsibility for repair and costs once the warranty expires and I'll have more of my

money tied up in a vehicle that depreciates in value over time. Now for leasing the pros are, lower

monthly payments with little or no down payment, I can drive a better car for less money, lower repair

costs and I can transition into a new vehicle every two to three years. The cons are I don’t own the

vehicle even after the lease is over, typically your only limited to 12,000 miles a year, facing excessive

wear-and-tear charges and it’s costly to terminate a lease early. In my personal opinion financing is the

way to go but I’ll have to do what’s best for my circumstances.

My last key factor is what are the necessary options I should pick for my vehicle. The price of my

next vehicle will depend greatly upon the quality or the accessories I desire. Manufactures have moved

on from putting separate add-ons to making different equipment packages or models. For example, the

Ford F-250 comes in a XL, XLT, LARIAT, KING RANCH, PLATINUM and LIMITED models. With each model

the price increases as the list goes on. At the same time the higher the model will have more standard

equipment that it comes with. Another thing manufactures do is combine different options into one

equipment package like the power equipment group, sport package, off road package and more. So, I

need to look at my options and see if it is better to change the model I’m looking at or just apply an

equipment package to my vehicle. Most importantly if I want to see what each option does or looks like,

I’ll be going to a dealership and look at it. I’ll also be taking a thorough test drive of the vehicles to feel

the difference and if I really need certain options.

 Now this is not all the key factors I’ll be looking at when buying my next vehicle because the list

would go on and on. But, this is some of the key factors that I think are the most important and what I’ll

take into consideration when buying my next vehicle. Now despite all this I’m going to buy what I love.

Because if I want a big truck that I can afford then I’m going to get it. If I want that sports car that I love,

then I’m going to get it. I’m going to get whatever vehicle that shows off my personality.