I may be only twenty-six years old, but I still remember that one of the happiest days of my life was the day that my dad and I went to the car dealership to buy my first new car. It wasn't so much that my dad was going to help me with the down payment that made it exciting, but it was the fact that it was going to be my own brand new car with hardly any miles and no problems whatsoever. I got my first decent car when I started my sophomore year in Florida and it lasted me a long time, but because it was a used car to begin with, it ended up having some problems after a few years. Rather than spending a whole ton of money on fixing it up, my dad suggested that he should come down and help me look into purchasing a new or newer car, since I would be graduating and would have a job to take care of the insurance and payments on my own. I thought that it was a fabulous idea, and I eagerly awaited the day that my dad would arrive.

At that point in my life, which was really only just over three years ago, I was pretty dumb when it came to finances. I was just getting ready to graduate from college, and I had never really had to worry about any big financial decisions and had relied on scholarships and my student loans to get me through each year. My dad picked me up from work and within two hours, I was signing my name on the dotted line for my new car. I instantly felt like a grownup, and I was definitely nervous and scared. A new car was my new responsibility...the payments, the upkeep, the oil changes...everything. At that point, I didn't care...I was ecstatic at the fact that I finally had a car that I could rely on.

The best part about the whole situation happened to be the great deal that we received from the car dealership because of the day of the month on which we were purchasing the car. The day we went out searching for my car happened to be the last day of the month and the last day of the fiscal quarter, so the car salesmen were trying there best to get those last few sales in for the period. That surely worked in my favor, because I saved about three thousand dollars on the total price of my car and I got some freebies thrown in. Take my advice, if you are in the market for a new car, do yourself a favor and wait until these financial periods are coming to a close. It can really save you a lot of money, and I can almost guarantee that the salesmen will be extra helpful and extra nice owing to the fact that they are really looking to make the sale. I was really glad that I was able to purchase my car directly from a dealership, rather than dealing with a used car sales place, because I like have the peace of mind that I can always bring the car back to the dealership for any problems that might come up. It may cost a little bit extra from time to time to have the dealership work on the car, but in the long run, the dealership isn't there to rip you off...like some garages and maintenance chains typically do. Most importantly, you know that the work is guaranteed and backed by an upstanding company. There is never any mystery behind the business that you conduct at such places. The few extra dollars that you end up spending will come back ten fold in the confidence that you have about the service.

I'm sure that I'm not the only person out there who has had a great experience purchasing their first car. Sure, there are probably some of you out there who are shaking your head and cursing the day that you bought your first car, but things can't always be perfect. I've definitely had my fair share of automotive mishaps with my old car, many of which contributed to my extensive nervousness when it came down to getting my first 'new' car. I'd love to hear some of your stories, so feel free to drop me a comment on this post (or any other for that matter) or you can email me at chris@biblekeeper.com if you'd like!