What parents should consider when choosing your teens first used car on the Sunshine Coast

What parents should consider when choosing your teens first used car on the Sunshine Coast

When you are making the exciting decision of what first car to buy your kids, the choice can be very overwhelming and sometimes their decisions are based purely on looks, not practicality. Making the wrong decision can not only cause future annoyance of having to sell and buy another car, but it could have large financial, time and safety implications for them as well. You need to make sure you have put enough thought into the decision so you get good value for money and make sure the vehicle suitable for what they will need it for.

So what should you consider when choosing their first car?

1. Clearly define the needs of their vehicle on the Sunshine Coast

Firstly, you need to define what they will mostly need the vehicle for. Then determine what the vehicle needs to offer, in order to meet those needs so it is safely fit for purpose.

Some considerations include:

• Do they require towing capacity for work?
• Do they need a Tray and what size will you need?
• How many passengers the vehicle needs to carry?
• Will their sporting or hobby equipment (such as a surfboard or stand up paddle board) fit in or on top of the car?

If they have specific equipment or requirements for their vehicle, get assistance from sales staff or an expert fitter at the start of the vehicle selection process to ensure you choose the vehicle that meets their needs.

2.    Consider their plans for the future

When choosing the right vehicle for now, you should also think about if the vehicle they want now will still be fit for purpose in 3 to 5 years time. Will they move to the city where smaller cars are easier to drive and park? Do they plan to start a building apprenticeship where they would then need a Ute?

3.    Define vehicle usage for fuel based decisions

Understanding the main vehicle usage will determine which fuel type is most relevant for your vehicle. Therefore you should consider:

• What type of roads (urban or highway) will be driving on
• The length of journeys they will be driving
• How often the journeys will be made

Diesel vehicles are most economic when used predominantly for long journeys on motorways and highways. This is why diesel is the preferred choice of fuel for commercial working vehicles. Petrol vehicles can have an economic benefit when using them for regular short journeys. Hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles are ideal for stop/start urban journeys but can be inefficient for longer or motorway drives.

4.    Look for a good ANCAP safety rating

Firstly, the most important feature of a vehicle (especially for new drivers) is the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) safety rating. This organisation performs a robust series of universally recognised crash tests on new to market vehicles, which are carried out by independent and specialised laboratories to determine each vehicles safety rating. Choosing a vehicle with a 5 star ANCAP rating is the best way to know that they are as protected as they can be.

Sunshine Toyota’s used cars

At Sunshine Toyota we are committed to helping our guests find the best car for them. We stock a huge of makes and models- not just Toyotas, so click here to contact us at Sunshine Toyota to discuss your used car options or click here to check out our ever changing used car stock.