The small SUV market didn’t really exist fifteen years ago, but they’ve become a fantastic option for a very wide variety of people these days. Benefiting from a great balance of fuel economy, manoeuvrability, and larger interiors, they’re great for families, commuters, and adventurers alike.
If you’re one of the many who have decided that this is the type of car for them, you’ve likely noticed the rather bewildering amount of options available; in this article, you’ll learn of the three most important factors to consider before you buy!
Assessing Your Needs
The most important thing to ask yourself before you start hunting for the perfect model, is What do I need one for?
Small SUVs cater to a huge variety of use cases, so will you be using them mostly for family trips? School runs? Town or city driving? Heading to work? Write down each reason you consider this type of car to be appropriate for your lifestyle so that you can use it to cross-reference later when choosing a model.
For city driving, for example, the Vauxhall Mokka is an excellent option for its great fuel efficiency, but this is just one good pairing of model-to-use case. Carefully consider your options, and visit the websites of each of the reputable and well-known brands to check out what they have to offer.
Considering Budget
As you think about your next model, it’s crucial to question what lies beyond the initial asking price. You should be thinking of your purchase as an investment; resale value, for example, is very important, as is the availability of parts and the insurance cost.
There are a huge amount of factors that go into assessing the associated long-term costs of owning a new car, so having determined which model you like best based on the criteria you identified from the above section, make note of everything else that factors in.
Be sure to read reviews and ask other owners for their opinion, too – the Car Talk UK Reddit page is a fantastic place to ask for advice on anything you can think of, and with 460 thousand members, there’s a high likelihood that people that have experience with your exact model of interest will chime in to help.
Consider What Features You Deem Important
Cars are far more than just an engine and four wheels these days. Like most elements of our lives, manufacturers have embraced the wonders of digital technology to the point that most analogue systems are now computerised.
This means that there is a huge number of new features available in modern vehicles that you wouldn’t have had to consider before. One of the most important categories are safety features, such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), automatic braking, blind spot management, and more. Consider these elements first when you’re looking at what extras you want to include, and then move on to some of the more luxury elements – if you’re going to spend money on extra features, it’s worth spending it on the stuff that really matters.