It is always better to have an online research about the cars before you go to a dealer. There is plenty of information on every car that will help you choose the right one for you assesses your requirements and the budget allocated for it. Take a step by step approach before arriving at the decision.

Some of the basic questions to be asked are:

1) What car is best suited for you?

2) Should it be a diesel or petrol car?

3) What is your budget?

4) Additional costs involved.

5) Zeroing in on the right dealer?

6) Go for a test drive.

7) Close the deal.

The first and foremost thing before buying a car is know what kind of a car you are looking for. Like is it to carry your family around or is it for you to speed down the roads. Are you looking for just basic car features are you love to exhibit luxury? Also calculate your requirements if it is for traveling in urban areas or for long journeys.

It would not be right if you buy a hi-speed car for as little as 20 kms journey. It would also not be suitable to buy a big car where small car could easily serve the purpose.

1) What car is best suited for you?

Do you want to feel the fresh interiors of a new car or want an economical old car? New cars owners’ buyers can choose the optional features like transmission, interior décor, the variant, the color of the car and accessories. Old car buyers have no such choice and any accessory will have to be purchased from the open market. The advantage is that you can get a sedan for a compact car price or you can get a SUV for a sedan price.

With a used car you can get accustomed to being behind the wheel and negotiating the traffic.

2) A petrol or diesel car?

Choosing whether the car should run on petrol or diesel is one of the toughest choices. The difference is in fuel injector. While a petrol car is costlier and emission is low and so is mileage. Diesel is cheaper, but emission is high. Re-affirm your priorities to select the fuel for your car.

3) Suits your budget?

Allocating a budget for the car, will be the deciding factor. The compact cars, hatchbacks and wagons are at the lower end while Sedans, SUV’s are in the middle and luxurious makes are at the top. Deciding on the budget will also help zero in on the automaker.

4) Additional costs involved

Calculate the overhead costs involved apart the dealer price. Your list of accessories should not inflate the budget. Further, the other costs involved are: taxes and duties, registration charges, RTO clearance, pollution control certificate and other papers. This will be a few thousand rupees more than the actual cost of the car. Calculate it before deciding n the budget.

5) Choosing right dealer.

Choosing the right dealer will help you get the best deal for the best price. Most reputed dealers ensure customer certification. Dealers also offer you special warranty. Be careful about being conned into buying a second hand car as new. Some of these second hand cars sellers could be selling stolen cars which could make you fall in trouble

6) Test drive

Go for a test drive before you settle for a make and variant. This will give you a feel of the car interiors and performance. If satisfied clinch a deal, if not tell the dealer that you would like another test ride before taking a decision.

7) Close the deal and sign the papers

Signing the papers will be the last step in owning a car. Get all the papers in order. Get an insurance cover. Most dealers help in getting insurance cover for the new car. Drive out a new car from the showroom. Those buying used cars can take home a bigger car for smaller price.

My first stop was Amazon to check out their best sellers. (Just click on my link below to see the same information.)

I quickly saw that Garmin, Magellan, and Tom Tom dominated the market. Garmin, I had heard of Magellan and Tom Tom, I had not heard of. My elation at seeing who were the best sellers for GPS units was soon crushed by an overwhelming sense of confusion as I clicked on each item, read its description, and tried to make heads or tails out of the differences between the units.

There must have been some pretty big differences, I thought, because the prices ranged from a low of about 0 to almost 00 for portable units-the kind you can stick to your windshield and remove to take with you when you’re out of the car.

Well, suffice it to say, I did an enormous amount of research and became an expert of sorts.

To save you some time and frustration, let me tell you the basics of what I found out.

Although there are several manufacturers of portable automotive GPS systems, the three main ones are Garmin, Magellan, and Tom Tom. Garmin sells about half of the automotive GPS systems in the world, but Tom Tom is quickly catching up. All three companies make a good product, it’s just that understanding the differences between the three manufacturers and their specific products is a little difficult.

Garmin has two main lines of automotive GPS systems, the Nuvi and the StreetPilot. The functionalities of each line overlap quite as bit, so does their price.

In general, the Nuvi’s are sleeker, more compact units. Their interface (how you use the system) is not quite as straightforward as the StreetPilot’s interface. Garmin Nuvi’s come in a broad price range, from less than 0 for the Nuvi 200 to almost 00 for the Nuvi 770. Per price point, Nuvi’s generally have a few more features than StreetPilots.

The main difference between the Nuvi’s and the StreetPilots, however, are these-according to Garmin, Nuvi’s have a high-sensitivity receiver, whereas StreetPilots do not. Nuvi’s weigh about half as much as StreetPilots. (None of these units is heavy, just StreetPilots weigh almost 10 ounces, where Nuvi’s weigh slighlty more than 5 ounces.

The biggest difference between the two units is the user interface. The StreetPilot “c” series was made expressly to be very intuitive and user friendly. This is not to say the Nuvi’s are not, they’re just not super simple, like the StreetPilots.

Tom Tom has devices that directly compete with Garmin’s. The Tom Tom One, for instance, is comparable to the Garmin Nuvi 200, Garmin’s entry level product. Both are basic GPS systems which come pre-loaded with maps, have touch screen, and voice instructions. The Tom Tom One has a battery with only 2 hours average life, where the Nuvi’s battery will last an average of 5 hours.

To my mind, the Tom Toms are not quite as sleek looking at the Nuvi’s, although their quality seems to be comparable.

Magellan does not have the market share of Garmin or Tom Tom, but they still build a good product. The Magellan Maestro 3100 is a big seller on Amazon. In both price and features, it’s comparable to the Tom Tom One and to Garmin’s lower priced units, both in size and weight. Magellan says their battery lasts up to three hours, fifty percent better than the Tom Tom’s.

One of the biggest differences between the cheaper GPS systems and the more expensive ones is the number of “Points of Interest” in the unit’s database.

Points of interest are preloaded hotels, restaurants, business locations, hospitals, basically anywhere you might like to go, which are included in your devices database. The Magellan Maestro, for instance has 750,000 points of interest. The garmin Nuvi 200 comes with approximately 6 million!

If you’re going to use your GPS for traveling, having more points of interest available might be a key feature, and when you consider the distances involved, 750,000 items is just not that many.

Another feature I think is important is Bluetooth technology. Your higher priced units can work as a cell phone (both making and receiving calls). It’s hard enough (and even illegal in some areas) driving and talking on your cell phone. Add looking at your GPS to that mix, and…well, you might want to pull to the side of the road. To my mind, the fewer devices to keep up with the better.