How to Protect your Car

Take a few steps once in a while to make sure that your investment in your new car is protected!

Scheduled Maintenance - Follow your scheduled maintenance schedule! A trained mechanic will not only be able to help you tune up your vehicle every once in a while if you can’t do so on your own but they can spot some problems that you might have missed!

Washing and Waxing - Keeping your car clean helps your car to continue to look its best! A shiny car is also perceived to be worth more too.

Car Alarm - A simple car alarm can help protect your car from theft and vandalism. Just make sure to calibrate the car well if you don’t want to wake up the neighbourhood with the slightest disturbance!

Driving Safe! - If you drive safe, you prevent a lot of unnecessary woes! Follow the road rules and make sure you are in good condition to drive before getting in the car.

A good comprehensive insurance coverage can help make sure that if something does happen to your car that you’ll have somewhere to go to get repairs done! Call The Smarter Finance Company to find out more! 

How to Protect your Car

Making Sure you have Sufficient Car Insurance

You shouldn’t ever compromise on your car insurance even though it’s expensive. Here’s how to keep your insurance costs low...

Buy an Affordable Car - Sports, performance and SUV models generally are more risky cars to drive because of the power they have. While the cars are costly themselves, it can be expensive to insure them too.

Figure out what you Need - Find out what kind of coverage there is. Comprehensive insurance is a good mid-level coverage to start with.

Compare Car Insurance - Compare the best car insurance deals and pick the one that fits your car the best. Make sure you check out reviews of the company too!

Look for Discounts - There just might be some special rates if you pick up a package deal or wait for a particular time in the year.

Manage your Excess - Balance your excess with how much you can afford but don’t pick an excess too high that you won’t be able to claim anything unless your car is totalled!

Drive Carefully! - A good driving track record means a cheaper insurance premium!  

Check with The Smarter Finance Company if you need help with those quote comparisons today!

Making Sure you have Sufficient Car Insurance

What to Do in a Car Accident

Oh no! You’re in a car accident! What should you do now? Read on so that you’ll be prepared if it ever happens to you.

 What should I do? - KEEP CALM. Check for injured passengers and help them first. Have your hazard lights on while you stop to do the necessary.

Notify Police if Necessary - If there have been injuries or damages to property, call your local authorities and inform them a crash has happened and take responsibility for your actions.

Get help - If someone is injured, call an ambulance and get that person to safety and out of the vehicle if you can. If you’re not sure what else to do, get in touch with your insurance agency who can walk you through what to do.

Exchange Details - You are required to exchange details with the other parties in the accident no matter who caused it. Do not admit who is at fault just in case there are legal proceedings. Your insurance company can handle things once they have all the information.

With The Smarter Finance Company, you can ensure that you have a robust car insurance coverage and roadside assistance too if you need it! Call us to find out more!

What to Do in a Car Accident

Car financing for Newbies - Comprehensive Insurance

How does Comprehensive Insurance work? Let this short article give you a heads up...

How it works - Insurance covers accidents and all sorts of unexpected situations that may happen to you and your car, whether on the road or at home parked under a tree. Comprehensive insurance normally will cover fire, theft and third party damage.

Pros - Definitely you will get peace of mind from the assurance of financial protection. You’ll be able to afford repairs and even medical care if it boils down to that as long as you have insurance in place!

Cons - Premiums can vary in cost to you and if you are a safe driver, you might wonder why you need to pay for something you might not utilise. Just remember that you’re not the only driver on the road though!

Car financing for Newbies - Comprehensive Insurance

Find out more about what insurance can be provided to you. Call The Smarter Finance Company today!

Car financing for Newbies - Roadside Assistance

We find out more about Roadside Assistance and how it can benefit you when you buy a new or used car.

How it works - A roadside recover team can help you get back on the road if something happens to you when you’re driving. A tow or a quick jumpstart or even help retrieving your keys from a locked vehicle is easy when you have a trustworthy team to call.

Pros - Sometimes you just need a helping hand but you don’t know who to call. Roadside Assistance gives you the peace of mind that someone with experience and a solution can come to your rescue at any time.

Cons - If something doesn’t happen during the term of your subscription (which is a good thing), your subscription fee goes down the drain.

Car financing for Newbies - Roadside Assistance 

Don’t you think it’s better to be safe than sorry? Find out about the options for Roadside Assistance with The Smarter Finance Company today! 

What to Do when Researching Car Finance Rates?

Here are some important things to look at when you are starting to look around for car financing deals

Monthly Payments
Balance making your payments and your cash flow so that you can get a god class of car and still have spending money at the end of the day! Don’t forget other costs like taxes, petrol, insurance, and maintenance!

Interest Rates and Fees
Examining how your plan is affected by interest rates and even late fees and non-payment fines can help you determine exactly how much you should take out on your loan.

Credit History
Have these documents on hand so that your application can move smoother. These will affect your loan approvals too!

Your Credit Score

• Previous and current addresses
• Employment and income history
• Declaration of (any other) income
• Declaration of any other Assets and Loans

When in doubt, head to your nearest car financial professional (like The Smarter Finance Company) for help!

What to Do when Researching Car Finance Rates?

Should you Buy a Car from a Dealership?

There are certain benefits in purchasing your new car from a dealership! Here are some:-

Quality Assurance

Most dealers are hell bent on keeping their reputation so they make sure that your vehicle is in tip top working order!

After Sales Care

Besides getting your warranties for your new car here, you can also exercise that warranty in the attached repair and workshop facilities.

Grab a Good Deal

There are always seasonal sale periods or discounts that may be given to you if you go down to the dealership at the right time of year! 

One-stop Shop

Besides your car, you can get your financing and insurance settled at the dealership too!

Do your comparisons and work out your figures. You can find out more about your options from The Smarter Finance Company!

Should you Buy a Car from a Dealership?

How much should you spend on a car

We can help you decide how much money to spend on your new car. Just take a look at the different components here:-

Down Payment

Making a cash payment upfront helps to reduce the monthly repayment amounts that you need to pay, but it should be balanced with how much you have in your bank account at that moment of course!

Monthly Payment

Examine your savings each month and how much you can comfortably put aside each month to go towards your car repayments. You can also tap on your savings or adjust your expenditure to make sure that you can fit the monthly payments in.

Extra Costs

Extra costs can affect how much you spend on your car outside of your monthly payments. Road taxes and sales taxes, registration costs, insurance, petrol and maintenance all adds up!

Don’t spend past your limits and look at your car financing plan carefully before committing. Being comfortable with the amount you pay will make your life a lot easier!

How much should you spend on a car

How to Pay less on a Car

Here’s how you can afford a car on a small budget

Refinance your loan

Make the most of lower interest rates in the car financing market so that you pay less on your monthly repayments!

Cut down on your Car expenses

Look at what you’re spending on your car like your insurance, petrol and maintenance, can you opt for a cheaper alternative so that you can save more money?

Cut down on your Other expenses

It’s a good habit to be thrifty, and starting with your own spending habits can help you put some money aside when you spend only on what you absolutely need and cut down on luxury items.

Buy a cheaper car

A cheaper car will cost less in the long run but serve the same purpose - to get you around town!

If you are still having trouble affording your car after trying out these methods, perhaps it’s time to seriously evaluate if you should sell your car off. Never put yourself into debt for the want of a car!

How to Pay less on a Car