UNIVERSITY COMPOSITION AND COMMUNICATION I

New or Used Car
My daughter just got her driver’s license when she turned 18 years old now that she’s going to college and she is working a part time job, we are looking into different options of buying her either a new car or used car. We want to find the best car for her. Some of the factors we are considering are gas mileage, car repair bills, the reputation of the different dealerships, and would she be better off in a new car or a used car. We have fights everyday over to the use of my truck, if we were to get her a car of her own there would be no more fights. Regardless of what option we choose, new or used, it would still be new to her and she will be very happy about getting it.
When she’s driving back and forth to school she is putting a lot of miles on a car. She has to go to school about twice a day for a short period of time. When she’s working, that’s not as bad as its, less than 2 minutes from our home. So on a normal day she starts outgoing to school, back home, where she does homework for about an hour, and then to work for 2 hours. After she’s done working she comes home and gets ready to go back to school for two more hours. With all the driving she does, we want to make sure she gets a car with good fuel performance. That way she’s not using all of her pay check to pay for gas. I don’t want her to buy a car and have to invest hundreds to thousands of dollars into fixing the car due to how much she has to drive it.
Our daughter works only two days a week, so her income is very limited. We want to make sure we get a car that she doesn’t have to take to the automotive shops all the time, which would take all or most of her paycheck which in turn would make us have to buy everything else she needs. Repairs can end up costing more than what the car is even worth, for example if the car needs a new transmission, buying the car would be a waste of money unless it had sentimental value because repairs like that can be very expensive. If the car is getting repaired all the time then we are back to sharing my vehicle again which may lead to that vehicle breaking down. By sharing a vehicle unavoidable problems would arise like; our daughter having the car when I need to go somewhere, or I get stuck at work because my daughter has the car and she forgets to come get me. Those are problems for me but she may also have problem. Some would be her wanting to go out with her friends but I have or need the car, another would be her getting stuck at school because I have to stay late at work. In those situations her father would come get whoever is stranded, but it would still be annoying, time consuming, and gas consuming. I want to make sure the place we get her car from also has a great reputation as this is her first car and we want it to be a positive experience, not a negative one. If we find a dealership that has a great reputation then we can assume they are all about selling reliable cars and they understand of kids buying their first cars. Also, they may be more understanding of how much they will be driving them. The first car you buy is always remembered, regardless, if it’s a good memory or bad one. It’s a memory her dad and I want to make sure is a great memory not a bad one. I don’t want her first car to be a “lemon” and if her dad and I can help it by doing more research on where to buy a car, that’s just what we will do.
Her dad and I also want to find the best car for her regardless if it’s new or used. I feel if we were to buy her a new car she would spend less money on repairs, however, being that she is a first time driver she is more likely to get into a car accident (God forbid). Her dad and I looked on the internet for the percentage of first year drivers getting into an accident and we were not happy with the percentage we found, 30% of first year drivers get into accidents. With buying a new car come’s a large car payment. Can she afford paying a car payment and paying for gas along with everything else she needs to pay for? Is a question I ask myself when we are researching new cars. Will she have enough money to pay for the repairs? Is a question I ask myself when we are researching used cars. Repairs can cost a lot to someone that works only part time. Those are some of the questions and decisions we face while deciding whether or not to buy her a new or used car.
In conclusion, we feel by doing more research on cars and dealerships, we will make buying a car a positive experience for our child. By looking into dealerships we will find a reputable dealership to work with and buy a car from which will fit all of our needs. This option will also fur fill all of her needs on a daily bases. Her dad and I also feel that all of our concerns about finding the best car for her will be met as long as we do the leg work in our research for the best vehicle for her. By her dad and I doing research for cars that get good gas mileage, we can also do research to find out the durability of the cars we are looking at. We also need to prepare her for buying gas for her car every week. No matter if we buy a new car or used we will find the best suit for her and her every day needs while eliminating arguments altogether.