What is the top of your proirty list, when buying a car?

What do you start with when you decide you are going to buy a car? I would imagine most people start with a budget, how much money do you have available or how much are you willing to borrow.

Following budget what helps you to narrow down your choices? In these credit crunch times you may want to look at which car offers you the highest MPG or which has the lowest road tax charge. It is worth including these, along with estimated service, repair and maintenance cost when setting out your budget.

Carmony provide details on these cost with each car to make your decision process a little easier. Choosing a greener car may be top of your list, and can often be a route to saving you cash.




We all have a list of needs which we want to satisfy when choosing our next car. You may simply want to make sure your next car can fit the pushchair in the boot, as the last one was like putting a ship in a bottle.

It is important for lots of people to have a car which looks right and therefore says the right things about you. Perhaps for you this is a colour choice, you may have certain colours which you would not want to go near, whilst others are the ideal choice for you.

Research carried out by Carmony highlighted that the number one consideration was:
1) Price
followed by
2) Fuel Economy
3) MPG
4) General maintenance costs
5) Size of car

Family and friends teaching new drivers

Who taught you to drive? New research by insurance company Swinton has found that more people are turning to family members for lessons.

Cash-strapped times are resulting in learner drivers turning their backs on professional instructors and instead relying in family and friends. This is not a decision anyone should take lightly, as anyone who has been taught by a family member will know. Also if you are asked to teach a new driver, ask yourself how patient you will be.

The survey found that those who passed their driving test in March 2009 received an average 63 hours of tuition from family or friends and just 41 from professional instructors, the poll showed.

Learning to drive started early for some:

This baby loves his car seat, but not tunnels

Carmony's ad's

Carmony has a poster campaign across the UK. Hope you like it.

For those who want to choose an approved car from a list of needs which includes colour:



If speed is more your thing, then tell Carmony how fast you want it to be



You may simply want to choose by size and therefore may find our browse by model search useful or alternatively tells us the number of people you need your car to carry using our lifestyle search



Your first concern may be how green your vehicle will be, perhaps for environmental concerns or maybe to find a more fuel efficient car and save you cash.

Drivers Budget

What will this weeks budget have is store for car drivers?

We have already seen the fuel tax rise, which appears to have come at a time when petrol seems to be on the rise. So surely we have no more rises in store for this area.

Road tax is already scheduled to go up in May, although only by £5 for most cars. The buzz now is around the possible scrappage scheme, which could be modelled on the successful German scheme which has just been extended. Offering around £2000 for people who scrap their 9 year old car and replace it with a brand new one or a year old model. This is being promoted to help support the automotive sector and to encourage drivers to switch to more environmentally friendly vehicles.

So what would you like to see in the budget for drivers?

The revenue generating speed cameras scrapped? Following the example of Swindon.
Cheaper road tax for responsible drivers?
Parking fines related to the price of a vehicle, hurting premiership footballers more than the man on the street?
A reduction in the number of traffic wardens?

So what about you, do you like our suggestions what are yours?

When did your driving life change?

Do you remember taking your first driving lesson, if this was a family member it was no doubt followed by an argument and you storming up to your bedroom. Whoever allowed you to sit behind the wheel for the first time, probably introduced you to the most stressful experience in your life up to that point. You sat in the seat trying to remember 'Mirror, signal, maneuver' and look down at the gear stick with confusion and then you stalled. Now you sit behind the wheel and automatically know what to do, making many journeys on auto pilot.

Your first car may have been one you shared with another family member, I was put on my Mums insurance and therefore drove round in a Fiesta with cushions in the back and a Barry Manilow tape in the stereo (little has changed!). You then graduate to buying your first car, which most choose for aesthetics or fashion. You certainly didn't want a car which would ruin your street cred.

So how do you choose a car today? Has aesthetics gone off your list completely, or are you now trying to marry that up with boot space for a push chair or the family pet. When did everything change, how did you progress to an MPV or a 4x4. Do you choose to add extras to your car, at one time this may have been certain wheel trims, and now its a fancy cup holder or a magic tree. More 'Family Car' than 'Pimp my ride'.

Scrappage Scheme - What are your views?

The discussions over the possibility of a scrappage scheme being introduced by the UK government intensified over the Easter weekend.

Carmony.co.uk want to know your views, please fill in our survey it will only take a minute.

Survey

Thanks for your time we will publish the results here