Buying a car is more expensive than advertised. There is more to just buying a car! There are hidden costs that most people overlook.

You may think that you can afford a $20,000 car right now, but it’s possible that you really can’t because you have not yet thought about the costs that you have to pay for after actually buying that car!

So before buying that car, make sure that you have enough extra cash to spend on it to avoid not being able to pay for your car’s monthly payments.

Let’s look at the hidden costs of buying a car whether brand new or used:

Fuel

The most obvious expensive cost of having your own car is fuel! As of the time of writing this, the price of gasoline in Australia is $1.255/L.

Let’s say that you consume 20L per week, which makes your monthly fuel cost around $100.

In a year, that’s $1,200!

That’s assuming that you only use 20L of gas per week. What if you are required to travel a lot on a weekly basis? There are also some cars that consume way more fuel than the others, so before buying a car, make sure that you know about these factors!

Insurance

Depending on the cost of your car, insurance may cost more or less. The higher the value of the car is, the higher the price of the insurance will be!

Let’s say the $20,000 car that you want to buy in mind will cost you $65 of insurance costs per month. That’s $780 in a year!

Although with insurance, in case you get into an accident, your car gets stolen, or your car gets destroyed by acts of nature, you will be saving thousands of dollars of money. So even if it seems like a lot, don’t skip it!

If you’re going to be financing your car, chances are, the bank will also require you to have insurance anyway. So this is likely to be an unavoidable cost.

Maintenance

Your car needs regular maintenance which might be free for some time with some dealers.

If your maintenance is not free, then, you’re going to have to pay for your maintenance at least twice a year and also pay for oil changes and etc.

Maintenance is skippable, but if you don’t give your car proper care, it will cost you more in the future. So spending $200 (more or less) on maintenance a year is well worth it if you ask us.

Repairs

Even if you buy a very reliable car, it will go through some repairs after some time of using it.

These repairs may vary from small repairs to thousands of dollars in repairs, depending on which parts you break or which parts give up on you!

The cost of repairs is very unpredictable, and the more expensive your car is, the more expensive your repairs are likely to be.

Before deciding on which car you should buy, make sure that you have money prepared for unexpected repairs!

Tire Replacement

Tires need to be replaced, too! And they are not cheap. The prices of tires vary depending on the size and quality of the tires you’re going to buy. The bigger the tires, the better the quality, the more expensive they will be.

If you’re going to be travelling a lot on rough terrains, your tires might degrade quicker.

If you don’t take good care of your tires, they might also get cracks sooner.

Make sure that you’re prepared for unexpected tire changes because not changing your old or worn-out tires might get you into accidents that could potentially cost your life. Don’t ignore this!

Others

If you have a car, you’re very likely to want to add accessories on it to increase comfort and aesthetics which costs more than you expect, depending on what changes you want to make.

Simple leather seat covers will already cost $200 more or less. Reliable deep-dish mattings for the floor of your car will cost you about the same!

You’re also going to be needing cash for car washes, detailing, and etc.

When buying a car, make sure that you have enough to spend on all of these extra costs. If not, consider buying something cheaper to make room. Maybe like a smaller car or a used car!

Good luck with your car hunting!