7 Things To Do After Buying Your First Car

Everyone looks forward to buying their first car. It’s a sign of independence, and even starting your adult life. You’ll already know this can be a relatively complicated process, as you’ll need to consider quite a few things. These don’t stop once you’ve bought the car, however.

After buying your first car, you’ll need to get a few specific things done. While some of these might be obvious, quite a few of them aren’t. Despite that, they’ll be relatively important to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

You’ll not only make sure you avoid any potential legal entanglements, but ensure your car runs as well as you want it to. Seven particular steps stand out for this.

What To Do After Buying Your First Car: 7 Top Steps

1. Get The Title

The title to your car is one of the most important things you can have, so it’s worth getting it as soon as you can. If you’re paying for the vehicle in full, the dealership should hand you this straight away. Where it gets a bit complicated is when you take out financing to pay for it.

In these cases, you mightn’t get the title until you have everything paid in full. Usually, the title will be sent to your state for processing, so you’ll still be legally covered if you have financing. Make sure this is sorted before you start driving around.

2. Register The Car

After you buy a new car, you’ll have about 30 days to register it with the appropriate authorities. Doing so makes sure it’s legal to drive it long-term, and you wouldn’t be able to do so without it. That doesn’t mean waiting until that grace period ends, however.

Registering your car can take some time, and that’ll even be the case if you fill out everything right. You’ll need to get to the Department of Motor Vehicles to do this, but it’s worth looking up  everything you need for your state to make sure you have everything you need.

With how important this is, it’s one of the first things you should do.

3. Get Insured

Probably the most obvious thing to do after buying your first car, you’ll already know you need to get insurance. It’s a legal necessity. That doesn’t mean buying the first car insurance you come across. It’s better worth shopping around for different providers to see what options you have.

Not only will there be different types of insurance you can get, but these will all come at different prices. By shopping around and comparing options, you can get the best deal for you. As minor as some differences might seem, it’ll save you more money that you’d think.

4. Think About Legalities

There are more than a few legalities you’ll need to consider when you’re buying a new car. While some of these will be obvious, such as registering your car and getting the title, there could be a few you don’t think of. The likelihood of an accident and similar factors are notable among these.

It’s worth having a law firm in mind for when such situations arise, if they do. The likes of McKenzie Law Firm specialize in such areas, so they could be worth considering. It’ll make sure you’re protected and looked after should the unlikely come up. Make sure you have a professional you can go to if it happens.

5. Search For Recalls

New cars often rely on new technology, much of which might be relatively unproven. You’ll need to be on the lookout for this, especially if the car you buy has just been released. Looking up recalls for that specific make and model lets you know if anything needs to be replaced.

While the dealership usually takes care of this before selling, it’s not something you’d want to be caught off guard by. By spending even half an hour looking this up online makes sure you don’t run into any problems with your car. Since some of these can be relatively large, they’re something you’ll want to avoid.

6. Keep The Bill Of Sale

Your car’s bill of sale is one of the most important documents you’ll have related to the vehicle. It proves that you actually own the vehicle and could be something you end up needing to use at some point or another. It shows how much you paid for the car, any applicable terms, when you bought it, and who you bought it off.

The more common time you’ll need this is during tax season, and you’ll also need it when registering your car. While you mightn’t need to use it at any other point, that could be more than enough to keep the original and maybe a copy on-hand for when you need them.

7. Save Your Paperwork

You’ll naturally have quite a lot of paperwork associated with your car. That starts when you’re buying it, as you’ll get paperwork to prove you own it. Then there’s registration and insurance-related documents. While these might all seem relatively minor, they aren’t.

You’ll need to keep all of these documents in a safe place in case you need them at any point. While it’s unlikely you’ll end up needing them, you wouldn’t want to be in a position where you do but don’t have them. It could even be worth making copies of these just in case and having them close at-hand in your car.

It’ll save you from any awkward situations if they ever come up.

What To Do After Buying Your First Car: Wrapping Up

If you don’t know what to do after buying your first car, you could overlook a few important steps. With how important many of them can be, that’s not something you’ll want to do. Saving your paperwork, considering any legalities, getting the title and registration, and similar steps will all be vital for this.

While they’ll take a little time and effort, they’ll be more than worth it, as they’ll avoid any hassle in the long-term.