After I finally made my decision to purchase a car, the search for my auto began. I was actually already looking at various car models for some time, but the process of canvassing really changed when I knew that I was serious about getting a car. For the longest time, I had my eye on this one car, but this time I decided to widen my choices based on the car model's competitors so I could really choose between the models that are available in the market. 

AutoDeal proved to be one of the fundamental tools in my car-buying research because it was so easy to see the profile of each car and to compare it with other models under the same category. There were so many options, and it was actually hard for me to trim down my list. Thankfully in the end, I was able to identify my top 3 cars, and that's what I planned to see in-person in the car dealer.

Countless hours of online research (reading websites + watching YouTube video reviews) will never beat the actual experience of seeing the cars with your own eyes. A vehicle's look-and-feel might be totally different from what you were expecting, so it's really a best practice to see the car in a showroom before purchasing one.

Together with my siblings, we went to the three car dealers where my chosen models were present. Good thing they were located almost next to each other, so it was just one weekend trip.

A number of people were also checking out the car that day. It was so amazing to see it myself. We took our turns sitting on the driver's seat and checking out the controls that were available on the dashboard. After a few minutes of talking to an agent (who was offering in-house financing, which we subtly declined), we all went home satisfied knowing that we (or me?) already made the decision.

Now that I know what car I wanted to buy, I proceeded with completing my auto loan applications to various banks. It is important to know what car you intend to buy at this stage because this is where the amount that you will loan will depend. It's also part of the information you will provide on the forms. Well technically, you can just provide an estimated amount that you want to loan, based on the price range of the cars you are eyeing on, but I believe it's smoother if you have identified the specific car model before sending your application forms to various banks.

So again, the process of selection comes in again. To which bank do I apply my loan? Again, it pays to do your research. I collected auto loan details from various banks (the rates are available on their websites) and I trimmed down to those with the lowest rates. Of course the rate to be provided can still vary for specific applications, but at least you have a range in mind.

Some important things I learned during this process:

Of course, I chose the best deal out of those that were offered to me. Now that I already have an approved bank loan, it's time to identify which specific car dealer I will buy my unit.

Searching for the best agent is crucial for your journey as a new car owner. Your agent will be your contact person before, during, and after the sale of the car unit. So choose your agent very carefully. 

It's the agents that have the full prerogative on the overall package that they will offer you for the purchase of the car.

To give more context on this, let's discuss first the ways you can pay for your car:

1. Cash - if you have enough cash to pay the car's SRP in full, then good for you since you will pay the price as is, and save more actually because comparing it with a loan, you won't need to pay any interest rates.
2. Bank PO (Purchase Order) - the buyer is the one that applies for an auto loan from a bank and once it gets approved, the buyer just forwards the Bank PO to the car agent. Loan interest rates are lower if you go this route compared to in-house financing.
3. In-house Financing - it's technically still a bank loan but it's the car dealer that applies the auto loan to a bank. This is the route that some buyers use either because they have difficulty in being approved by their banks or they just don't want the hassle of applying for an auto loan themselves. This is the easiest fastest way to purchase a car because it is the agent who does all the job. You just need to give the agent some form of identification and they will do the rest. This option doesn't require a high cash out (I've seen offers that only require at least 15,000PHP cashout) but in the end you will pay a higher total value because of the high interest rate.

To entice potential buyers, car agents offer lots of freebies so they avail the in-house financing option. Well, with what I have learned in this car-buying process, those items are not really "freebies" because technically you pay a higher price for the over-all package because of the high loan interest rate. I went for the Bank PO payment option because it was the most practical one for me. 

Here are some tips I can give you for this stage in the process:

Once you've come to an agreement with your chosen car agent, it's time to formalize things. Normally, this process would take only days to finish. However, since I was dealing with a new car model that's still hot in the market, I had to wait for almost three weeks for an available unit. My agent promptly contacted me that there was a unit that came in and will be reserved under my name. The unit was not in my preferred color, but knowing the situation of the market, I had to take it or it would take months for me to get one specifically for my preferred variant (a decision I don't regret because as of this writing, people are still scrambling for available units for this car model).

Since I chose bank PO, I had to cover a % of the unit price. I coordinated with my agent and bank for the final amount that I will cash out, and went to the bank to do the transaction. Coordination between the bank (for your auto loan and insurance) and the agent is essential because:

bank - needs to get from agent the technical information about the specific car unit, where they will associate the loan and insurance

agent - needs to get the papers from the bank for insurance (if you availed the auto insurance from the same bank you got your auto loan

After doing the payment (which I did on the car dealer's bank account, not the car agent's, take note!), my agent informed me of the possible date of release of the unit. I'm so excited of course, but I had to delay it for a week because of conflicts in my schedule. My mom, brothers, and niece came with me when we got the new car.

When we got there, I signed some papers and asked my agent for a request on the plate number (so it won't coincide with the coding of the other car we were using). Then after a few more minutes, I met my new car! 💖

It was such a wonderful feeling to see the actual unit. Yup, the only available unit was in silver. I originally wanted gray, but this still best suited me (silver will make scratches less obvious and the car is more visible at night). I let my agent talk to my brothers during the car inspection because they're all experienced owners (LOL) I just looked and inspected the car itself and checked if the parts inside and outside didn't have damages.

The transaction was very smooth, and within just a few more minutes, we were on our way home with the brand new car! 🥰✨💖🚗

That was my journey in buying my car. It was a very thrilling, stressful experience, but I did learn a lot of things! I hope this guide helps other potential car owners in their journey of purchasing their cars.