We live complicated times to Choose car. Or, perhaps, we believe them more complicated than they really are. Yes, it is true that we can have doubts about What a course will take The automobile industry, what technology will be imposed, what not or, directly, What restrictions will raise Against my car in the coming years.
But let’s look at this from a positive point of view: we have never had so much variety and so many technologies that will better adapt to our lifestyle and the trips we made on a day -to -day basis.
This is what I try to explain to those who, knowing that I write about the automobile industry and try some of the most recent models, ask me what car they should buy. What should be the best option For them. To give them an answer I give a series of tips.
The most important, although it seems nonsense, always leave it for the end.
Choosing car
Diesel (yes, diesel), gasoline, Microhíbrido, electric hybrid, plug -in hybrid, electric or gasoline bifuel and liquefied or compressed natural gas. It is also possible to buy a Electric of extended autonomyalthough the possibilities are very small. Or a car moved by hydrogen but, in this case, Recharge options are almost non -existent.
Therefore, if we are in this situation and we want to buy a car, we have to think about several aspects that I summarize in the following steps:
What type of car do we need (by size)?
Here we must contemplate what we are looking for exactly. How much trunk do we need? Are we going to use the rear seats usually or do we travel as a couple? Are we a family that will grow, are we thinking about forming it or do we plan to have children? Do children already travel on their own and do not need such a big car?
Personally, I recommend doing a Very rational reading of our situation. If we usually do not carry much luggage we should not prioritize the trunk. If we usually do not use the rear seats, their habitability should have a secondary weight in our decision.
It is simply not to over -dimension our needs. Yes, if we are traveling with little luggage in our weekend getaways and, for example, one day a year we want to move a bicycle because we will have a problem or we will have to better square the luggage. That day, perhaps, we regret a little of the choice but this will be passenger because the rest of the year we will omit a quality for which we have probable we have paid a surcharge.
If, on the contrary, we are fond of mountain bike and every weekend we load and download our bicycle, I will not only recommend that you buy a car that facilitates this task. I say more: Take the bicycle to the concessionaire And check for yourself if the bicycle enters the trunk and how simple or complicated it will be its load and download.
What use are we going to give our car?
I like to define the size of the car in the first place because, for almost all kinds of sizes there is the technology we are looking for. Largely because tAmaño and type of use go hand in.
If we are looking for a car to move exclusively in the urban environment, to go and return from work and leave children at school, we are not interested in a car too large, because in this type of journey it will be much more uncomfortable to use.
On the contrary, if we move regularly on the highway and highway and perform hundreds or thousands of kilometers every week, we will prioritize comfort and, most likely, the car is larger.
In this case, I would prioritize the following aspects, from greater to less importance:
- Are we going to use this car as the only one in the house?
- What kind of displacement do we do in our day to day?
- Do we usually go on a trip?
- How many long getaways do we do a year?
- How many kilometers do we do a year?
What technology do we choose?
Once we have the adequate car size for our needs and we are clear about the type of use that we are going to do, it remains to choose which technology that interests us most.
The money is decisive here and, if necessary, access to a plug to load an electric car or a plug -in hybrid. My recommendation is as follows:
- Diesel: Who performs many kilometers on the highway and highway and site the city little. I would not buy it if I did less than 20,000 kilometers a year.
- Gasoline: We want a car “for everything” at home. We move in the usual figures for a Middle driver And the use we give to the car is mixed between city and getaways on highways and highways.
- Microhíbridos: If the option exists, the microhíbrido is a good option to obtain the ECO LABEL AND ITS BENEFITS If we are looking for a gasoline car because the cost barely differs and we will not notice any change when driving.
- Hybrids: We also have the car as a “vehicle for everything” but most of the kilometers are made in city. Although we can leave the weekend, we make a good dozen kilometers in the urban environment or we need enter a zbe where access to more polluting cars is restricted.
- Plug -in hybrids: same case as the previous one but we have the possibility of loading a plug at home and weekend getaways are usually to a second close home. This is important, once the battery charge is exhausted, with the combustion engine working exclusively, the car can have too high consumption that spoil daily savings.
- Electric: We have access to a plug. You can choose to dedicate it as a second vehicle if we are going to use it exclusively in the urban environment or as a “car for everything” if the savings of money with the domestic load compensates us throughout the year. In this calculator you can check it.
He said that money and access to a plug is decisive in this case because plug -in hybrids and electric are vehicles Sentably more expensive than your combustion counterparts. To compensate for spending, it is necessary to perform enough kilometers.
In addition, if you are thinking of an electric car, the first thing to know is that, although the deficit of Load points in Spain It is great, these do not stop growing and it is easy to access most of the regions without great complications. And, once one is habituated, it is easy to avoid any type of hardship with the electric car.
My final and definitive advice: Buy what you like most
Indeed, that is what I end by telling those who ask me about the car that must be bought. Because after years uploaded to cars of all kinds, of different brands and technologies, I have more than proven that, when someone asks, he already has a favorite in mind.
In my case, I bought a mazda 3 of gasoline. It is a car Microhíbrido But that was more than secondary for me. At the moment, neither my partner nor I needed a larger car, so the volume of the trunk and habitability in the rear seats passed to the background.
Luckily (understandable if you live in a city like Madrid), I don’t have to use my car daily. In Xataka We telework, so I do not need it, and my partner also does not use it to move during the week. As a general rule, it is rare that we use it within the city. We do make, on the contrary, a usual road use but cover a few kilometers a year.
We have garage and it would be easy recharge To fill the battery with an electric car but, personally, I prefer an atmospheric engine for my day to day. And here lies much of The magic of the matter. As there was no imperative need to buy a car (because the one we had, for example) I could decide for a car that simply would like it very much.
Yes, an electric car is much quieter and more soft but, unlike an atmospheric engine, it does not take a smile when I use it. And that is the important thing. Because both technologies fit my budget and could use an electric car for a lower cost.
But within the possibilities of each one, provided you do not see the car as an appliance, you will end up having a favorite. Well because it’s a SUV, Well because it is notbecause you like the brand, because you like its interior, Because you hate the screens… for the reason that is: You will have a favorite.
At this point, I am very clear. Buy what you like the most. Because it is possible that this car that makes you tinkle spend a little more than rivals or perhaps less practical. It is possible that it is more uncomfortable to put and remove a child chair or that it does not have a huge trunk. But, deep down, we are going to spend one, two, three or the tens of thousands of euros that each one wants in a car that normally, We hope to have for more than a decade.
Because then it happens: We regret it. We spend all the useful life of our car recognizing how practical it is or how good it appears but we will see our long -awaited (and never bought) car and we will feel a small stab of pain in our heart.
Yes, I understand the advantages of the electric car. I am the first to encourage, whoever wants and wants, makes the leap to this technology. In fact, I would have opted for this possibility if I used my car daily.
But, simply, I like the Sensations which offers an atmospheric gasoline engine. When you really like a car, you assume that the disadvantages of yours (small trunk for the total size of the car, high cost of fuel against an electric …) are less disadvantages because their virtues weigh a lot more than them.
In short, are you looking for a car and doubts between two, three or four options?
Buy the one you like best. So simple.
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