When you are buying a car you must be realistic and not get carried away, you should also stand your ground. Car sales people are very clever, they will try to sell you what they have in stock, rather than what you really want.

If you go in wanting a 4x4 and come out with a sports car, the only person that will find it amusing is the sales man. Ok so there is a small chance you will never regret buying a sports car, but in the winter you could well wind up wishing that you stood your ground and brought a nice 4x4.

So rule number one, stand your ground! Don't get pushed around by the sales people, because only you know what you want.

Cars can be quite difficult to buy because the technology changes on a pretty much daily basis, ok well maybe not that quickly. Cars now come with air conditioning as standard; a few years ago this was relatively unknown. Cars also now have xenon headlamps, which are supposed to offer us a brighter, clearer light.

Because of this, cars are specialist knowledge and so it's really easy for a con man, oh I'm sorry sales man to pull the wool over your eyes.

There are good things about this modern car market though, there is a lot of competition, and therefore there are a lot of deals going around at the moment. It should be possible to negotiate. You should never pay the price on the label, you must always negotiate. Few people like negotiating when buying a new car, but you must!

So rule number 2 when buying a car is to negotiate! You should screw the sales man as hard as possible. Remember to ask for extras early on, before you sign anything. If you want mats and mud flaps thrown in, then ask once you've got the price down. The process should go like this:

1.Negotiate on price

2.When you think the price is lowest negotiate on extras

Buying a new car can be a very exciting time for most people, however it's important to not to get carried away and drive your new car as soon as you get it. It is very important to calm down, take a deep breath, and inspect the car before you drive away.

It's often the case that you are so excited that it's so easy to miss things, just tiny little defects may not appear apparent. However should you drive away with this car it will be much harder to get these faults rectified later on.

You should take the car on a test drive before purchasing it to make sure it handles ok on the road. Cars can be quite temperamental things, and you certainly don't want to be buying trouble.

People rely upon their cars for day to day life, and so if it broke down it could be disastrous. You should buy a reliable car. If you're buying used, there's nothing wrong with that, and in fact it's sensible. Just make sure you are buying a good, honest car, that won't end up costing you much more than you paid for it.

Once you've got it home, then you can be excited about it! Just never compare it to your baby, that never goes very well for some reason.