What makes you buy a car?

[Mattracer]

What influences you to buy a car the most?

[Draven]

To be honest it's Price.
It has to be good value for money, after that it's resale (money again) and then safety followed by on road performance. I've never bought a car that I did'nt feel comfortable driving though.

[garcon]

I can't pick a single one. For me performance, reliability, comfort/luxury and initial cost are the key factors. I seem to jump back and forth between big luxury barges and reasonably practical performance cars. One day I'll be able to afford something that combines the two. Or two cars...

[Aysedasi]

Money.

[Bluebottle]

We've gone down the 'Horses For Courses' route- we have a family barge for when all three of us travel or for towing / load lugging and we have a smaller 2+2 for my wife's commuting and for travelling with less than 3 of us. We can all fit in it at a pinch but not for a long run. It's also a fun car to drive, but not as much fun as the 3'rd car which performs no function other than being fun- the excuse is that we can't all fit in one sports car so obviosly we need 2 of them for summer family motoring fun.
I suppose the one which will be replaced at some point is the family barge, a 1984 2.3l Granada so we'll be influenced by size, comfort and towing ability.

[Slippy Diff]

If nobody says image, they are lying I have a ute at the moment, so practicality I suppose followed by a bit of image as it is top of the range and has V6!!!!!!

[Adam43]

It comes with the job...

[coln72]

Where is the all of the above choice. In the end it comes down to what I thought was value for money.

[Logrence]

Insurance, at my age.

[bella]

price, resale value, individuality, style.

eg the car i have at the moment i can sell for more than i bought it for, it's a limited edition (and so a limited colour, and interior), and it looks brilliant. job done. i'm struggling to find something to replace it with.

[DAVID PATERSON]

In no particular order, towing ability, comfort, number of seats, luggage space, reliability, performance, handling, price, availability of parts and service, looks, image/reputation, colour.

[SALEEN S7R]

Normally value for money first for me, then performance and then safety, reliabilty is also a issue but towing isnt a issue. Although I have seen a couple of MK3 Supra's towing caravans, its quite a heavy car at 1600kg.

[StuiE]

on-road performance - Of course
bench racing kw outputs - yes, butI don't mind if it's a little low, it could be improved on if it's a good engine.
safety - I guess...I don't buy little cars, I feel unsafe in them (especially with my g/f's driving).
fuel consumption - Not hugely, as long as I get better than 13L/100km then I'm happy.
styling - Well der
reliability - Of course.
size/comfort - As long as it's not small, needs ok comfort, or at least to be easily improved on (eg: fitting higher model seats)
towing ability - Never towed anything with my car yet, not not really a factor, but since I get cars that are at least medium sized they shouldn't have too bad towing capacity)
resale - Not really

[dubby99]

On road performance was my first choice but an equall second is something that i don't think anybody in this thread mentioned.

BUILD QUALITY

[Flatspot]

I'll have one of each, thank you.

[touringcarnut]

Realibility is the first consideration. Who wants to be breaking down?

[fast95pony]

Another consideration here is : winter traction ! After several winters of dangerously sliding around in the RWD Mustang , I bought a FWD SVT Focus as a daily driver. With Blizzak snow tires and traction control, it's a great winter car.The Mustang comes out on sunny summer days..

[AussieV8]

My family and I have brought Mazda's for over 25yrs and have been extremely happy so badge loyalty...

[Sharky]

Price of course!! If it wasn't for that I'd buy the neighbour's Audi S3 (and it's black....*drool*).

Once I have the money the next issue would be how cheap it is to run. That not only means that it has to be very fuel efficient but it won't be asking for spare parts every now and then. price of the spare parts is an issue too but if expensive spares means that I'll only be needing them once every 2 years or so instead of cheap spares every couple of months then I'll go with the most expensive (which is what happens with my current car).

Finally, brand and origin are quite important. I know they have improved a lot but right now I wouldn't be caught dead driving a Korean car no matter how cheap it is. Quite frankly, I'd prefer if a car comes from France, Germany or Japan.

Just for reference. I drive a Peugeot (and quite happy). Auto brands in the family: Many Renaults, many Mazdas, a Suzuki and a couple of Fiats (both were a disaster).

[topwelshman]

Looks,handling,prestige & quality,power,comfort,cost & economy in that order!

[sjw75]

Depends:

My "family car" : comfort, fuel economy

My "Track day" car : speed, handling and cheap parts

Simon.