We all know just how much of an investment a car can be. Even if you’re buying a used hunk of junk, you’re pretty much inevitably going to have to pay a decent amount of money for it. Of course, the money that you spend on the car when you actually buy it is far from the only financial investment that you’ll have to make in it.

This is something a lot of people tend to forget, and this often leads them to overestimate how much they can afford to spend on the car itself. To help you avoid getting into this tricky situation, here are some of the hidden costs that you might forget about when buying a car.

Tax

It’s crazy just how many people end up forgetting about the need to tax their car, despite the fact that it’s just as important as insurance. Your car needs to be taxed, and the kind of car that it is often has a significant impact on how much that is going to cost you. A car that has less power but is more economical is going to be much cheaper to tax than a giant gas guzzler with a hugely powerful engine. Sure, it’s far from the more exciting factor to consider when buying a car but it’s something that can have a pretty long-term impact on how much your car is going to cost you during the time that you own it.

Insurance

The most obvious thing that will add to the cost of your car is going to be the insurance. It’s likely that anyone buying a car is going to be fully aware that they will need to insure it. However, it’s surprisingly easy to get so swept up in the excitement of buying a new car that you forget about something so dry and boring as insurance. However, companies like Johnson Insurance can offer you the best possible deals so that you can get it out of the way as soon as possible. You should also always be thinking about how the kind of car that you buy is going to impact the cost of your insurance. A car with a more powerful engine is likely to be a fair amount more expensive to insure than a small car with very little power under to hood.

Maintenance

You might think that buying an older car is a great deal because it costs you a lot less right off the bat than a newer model. However, it’s important to remember the older cars are often less expensive because of the fact that they aren’t as reliable and need more maintenance than new cars. You will almost certainly spend more time taking an older car to a mechanic than you would if you spent more on a new one.

Of course, none of this is meant to discourage you from buying the car that you want. It’s just a matter of being sure that you’re making the right choices when it comes to your money.