Whether or not you're ready to buy a car, it's something that's fun to contemplate. Lots of little kids dream about what car they will buy when they grow up. If you already own, or have owned, a car, you know that buying one is not the stuff of dreams. It is a business transaction like many others. The problem is, owning a car is wrapped up in so many romantic images, it's easy to forget (especially if you are buying a new car) that this is probably the second largest purchase you will ever make in your life. Second only to buying a home.

When you first start thinking about buying a car, you may be overwhelmed by the number of choices you have. New or used? Sporty or practical? Two door or four door? Buy or lease? These questions are important. In fact, a huge part of buying a car is about defining what questions are important to you and what kind of answers you want to receive.

So a lot of this module is about breaking down those confusing first impulses into small, digestible pieces. That means a few simple goals, simple questions, and simple but incredibly useful tips.

Here's a few to start you off.

Your first question: Do you really need to buy a car?

You'll have a chance to pick apart that question elsewhere in this module. For now, let's assume you've answered yes, you do want to buy a car. If that's the case, you should go into the process with one, and only one, goal in mind.

Your only goal: To buy a car you want at a price you want to pay.

Okay, so it's a pretty broad goal, but that's its strength. Believe it or not, it's easy to get sidetracked into paying more than you want for a car you never really wanted in the first place. It happens!

This module will take you through the process step by step. There are hundreds of factors to consider, and it would be impossible to cover them all here. Still, this is a good place to start. The structure that follows reflects what I think is a particularly smart way to go about buying a car:

• First, decide what features are important to you.
• Second, do your research and pick your price.
• Third, negotiate the deal you want.

Other people may try to do things in a different order. Lots of people go to the dealer to explore their choices, then decide what they want and take whatever deal they can get. Sure, there's lots of flexibility. But if you let a dealer tell you what you want, or what you should pay, you may wind up buying the car he wants to sell, rather than the car you want to buy.

I hope this module will reduce the anxiety and even increase the satisfaction you experience when you decide to buy a car. And if you wind up meeting your goal - getting the car you want at a price you want - well, that's the greatest satisfaction of all.