Most everyone has a dream car. It’s probably been brought up at a party, or with friends for a night out on the town. “What’s your dream car?” Everyone has a different answer, with some more or less attainable sounding than others (who is really going to be able to find a McLaren F1 at a reasonable cost?), but chances are that most people you know don’t actually own their dream car.

Often, the reality of buying a dream car feels overwhelming because there is a lot of uncertainty involved. Especially with regards to cost. The truth is that those obstacles are largely mental and we’re here to show you how you can overcome them.

Insurance

For most people who drive economy class cars, the costs of insurance for a dream car would increase significantly. There are several factors involved:

· Commute time: what’s your yearly mileage like? If you could reduce your commute time with the dream car, that could lower your rate. Higher mileage insurance plans present greater risk to the insurer.

· Credit score: According to Lexington Law, your credit score affects your insurance. A study conducted in 2000 showed a correlation between drivers with collection accounts and increased costs to insurers. Insurers use score in many states to help assess potential risk.

· Driving history: If you are not receiving the good driver discount, you might want to wait a year or two to get it back. Those with an accident history will pay increased rates, but you may not be able to take insurance discounts with you when you switch to a new insurer either.

There are ways around these insurance increases, like improving your credit or working from home. You could also carpool and use your dream car on weekends.

The Color

Another potential challenge is finding the right color. A dream car isn’t conducive to settling for something, so you shouldn’t settle for the car that has all the features you want but not the color. Your best chance is working with a dealer, who can order you the make and model you want with the color you desire. We’ll get into price in a moment, but that might be prohibitively expensive. For those having trouble locating the right color for your car, consider expanding your search location.

Location

Part of the challenge, especially if you’re in a smaller town or city, is that there may not be any reputable dealers who have the kind of car you want. Especially if your car is older and of a certain year. That’s why it’s helpful to consult many different websites and try locations near you, but farther away than your town. Try a search radius of 100-150 miles to see if anything pops up. If you can make the drive within a day, it’s worth it to get to your dream.

Time

Another challenge is time. There really isn’t an easy way to set an alert that would automatically search for a car that fits your specs. You could try and save a search on a site like AutoTrader or Cars.com, but you might not even have time to respond to the ad before someone else moves on the deal. In these situations, it might be worth it to hire a car concierge. A concierge usually charges a fee, but may have access to more information. Plus, it’s their job to find you a car. If they can find you the car you want for a certain cost, their services basically pay for themselves.

Problems with the Title

If you happen to buy the car from a private owner, always check the status of the title with the DMV in that state. Failure to uncover information about a lien against the title represents a financial risk to you. Typically, all you need is the VIN number, make and model.