24 years old & buying a Bentley, finance advice.

[PaulJohnson80s]

Hi, i was told by a friend about these forums to ask for some advice. I'm 24 years old and i'm looking to buy a Bentley Continental GT from 2004, or newer. I have the cash to buy the car outright, but i'm looking for other peoples opinion on financing it instead. It would be a dealer i'm getting the car from so would i take their finance options or hunt for a better deal if available?

Or do you think i should just pay cash with the car and be done with it. I've never financed (a car) before and have just used leased company cars up until now (mainly new BMW 320ds. I have enough cash saved not to bother my various investments, including two properties let and i own and run two companies and have a share in a restaurant.

I must say i'm a bit ignorant with finance so any pointers will be grateful. Would doing it help my cradit rating? It's good at the minute.

I plan to keep the Bentley for around 3-4 years doing around 10k per annum.

Cheers.
PJ

[bazza1000]

Well done, what a great achievement! Very cool car, go for it.

Buy outright if you've got the cash surely you should get a better deal and save a few quid on interest in the long run.

[ArsE92]

PaulJohnson80s said:

Hi, i was told by a friend about these forums to ask for some advice. I'm 24 years old and i'm looking to buy a Bentley Continental GT from 2004, or newer. I have the cash to buy the car outright, but i'm looking for other peoples opinion on financing it instead. It would be a dealer i'm getting the car from so would i take their finance options or hunt for a better deal if available?

Or do you think i should just pay cash with the car and be done with it. I've never financed (a car) before and have just used leased company cars up until now (mainly new BMW 320ds. I have enough cash saved not to bother my various investments, including two properties let and i own and run two companies and have a share in a restaurant.

I must say i'm a bit ignorant with finance so any pointers will be grateful. Would doing it help my cradit rating? It's good at the minute.

I plan to keep the Bentley for around 3-4 years doing around 10k per annum.

Cheers.
PJ

If you've got the cash to buy it, why would you borrow the cash off someone else and pay interest? Unless you can better use that cash to invest and earn even more money, then I'd suggest paying cash for it.

I also don't understand how if "you are ignorant with finance" you manage to run "various investments, including two properties let and i own and run two companies and have a share in a restaurant", not to mention worrying about your "cradit" rating.

[valiant1]

Have you got an insurance quote for it yet? If not, do this first and make sure you're sitting down first!

You're getting no interest on savings at the moment so cash might be the way to go but check out the APR before agreeing to any finance.

[crofty1984]

IMO only reasons to buy on finance if you have the cash would be:

• Dealers make money on finance so they may give you a discount greater or equal to the finance cost as opposed to paying full sticker price with cash, but unlikely.

• You can use the cash money to invest in something that will make more money than the finance costs.

eg.
20k car pay cash, job done.
20k car, finance costs 4k, 24k total, but you invest the cash in something and double it to 40k. Result- you're £16k better off.

Both are quite unlikely, but you seem to be doing well on the entrepreneurial front so maybe you could pull off the second one. I couldn't.

[Codswallop]

PaulJohnson80s said:

I have enough cash saved not to bother my various investments, including two properties let and i own and run two companies and have a share in a restaurant.

I must say i'm a bit ignorant with finance so any pointers will be grateful. Would doing it help my cradit rating? It's good at the minute.

That's a bit worrying for someone who runs a business. Whether or not the dealer can offer finance, you should check what other rates are on offer (obvious really).

Re. cash vs finance - it depends. Do you feel you could do something better with the money instead rather than paying interest on a loan?

For what it's worth, I feel it is better to be cash rich at the moment from an investment point of view, and interest rates are pretty damn low right now...

[ReaperCushions]

PaulJohnson80s said:

i own and run two companies

Powerfully built?




Sorry not helpful.

With the money, I'd be buying outright.

Have you looked into leasing a new one for the same period?

[veevee]

invest the money in something short-medium term and buy a 3 series coupe

[Fartgalen]

ArsE92 said:

I also don't understand how if "you are ignorant with finance" you manage to run "various investments, including two properties let and i own and run two companies and have a share in a restaurant", not to mention worrying about your "cradit" rating.

Struck me too

[Buff Mchugelarge]

Wow, 24 eh?

Didn't say 'innit' once in that post. Nice.

If you pay cash you may/should be able to haggle a discount.
Finance will leave you paying interest, fees and any other charges, not to mention a higher purchase price.

[GeraldSmith]

It's all about what else you would do with the money. If you can earn more than you would pay in interest by using the money elsewhere that's what you should do, if not then pay cash

[Caulkhead]

The question is a very simple one - as an entrepreneur, can you make more money by investing the cash than the interest rate on the finance is? If the finance costs you 5% but you can make 6%, finance it. If the finance is 5% and you can't make that much on the cash, buy it outright.

To be honest, if you can't make more money investing the cash than the finance costs you, perhaps you should ask yourself if you're ready for a Bentley?

[ArsE92]

Fartgalen said:

ArsE92 said:

I also don't understand how if "you are ignorant with finance" you manage to run "various investments, including two properties let and i own and run two companies and have a share in a restaurant", not to mention worrying about your "cradit" rating.

Struck me too

Fancy going halves on the popcorn?

[zaphod42]

I would:

• Talk to your accountant to see what the most tax efficient way forward might be
• Balance the use of cash with investment opportunities (as outlined above)
• Consider how much of my savings were being wiped out by the purchase (with a Bentley I would want a £5k fund for fixes..) and maybe pay part cash, part loan.

[PaulJohnson80s]

By the ignorant comment was more about the world of car finance as i said i've never had one on finance nor looked into it before. I just thought i'd get a good insight into what other people thought i might do and whether it was a viable route to buy the car.

I think i'll just buy it outright then. Thanks. I don't need the money to reinvest anything at the minute so it was just sitting there - perhaps i was a bit nervous about buying it and then needing the money elsewhere, but i don't.

I've got insurance quotes ranging from £2,800 to £13k a year! Guess which one i'm going with!!?

I discounted a 997 although it was a close call between this and an Aston V8 Vantage.

I have around £35k if someone has a better suggestion! (unlikely though as heart, and head for that matter, made up!)

Cheers
PJ

[jaedba2604]

zaphod42 said:

I would:

• Talk to your accountant to see what the most tax efficient way forward might be

any tax shield provided by the finance would be well wiped by the P11d tax you'd pay on the benefit surely...

[AndrewW-G]

Insurance won’t be toooo bad, however if you are considering financing it, how are you going to cope with planned running costs and the odd large bill (if something goes bang, the cost to fix will soon whizz past 4 figures!) . . . . . . . . have a look around the Rolls Royce and Bentley section on here, plenty of owners, with real world experience of running them.

If you do get it, please don’t cover it in spray foam and sticky backed plastic

[crofty1984]

PaulJohnson80s said:

I think i'll just buy it outright then. Thanks. I don't need the money to reinvest anything at the minute so it was just sitting there - perhaps i was a bit nervous about buying it and then needing the money elsewhere, but i don't.

Best of luck, enjoy the car!

[mercGLowner]

Good luck to you. Enjoy the fruits of your labour, I would be if I were in your position and could comfortably afford to buy and insure a high performance car for cash.

[zaphod42]

jaedba2604 said:

any tax shield provided by the finance would be well wiped by the P11d tax you'd pay on the benefit surely...

Probably. But worth a chat with a savvy accountant.