£36K best approach for finance
Discussion
So found a very nice used Audi S5 I want for £36,000. I cannot / do not want to pay it all up front.
The best APR they can offer me over 4 years (they have said it is better to have a longer term to spread out the payments and I can change at any time) is about 8.4% and they seemingly won't budge.
I guess there are a few options in mind, but being a bit rubbish around car finance and probably not understanding all the mechanics, thought I would run by you guys for recommendations.
Here is what I am thinking are the options:
1 - Get the finance through Audi, deposit is around £3,000 with monthly payments at around £600 / 4 years
2 - Negotiate a finance deal with Audi + added perks and then settle the PCP within the first month and get a personal loan with low APR
3 - Online finance brokers for PCP - having done a search, this looks like a poor option.
Would really welcome some advice
The best APR they can offer me over 4 years (they have said it is better to have a longer term to spread out the payments and I can change at any time) is about 8.4% and they seemingly won't budge.
I guess there are a few options in mind, but being a bit rubbish around car finance and probably not understanding all the mechanics, thought I would run by you guys for recommendations.
Here is what I am thinking are the options:
1 - Get the finance through Audi, deposit is around £3,000 with monthly payments at around £600 / 4 years
2 - Negotiate a finance deal with Audi + added perks and then settle the PCP within the first month and get a personal loan with low APR
3 - Online finance brokers for PCP - having done a search, this looks like a poor option.
Would really welcome some advice

charltjr said:
Personal loan.
The “take a four year PCP to spread the payments out and you can change at any time” is absolute sales drone b
ks of the highest order. You just end up paying way more interest.
Yeah I thought that, even as someone wet behind the ears discussing car finance, it was odd. The “take a four year PCP to spread the payments out and you can change at any time” is absolute sales drone b
ks of the highest order. You just end up paying way more interest.I think best bet is see if I can negotiate anything off the price of the car and buy it outright using the loan.
Carn00b said:
So found a very nice used Audi S5 I want for £36,000. I cannot / do not want to pay it all up front.
The best APR they can offer me over 4 years (they have said it is better to have a longer term to spread out the payments and I can change at any time) is about 8.4% and they seemingly won't budge.
I guess there are a few options in mind, but being a bit rubbish around car finance and probably not understanding all the mechanics, thought I would run by you guys for recommendations.
Here is what I am thinking are the options:
1 - Get the finance through Audi, deposit is around £3,000 with monthly payments at around £600 / 4 years
2 - Negotiate a finance deal with Audi + added perks and then settle the PCP within the first month and get a personal loan with low APR
3 - Online finance brokers for PCP - having done a search, this looks like a poor option.
Would really welcome some advice
Over £31k to PCP a £36k car? The best APR they can offer me over 4 years (they have said it is better to have a longer term to spread out the payments and I can change at any time) is about 8.4% and they seemingly won't budge.
I guess there are a few options in mind, but being a bit rubbish around car finance and probably not understanding all the mechanics, thought I would run by you guys for recommendations.
Here is what I am thinking are the options:
1 - Get the finance through Audi, deposit is around £3,000 with monthly payments at around £600 / 4 years
2 - Negotiate a finance deal with Audi + added perks and then settle the PCP within the first month and get a personal loan with low APR
3 - Online finance brokers for PCP - having done a search, this looks like a poor option.
Would really welcome some advice

That's mental.
I was curious so quickly did the maths. A four year PCP on those terms will give you a total cost for the car of £43,800.
If your credit rating is good enough and you can put a £6k deposit in then finance the rest on a 30k personal loan at 3.3% APR over four and a half years you have the same monthly payment and stand to save around £5500 in interest.
Put another way, at the end of year four you’d owe £12k on the PCP and around £3500 on the personal loan. This is fairly rough back of a fag packet maths, so do check the numbers, but should be accurate enough for a quick illustration.
Used car PCP sucks ass unless the interest rate is low enough.
If your credit rating is good enough and you can put a £6k deposit in then finance the rest on a 30k personal loan at 3.3% APR over four and a half years you have the same monthly payment and stand to save around £5500 in interest.
Put another way, at the end of year four you’d owe £12k on the PCP and around £3500 on the personal loan. This is fairly rough back of a fag packet maths, so do check the numbers, but should be accurate enough for a quick illustration.
Used car PCP sucks ass unless the interest rate is low enough.
charltjr said:
I was curious so quickly did the maths. A four year PCP on those terms will give you a total cost for the car of £43,800.
If your credit rating is good enough and you can put a £6k deposit in then finance the rest on a 30k personal loan at 3.3% APR over four and a half years you have the same monthly payment and stand to save around £5500 in interest.
Put another way, at the end of year four you’d owe £12k on the PCP and around £3500 on the personal loan. This is fairly rough back of a fag packet maths, so do check the numbers, but should be accurate enough for a quick illustration.
Used car PCP sucks ass unless the interest rate is low enough.
Thanks mate! Was just doing some online loan calculations and should be able to get £30k at around 3% so yes far better than their finance. If your credit rating is good enough and you can put a £6k deposit in then finance the rest on a 30k personal loan at 3.3% APR over four and a half years you have the same monthly payment and stand to save around £5500 in interest.
Put another way, at the end of year four you’d owe £12k on the PCP and around £3500 on the personal loan. This is fairly rough back of a fag packet maths, so do check the numbers, but should be accurate enough for a quick illustration.
Used car PCP sucks ass unless the interest rate is low enough.
It's a 66 plate which will be worth less in a few months time but it has nearly every option imaginable bar pano roof and only 6,000 miles so will see if they budge on price.
mcg_ said:
cash, PX and loan gets my vote.
If taking PCP gets a better deal, do that and just pay it off the next day.
Just trying to understand the premise behind how this works....If taking PCP gets a better deal, do that and just pay it off the next day.
So they offer me a 4-year PCP with free servicing, gap insurance, paint protection, etc. etc. let's say at a daft APR %.
I accept, and then within the 14 day cooling off period, I pay the balance off.... say £33k if I put down £3K deposit, whilst retaining the added benefits....
Is that the loophole? Feels like they could/would rescind any benefits if you settled the finance in the cool off period and would there not be a fee to pay back early?
Seems a bit too easy?
Carn00b said:
Just trying to understand the premise behind how this works....
So they offer me a 4-year PCP with free servicing, gap insurance, paint protection, etc. etc. let's say at a daft APR %.
I accept, and then within the 14 day cooling off period, I pay the balance off.... say £33k if I put down £3K deposit, whilst retaining the added benefits....
Is that the loophole? Feels like they could/would rescind any benefits if you settled the finance in the cool off period and would there not be a fee to pay back early?
Seems a bit too easy?
Normally in order to keep the free servicing etc you need to keep the finance going for around 3 months then you get a personal loan & pay the lower rate APR.So they offer me a 4-year PCP with free servicing, gap insurance, paint protection, etc. etc. let's say at a daft APR %.
I accept, and then within the 14 day cooling off period, I pay the balance off.... say £33k if I put down £3K deposit, whilst retaining the added benefits....
Is that the loophole? Feels like they could/would rescind any benefits if you settled the finance in the cool off period and would there not be a fee to pay back early?
Seems a bit too easy?
Carn00b said:
Just spec'd the car aswell with the Audi configuration... 58K new
Have you also calculated the depreciation? a 2 year old S5 is nowhere near the bottom of its depreciation, I would guess the cost of a £600 per month payment plus the depreciation will be another £450 per month?Seems a lot to have a mildly interesting Audi and not the RS model.
2013 model is around £20k (new shape).
I would just use a loan, put a deposit down, take the finance and get a loan to cover the difference, what I always do.
charltjr said:
Personal loan.
The “take a four year PCP to spread the payments out and you can change at any time” is absolute sales drone b
ks of the highest order. You just end up paying way more interest.
The “take a four year PCP to spread the payments out and you can change at any time” is absolute sales drone b
ks of the highest order. You just end up paying way more interest.
Seems OP was switched on, but makes you wonder how many poor suckers fall for that crap.
Carn00b said:
Muzzer79 said:
I was in a similar position recently
Unless the car is new, or you get a better discount, the benefits/perks of taking the finance from Audi are minimal.
I went for a bigger deposit and a low rate personal loan.
So you bought the car outright?Unless the car is new, or you get a better discount, the benefits/perks of taking the finance from Audi are minimal.
I went for a bigger deposit and a low rate personal loan.
33q said:
ZX10R NIN said:
Normally in order to keep the free servicing etc you need to keep the finance going for around 3 months then you get a personal loan & pay the lower rate APR.
I've just paid off my Karoq PCP after 4 days....no loss of benefits....interest £13.32Carn00b said:
Just trying to understand the premise behind how this works....
So they offer me a 4-year PCP with free servicing, gap insurance, paint protection, etc. etc. let's say at a daft APR %.
I accept, and then within the 14 day cooling off period, I pay the balance off.... say £33k if I put down £3K deposit, whilst retaining the added benefits....
Is that the loophole? Feels like they could/would rescind any benefits if you settled the finance in the cool off period and would there not be a fee to pay back early?
Seems a bit too easy?
Hopefully! I bought my golf on pcp as it meant 2 free services. I waited for the service card to come through, then paid off the pcp. This was about a week after and about £20 in interest. Probably could have done it sooner to be fair.So they offer me a 4-year PCP with free servicing, gap insurance, paint protection, etc. etc. let's say at a daft APR %.
I accept, and then within the 14 day cooling off period, I pay the balance off.... say £33k if I put down £3K deposit, whilst retaining the added benefits....
Is that the loophole? Feels like they could/would rescind any benefits if you settled the finance in the cool off period and would there not be a fee to pay back early?
Seems a bit too easy?
If I don't get the free services, never mind.
I imagine that 95%+ of people who take out pcp just keep on pcp, so they're probably not too bothered?
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