Supercar Finance - Why are rates so high?
Supercar Finance - Why are rates so high?
Author
Discussion

BenB91

Original Poster:

371 posts

100 months

Monday 19th July 2021
quotequote all
I have an unsured personal loan at 2.8%, I also have a 5 year fixed rate mortgage at 1.38% but supercar finance rates seem to be around 6.9%.

How come?

The loan is secured against the car, and providing there is a large deposit (25%+), there is some equity in the car to protect the lender.

With interest rates at 0.1%, I don't get where supercar rates are so high.

I appreciate some cars have high depreciation but not all cars suffer from this, and can be managed through high deposits to reduce risk on the lender.

I can comfortable afford £1k p/m on a car but I refuse to pay such a high interest rates. I'd rather save/invest hard for a few years and then pay for the car in cash.

Am I missing something?

mikees

2,890 posts

201 months

Monday 19th July 2021
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Because they can. All car finance seems silly atm, all rates are higher than personal loans. Plus100k unsecured loans are harder to get aren’t they?

What’s the car?

NickCQ

5,392 posts

125 months

Monday 19th July 2021
quotequote all
BenB91 said:
Am I missing something?
Maybe two points.

(1) As you say in your post, most high net worth buyers will have access to multiple sources of cheap liquidity, whether that's mortgages, lending against stock portfolios etc etc. This restricts the pool of people that want finance against the car to the "less prime" segment of the buyer base, so the risk is priced accordingly.

(2) Residual values are probably more volatile & linked to the economic cycle for supercars than for regular vehicles? Creates an unpleasant "wrong way risk" where the probability of default is correlated to the loss severity.

Simpo Two

92,708 posts

294 months

Monday 19th July 2021
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Wild guess - because it's a short term loan on a depreciating asset? (ie opposite of a mortgage)

Sarnie

8,368 posts

238 months

Monday 19th July 2021
quotequote all
The funds may be secured against the car but a car is a mobile object unlike a house.

There is a significant risk to the lender that the borrower disappears and the car ends up in a container on it's way to somewhere.

A mortgage company can come and take a house back.

Unsecured loans are limited to circa £35k.

So, if people want a lender to secure £150k, for example, against a car that can easily disappear, then you have to accept that that risk is reflected in the rate.........

troika

2,144 posts

180 months

Monday 19th July 2021
quotequote all
I was in the leasing industry for 20 years. Early days were in motor. You’d be surprised at the number of chunky car loans which go wrong. Hence the risk is priced accordingly. Of course, nobody is forced to borrow their money.

red_slr

20,678 posts

218 months

Monday 19th July 2021
quotequote all
The last thing people will default on is their house. The first thing they will skip out on is credit cards, cars and the like.

Add onto that if all other suppliers in the market charge the same within 0.5% then there is zero need to lower rates.

.

Numpty with honours

218 posts

112 months

Monday 19th July 2021
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If you write the car off and fail a breath test, almost all insurers will not pay out. So the lender has an unsecured debt on its hands






coetzeeh

2,890 posts

265 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
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What super car can you buy for £1k a month?

colin79666

2,216 posts

142 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
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mikees said:
Because they can. All car finance seems silly atm, all rates are higher than personal loans. Plus100k unsecured loans are harder to get aren’t they?

What’s the car?
I dunno. In March I took delivery of a new car with 2.2% APR and a 1k manufacturers deposit contribution which more than covers all the finance costs, effectively paying me to take the finance rather than just pay cash. Not a supercar but the world has gone mad and the vehicle is currently worth more than I paid for it smile

Perhaps people more often default on loans for supercars and therefore the higher rate reflects the additional risk taken by the lender. Find that hard to believe thought.

Ari

19,814 posts

244 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
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Numpty with honours said:
If you write the car off and fail a breath test, almost all insurers will not pay out. So the lender has an unsecured debt on its hands
Are you absolutely sure? I don't know, so I'm not saying you are wrong, but that seems very unlikely.

krisdelta

4,670 posts

230 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
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Ari said:
Numpty with honours said:
If you write the car off and fail a breath test, almost all insurers will not pay out. So the lender has an unsecured debt on its hands
Are you absolutely sure? I don't know, so I'm not saying you are wrong, but that seems very unlikely.
https://www.drinkdriving.org/info/is-your-insurance-invalid-if-you-drink-drive/ seems to suggest that "many" insurers downgrade your cover to 3rd party only if you have an accident over the limit. Could be an expensive 2nd pint in a Fezza.

Zoon

7,304 posts

150 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
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krisdelta said:
Ari said:
Numpty with honours said:
If you write the car off and fail a breath test, almost all insurers will not pay out. So the lender has an unsecured debt on its hands
Are you absolutely sure? I don't know, so I'm not saying you are wrong, but that seems very unlikely.
https://www.drinkdriving.org/info/is-your-insurance-invalid-if-you-drink-drive/ seems to suggest that "many" insurers downgrade your cover to 3rd party only if you have an accident over the limit. Could be an expensive 2nd pint in a Fezza.
Or a Fiesta, £10k is a decent hit

98elise

32,539 posts

190 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
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Ari said:
Numpty with honours said:
If you write the car off and fail a breath test, almost all insurers will not pay out. So the lender has an unsecured debt on its hands
Are you absolutely sure? I don't know, so I'm not saying you are wrong, but that seems very unlikely.
It would be down to the individual insurers T&C's, but many have conditions attached to you breaking the law.

There wouldn't be an issue with them reducing your cover to 3rd party if you're found to be over the limit, but it would have to be a condition of the insurance.

Numpty with honours

218 posts

112 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
quotequote all
Ari said:
Are you absolutely sure? I don't know, so I'm not saying you are wrong, but that seems very unlikely.
Admiral, make it patently clear and give a warning when you take on their insurance cover that if you are involved in an accident and found to be over the limit then you only have 3rd party cover

Insurancejon

4,096 posts

275 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
quotequote all
Numpty with honours said:
If you write the car off and fail a breath test, almost all insurers will not pay out. So the lender has an unsecured debt on its hands
Its the minority of insurers that won't pay out following a breath test....its usually an applied endorsement to drivers who have previous

Insurancejon

4,096 posts

275 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
quotequote all
Numpty with honours said:
Ari said:
Are you absolutely sure? I don't know, so I'm not saying you are wrong, but that seems very unlikely.
Admiral, make it patently clear and give a warning when you take on their insurance cover that if you are involved in an accident and found to be over the limit then you only have 3rd party cover
Admiral have a pretty crap policy wording to be fair. up their with the narrowest cover I have seen

BenB91

Original Poster:

371 posts

100 months

Tuesday 20th July 2021
quotequote all
Thanks all. All good points to consider.

The car is likely to be a Ferrari of some sort. Maybe a 360 manual, F430 F1, 458 or a FF.

I'm saving hard as I refuse to pay a high rate of interest.

You can get unsecured personal loans upto £50k, so may use this to bridge the gap if the rates are reasonable.

It's a mad time to buy a supercar. Will wait 12 months for prices to hopefully drop down.

Presuming Ed

1,697 posts

237 months

Wednesday 21st July 2021
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The lender also owns the car and therefore if your looking for a 360 or similar you've got the risk of the cars engine seizing and you then not wanting to make the payments.

Depending on lender we also now have the one size fits all on regulated agreements were the lender has to offer the same rate to everyone. Its meant to demonstrate treating customers fairly but ends up with most customers paying more so we don't discriminate on those with a poor payment history. Taking away risk and reward seems a daft idea

skeeterm5

4,584 posts

217 months

Wednesday 21st July 2021
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Sarnie said:
Unsecured loans are limited to circa £35k.

.
This isn't entirely accurate.

Unsecured loans for more than that are available from high street lenders right now but do depend on your circumstances. For instance, the upper limit on a Barclayloan is £50k. Other more niche lenders may do more.

Granted that isn't £150k but it is a decent chunk towards the car the OP is considering.

ETA just noticed OP said something similar 😀

S

Edited by skeeterm5 on Wednesday 21st July 15:40