Buying on finance?
Discussion
Right, my life is starting to get back in order again. I still need to sell my house, buy a new one, move in, sort it out, get a new train season ticket sorted, etc, etc but that's all just details... I want an Elise! And the one I was just about to sign on the dotted line for before my little break-up has now been sold to some other lucky bugger.
However, with the rather drastic change of my life, I doubt I'll have the cash to buy the whole thing in one go, so now finance from a dealer/specialist seems to be the way to go. In fact, flashing at the top of the page right now is Nick Whale's 3.9% deal on a 240 cup, which is interesting, but not what I want.
What I want is a 111S. I've given it a lot of thought and starting with the mid-power level in the mid-weight car seems like a good idea from here, and having the engine mountings right for the K20A drive chain also helps, oh and the snazzy wheels. Obviously these are no longer being churned out from the factory though, so getting a new one and the type of finance that goes with it is probably no longer an option. Or is it? I don't know.
Can anybody point me to a specialist or dealer who'll give me a really good finance deal on a really good and cheap 111S (may as well aim for the stars!)?
Also, has anybody dealt with Lotus finance packages on here? How are they? Can I over pay? Can I pay it off early? What if I sell the car - can the buyer pay off the remaining finance?
However, with the rather drastic change of my life, I doubt I'll have the cash to buy the whole thing in one go, so now finance from a dealer/specialist seems to be the way to go. In fact, flashing at the top of the page right now is Nick Whale's 3.9% deal on a 240 cup, which is interesting, but not what I want.
What I want is a 111S. I've given it a lot of thought and starting with the mid-power level in the mid-weight car seems like a good idea from here, and having the engine mountings right for the K20A drive chain also helps, oh and the snazzy wheels. Obviously these are no longer being churned out from the factory though, so getting a new one and the type of finance that goes with it is probably no longer an option. Or is it? I don't know.
Can anybody point me to a specialist or dealer who'll give me a really good finance deal on a really good and cheap 111S (may as well aim for the stars!)?
Also, has anybody dealt with Lotus finance packages on here? How are they? Can I over pay? Can I pay it off early? What if I sell the car - can the buyer pay off the remaining finance?
I bought a 05 S2 111s on Lotus finance last year. Deposit, 36 small monthly paymenst then balloon. Prob ok if you are keeping the car for the three years but if you want to sell earlier your going to lose a fair bit. I dont think you can get these finance deals now unless your after an 111r. Which is rougly 3000 deposit 400 pm then balloon. Or 6000 deposit 270 pm then balloon.
Prob best get an immac year old one for £20000 (ISH) and let someone else take the hit on the depreciation.
Prob best get an immac year old one for £20000 (ISH) and let someone else take the hit on the depreciation.
Morning,
Although I don't have any dealing with Lotus Finance, it's backed by Black Horse who are a mainstream finance company (Lloyds TSB), we used to do business with them (I work for a vehicle finance company). The plans that are offered by Lotus are usually PCP type deals with final guaranteed 'balloon' payments. This has the benefit of keeping your monthly payments down but obviously reduces your equity at the end of the agreement. From memory the agreements are fixed rate so are unaffected by interest rate variations.
Regarding settling the agreement early, the rules are difference depending on which finance type you take and how much you are borrowing. If you borrow more than £25,000 then the agreement is not regulated by the consumer credit act and the finance company does not have to give you any rebate of interest charges when you settle your agreement (though in practise they do.)
If, however, you borrow less then £25,000 then the agreement becomes regulated by the consumer credit act and the finance cmopany must ahdere to guidelines about how to calculate your settlement figure (called the 'Rule of 78'). As a very rough guide, the earlier you settle your agreement, the more oustanding interest charges will be dropped from the balance on your agreement.
I would, however, suggest going for a 'balanced payments' agreement if you are able to - this is variable rate, but gives you the flexibility to make lump sum payments and settle at any time and only pay the capital remaining on the agreement. Should the intrest rate increase, generally the finance company will keep your monthly outgoings the same and just increase your payment term accordingly (& vice versa if the interest rate reduces.)
Clear as mud I'm sure!
Cheers,
Richard.
Although I don't have any dealing with Lotus Finance, it's backed by Black Horse who are a mainstream finance company (Lloyds TSB), we used to do business with them (I work for a vehicle finance company). The plans that are offered by Lotus are usually PCP type deals with final guaranteed 'balloon' payments. This has the benefit of keeping your monthly payments down but obviously reduces your equity at the end of the agreement. From memory the agreements are fixed rate so are unaffected by interest rate variations.
Regarding settling the agreement early, the rules are difference depending on which finance type you take and how much you are borrowing. If you borrow more than £25,000 then the agreement is not regulated by the consumer credit act and the finance company does not have to give you any rebate of interest charges when you settle your agreement (though in practise they do.)
If, however, you borrow less then £25,000 then the agreement becomes regulated by the consumer credit act and the finance cmopany must ahdere to guidelines about how to calculate your settlement figure (called the 'Rule of 78'). As a very rough guide, the earlier you settle your agreement, the more oustanding interest charges will be dropped from the balance on your agreement.
I would, however, suggest going for a 'balanced payments' agreement if you are able to - this is variable rate, but gives you the flexibility to make lump sum payments and settle at any time and only pay the capital remaining on the agreement. Should the intrest rate increase, generally the finance company will keep your monthly outgoings the same and just increase your payment term accordingly (& vice versa if the interest rate reduces.)
Clear as mud I'm sure!
Cheers,
Richard.
Marks & Spencer as well as selling bras now do a car buying plan including a final balloon. i.e 48 months for £20000 @ 6.2% £359.14 p.m final payment £6000.00 Im sure an s2 111s should be worth that after 4 years!
So you could sell it and put a deposit on another with the remainder..
So you could sell it and put a deposit on another with the remainder..
I've had a few quotes from www.saffroncars.com (advertiser on this forum) and they worked out cheaper than Lotus finance. Worth a call if nothing else, its like insurance, shop around for the best deal.
Ive looked in to it lots & ive always opted for the personnel loan option. The main reason is its not secured on the car so if you ever want to change the car you can just sell it, hpi check shows no finance. If you spread the loan over 5 years the payments are pretty good, ok you pay more interest but the loan is cleared at the end, no balloon payment, your paying for the car & its all yours from the minute you drive away, not the finance company.
The Autotrader finance section is pretty good for sourcing personnel loans. Have a play..
www.autotrader.co.uk/CARS/motoring/fin/finance-centre.jsp
The Autotrader finance section is pretty good for sourcing personnel loans. Have a play..
www.autotrader.co.uk/CARS/motoring/fin/finance-centre.jsp
S Works said:
Do your sums carefully. Every dealer finance package I've compared to private finance works out more expensive.
Yup, generally speaking you will find personal loans from the bank will quote a lower APR - but it's important to note the differences between personal loans & car finance:
Car finance is secured against the car, not your house (personal loans usually are)
If you settle a car finance agreement early you either just pay the capital outstanding (balanced payments) or get a balance reduction (rebate of interest payable) - with personal loans you repay the full amount outstanding.
....just worth mentioning, if you're happy with a personal loan go for it, if it suits your requirements.
Splodge s4 said:
Ive looked in to it lots & ive always opted for the personnel loan option. The main reason is its not secured on the car so if you ever want to change the car you can just sell it, hpi check shows no finance. If you spread the loan over 5 years the payments are pretty good, ok you pay more interest but the loan is cleared at the end, no balloon payment, your paying for the car & its all yours from the minute you drive away, not the finance company.
The Autotrader finance section is pretty good for sourcing personnel loans. Have a play..
www.autotrader.co.uk/CARS/motoring/fin/finance-centre.jsp
Wow! for the 450-500 a month I was planning I could have it paid off in 3 years! And there's loads of them! All I have to do now is sort out those little details mentioned above and I'll be getting one.
rfoster said:
Do your sums carefully. Every dealer finance package I've compared to private finance works out more expensive.
Yup, generally speaking you will find personal loans from the bank will quote a lower APR - but it's important to note the differences between personal loans & car finance:
Car finance is secured against the car, not your house (personal loans usually are)
If you settle a car finance agreement early you either just pay the capital outstanding (balanced payments) or get a balance reduction (rebate of interest payable) - with personal loans you repay the full amount outstanding.
....just worth mentioning, if you're happy with a personal loan go for it, if it suits your requirements.
Agree it's not nice having a loan against the house, but if I can't repay the loan, I'd sell the car for a loss just to clear as much of it as I could.
Also, the Autotrader pages give the cost of loans to compare, just makes it easier for me.
Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully I'll be joining you ranks quicker than I thought after the missing the boat with the last car.
jitsukadave,
Reading many discussion boards over the last year, it seems that a large number of Elise owners modify their cars with suspension & exhaust upgrades etc. My understanding is that with a HP agreement, you are not allowed to do this without asking the permission of the lender (although I am not sure how they would find out, or how bothered they would be as long as you didn’t do anything stupid.) This might be something to bear in mind.
I bought a second hand 111S last year, and financed it through an unscured personal loan. If you are looking at the personal loan route, check out Northern Rock, who are my lender. They are currently quoting 5.8% typical, compared to 5.7% when I applied. 5.7% was also the rate I got, as I was half expecting them to come back with a ridiculous figure. They do not seem to appear on sites who compare loan deals, for some reason.
i would also try not to borrow the full amount, in order to ensure your car is always worth more than the outstanding loan amount (in the event that you need to sell it due to illness, unemployment, etc.). This will give you peace of mind, and also mean you can avoid the dreaded payment protection insurance!
Reading many discussion boards over the last year, it seems that a large number of Elise owners modify their cars with suspension & exhaust upgrades etc. My understanding is that with a HP agreement, you are not allowed to do this without asking the permission of the lender (although I am not sure how they would find out, or how bothered they would be as long as you didn’t do anything stupid.) This might be something to bear in mind.
I bought a second hand 111S last year, and financed it through an unscured personal loan. If you are looking at the personal loan route, check out Northern Rock, who are my lender. They are currently quoting 5.8% typical, compared to 5.7% when I applied. 5.7% was also the rate I got, as I was half expecting them to come back with a ridiculous figure. They do not seem to appear on sites who compare loan deals, for some reason.
i would also try not to borrow the full amount, in order to ensure your car is always worth more than the outstanding loan amount (in the event that you need to sell it due to illness, unemployment, etc.). This will give you peace of mind, and also mean you can avoid the dreaded payment protection insurance!
mike_knott said:
jitsukadave,
and also mean you can avoid the dreaded payment protection insurance!
Dont take it what ever you do, loan payment protection insurance is tosh. Its only designed to cover the loan payments, say £350, £400 per month for or what ever it is for just the term of the loan & only if you qualify, for unemployment cover that means you have to sign on the dole, your not gonna do that as you will find another job, if the Elise depended on it you will! Its so expensive, i was quoted an extra £80 per month for cover £350 loan payment.
As an alternative look at a Permanent health insurance plan, it will pay if you cant work, not unemployment but mine pays out £1,200 per month for a premium of £21 per month...oh & will pay until retirement age if i never go back to work. Its worth considering.
Yeah, I had that for a car a bought a few years back. Just left uni, and got a graduate loan to get a car for commutting that wouldn't go pop all the time like the mini did. Foolishly got talked into the payment protection, which stuck an extra 1.7k on the loan (of 5.2k)!!!
When I moved jobs I thought I'd check the fine print, and it would only cover for the first 6 months or unemployment (or illness etc)... and that was it! So I paid 1.7k plus the interest on that for something I'd never have used anyway
Still, I learnt my lesson the hard way!
Now my job covers my illness (6 months full pay + till recover/retire on 60% (hurrah)) and as I was up for redundancy over Christmas I know that I'll get enough out of them if they ever make me leave to cover the loan anyway.
Anybody want to buy the house then, get me the car quicker? It's in the classifieds if you're really interested
When I moved jobs I thought I'd check the fine print, and it would only cover for the first 6 months or unemployment (or illness etc)... and that was it! So I paid 1.7k plus the interest on that for something I'd never have used anyway
Still, I learnt my lesson the hard way!
Now my job covers my illness (6 months full pay + till recover/retire on 60% (hurrah)) and as I was up for redundancy over Christmas I know that I'll get enough out of them if they ever make me leave to cover the loan anyway.
Anybody want to buy the house then, get me the car quicker? It's in the classifieds if you're really interested
rfoster said:
Do your sums carefully. Every dealer finance package I've compared to private finance works out more expensive.
Yup, generally speaking you will find personal loans from the bank will quote a lower APR - but it's important to note the differences between personal loans & car finance:
Car finance is secured against the car, not your house (personal loans usually are)
If you settle a car finance agreement early you either just pay the capital outstanding (balanced payments) or get a balance reduction (rebate of interest payable) - with personal loans you repay the full amount outstanding.
....just worth mentioning, if you're happy with a personal loan go for it, if it suits your requirements.
I've never had a personal loan secured against anything, wouldn't consider it vs. my home.
Also I should add that I've always borrowed a percentage (usually 80-90% of the value of the car) and financed the rest from cash. Interesting point you make about the early repayment option though. I still think that dealer finance with balloons etc. works out more.
Have a friend who spent many years in the trade and he warned me off dealer finance unless it's the only option.
Hi Dave
Good to hear you are a step closer to the dream. As Sworks and others have said - get an unsecured loan. You will easily find a good 111s for 18 - 19K. Should work out around £400 a month. Try to nail down 10 -20% deposit and you are sorted. I don't like the idea of a baloon payment personally. I want to own the car.
Cheers
Andrew
Good to hear you are a step closer to the dream. As Sworks and others have said - get an unsecured loan. You will easily find a good 111s for 18 - 19K. Should work out around £400 a month. Try to nail down 10 -20% deposit and you are sorted. I don't like the idea of a baloon payment personally. I want to own the car.
Cheers
Andrew
shangani said:
Hi Dave
Good to hear you are a step closer to the dream. As Sworks and others have said - get an unsecured loan. You will easily find a good 111s for 18 - 19K. Should work out around £400 a month. Try to nail down 10 -20% deposit and you are sorted. I don't like the idea of a baloon payment personally. I want to own the car.
Cheers
Andrew
Cheers!
I've seen a couple of fairly low milage ones for around the 21k mark at some dealers (didn't look at the privates at the time, but will now), hopefully with 15k finance over 3 years. I want to get a new a one as possible, but not have to run the engine in, and hopefully avoid the bigger hit of depreciation (not that I expect I'll sell it on in a hurry).
I don't like the Crippling Ballon Payment either - a friend at a Honda dealership told me about the CBP acronym - I quite like it, and I like the idea of being able to pay it off early or over pay.
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