Thinking of buying new Clio on 0% - good deal?

[Stu666]

First of all, pardon my ignorance as I am a complete newbie at buying things on credit, and the mere thought worries me. But circumstances have made me look into it.

Anyway, I need a brand new car for a new business venture. It needs to be small and black in colour, due to the planned livery. I have narrowed my choices down to either a Renault Clio or Ford Fiesta. The new Clio is out now, but the new Fiesta is not out for 6 months, and I got bad vibes from the local dealership who wanted me to do some PCP deal.

My local Renault dealer is offering 0% interest over five years until the end of this month. We have been quoted £9600 for a brand new Clio Expression (1.2 16v, metallic black, alloys, air con) over five years, with £1000 deposit (this includes £500 in part exchange for our old 1997 Astra), giving a total price of £10,600.

What I really want to know is, since I'm a complete newbie, is this a good deal or should I walk away? The repayments of £160 per month are perfectly managable, but I still don't want to be ripped off. Would really appreciate any feedback before I take the plunge.

[chuckles1066]

First of all, pardon my ignorance as I am a complete newbie at buying things on credit, and the mere thought worries me. But circumstances have made me look into it.

Anyway, I need a brand new car for a new business venture. It needs to be small and black in colour, due to the planned livery. I have narrowed my choices down to either a Renault Clio or Ford Fiesta. The new Clio is out now, but the new Fiesta is not out for 6 months, and I got bad vibes from the local dealership who wanted me to do some PCP deal.

My local Renault dealer is offering 0% interest over five years until the end of this month. We have been quoted £9600 for a brand new Clio Expression (1.2 16v, metallic black, alloys, air con) over five years, with £1000 deposit (this includes £500 in part exchange for our old 1997 Astra), giving a total price of £10,600.

What I really want to know is, since I'm a complete newbie, is this a good deal or should I walk away? The repayments of £160 per month are perfectly managable, but I still don't want to be ripped off. Would really appreciate any feedback before I take the plunge.

You can pick them up new from a site like AutoEbid (http://www.autoebid.co.uk) for around £9k but then you won't get interest free credit. £10,600 seems high though.

[fox2319]

First of all, pardon my ignorance as I am a complete newbie at buying things on credit, and the mere thought worries me. But circumstances have made me look into it.

Anyway, I need a brand new car for a new business venture. It needs to be small and black in colour, due to the planned livery. I have narrowed my choices down to either a Renault Clio or Ford Fiesta. The new Clio is out now, but the new Fiesta is not out for 6 months, and I got bad vibes from the local dealership who wanted me to do some PCP deal.

My local Renault dealer is offering 0% interest over five years until the end of this month. We have been quoted £9600 for a brand new Clio Expression (1.2 16v, metallic black, alloys, air con) over five years, with £1000 deposit (this includes £500 in part exchange for our old 1997 Astra), giving a total price of £10,600.

What I really want to know is, since I'm a complete newbie, is this a good deal or should I walk away? The repayments of £160 per month are perfectly managable, but I still don't want to be ripped off. Would really appreciate any feedback before I take the plunge.
Sorry, bit confused. You say the quote is for £9600 but then give a total price of £10,600?

[chuckles1066]

Sorry, bit confused. You say the quote is for £9600 but then give a total price of £10,600?

I think the OP is saying it's £10,600 for the car, less £1,000 deposit, so £9,600 on 0% over five years.

[Stu666]

I think the OP is saying it's £10,600 for the car, less £1,000 deposit, so £9,600 on 0% over five years.

Correct, sorry for any confusion.

[Conor]

You can pick them up new from a site like AutoEbid (http://www.autoebid.co.uk) for around £9k but then you won't get interest free credit. £10,600 seems high though.

Well lets do the maths on your figures. to work out the benefits of a 0% APR deal, you have to work out what the interest that would have earned in savings over the term of the finance.

Say typical savings interest rate of 5%. The interest you'd lose on that £9000 over 5 years would be £2486 making the cost of buying it over 5 year £11486 so it's £886 cheaper buying one at £10,600 on 0% APR than it is buying one for £9000 outright.

It would, however, be no cheaper than buying one for £9000 on finance with an APR of around 4%.

[chuckles1066]

Or use a credit card cheque for the one-off £9k, get hit with something like a 2% "handling fee" (£180) and then do a 5 years 0% juggling balance transfer act...

[bandraoi]

Or use a credit card cheque for the one-off £9k, get hit with something like a 2% "handling fee" (£180) and then do a 5 years 0% juggling balance transfer act...
Which would effectively be a 5 years on 3%, the handling fees being what they are.
Still a better deal. If you can afford to pay it off more quickly the £9K at a higher interest rate might still be a better deal.

[deltic]

£10,600 is an absolutely ridiculous price for that car. The new Clio has bombed in the marketplace and Renault can't sell them. You should be paying no more than £8,000 on the road for a car of that spec in this market. See the Fiesta Zetec Blue post just below this - £8,200 on the road for a much better specified car !

http://www.lookers.co.uk/special-offers/FORD/FIESTA/3261/ (I know it's blue but is for illustration of deals.)

[gord115]

The fiesta will probably be more reliable also.Renaults aren't known for their reliability and the dealers are rubbish
.http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/207636/driver_power_2007.html

[Bob63]

Renaults aren't known for their reliability and the dealers are rubbish
I asked our RAC man a couple of weeks back what small car he would recommend. I mentioned that I was interested in a Fiesta because of the bargains available and my daughter is 17 in June so we are looking to buy her first car. He told me the Clio was a super car, very reliable based on his experience, and much better than the Fiesta. I remember being shocked at his opinion but have taken note as I respect the word of a professional who experiences breakdowns in all sorts of vehicles.

[matt1987]

Bristol street motors round by us are doing the new Fiesta Style 08 plates for 6495. If you purchase through Ford finance its 7.9%apr which is a fairly good deal. I wouldnt touch Renault with a barge pole. Fiesta is a lot cheaper too!!!

[matt1987]

Forgot to add, you can choose how long you want to pay it off, and you dont have to find a deposit.

I am looking into this deal at the moment but they offered me some stupid price for my older ford fiesta as part exchange. Im currently selling my old fiesta to raise some money towards it, and have already got £1000 to go towards it. Iv chosen to pay it in 24 months, which isnt bad... and you actually own the car at the end of the term... all you pay is a £10 admin charge on your last months bill.

[piggeh]

Renaults are not that unreliable in my opinion really - however, if you have a problem with a car and take it to Renault, you will ifnd they are one of the most incompetent bunch you could come across - able to do regular stuff like an oil change but anytihng slightly out of the ordinary and it will probably never be fixed.

Cars are ok though (although I think there's better value elsewhere - Kia/Hyundai standing out atm)

[piggeh]

this would be a better deal

http://www.new-car-discount.com/cardetail/37274/

working on 8% interest for a loan its £180 per month, but you get a better specced car backed up by a 7 year warranty in case anything goes wrong.

[mitchaa]

You can get a brand new renault clio freeway model for £99pm with no deposit payment. It's been advertised for the last month or so.

[matt1987]

You can get a brand new renault clio freeway model for £99pm with no deposit payment. It's been advertised for the last month or so.

There is probably a catch though.

[mitchaa]

There is probably a catch though.

Nope

http://www.renault.co.uk/offerdisplay.aspx?id=offer1

Hand the car back at the end of the 5 yrs or pay the optional fee. This is PCP finance.

[matt1987]

But surely thats just like leasing? Thats a catch to me. I would rather do what Ford are offering. You know what your going to pay every month, you set the term, and you own the car after you have paid your monthly payments.

[loskie]

Why does the business venture need a brand new car? What happens if it flops?


Yeah.

What he said why a brand new car?

[matt1987]

I dont think i would touch that Clio deal though......

[Stu666]

The business is the missus setting up as a mobile beauty therapist. Car needs to look clean and modern and we thought we might as well get a new one. Current car is on its way out anyway.

[richardw]

I need a brand new car for a new business venture. It needs to be small and black in colour.

It doesn't have to be new, just in very good condition and that looks great. You just have to keep it perfectly clean, IMHO small businesses succeed with initial low costs and overheads.

The potential customers won't give a monkeys if it is new or previously owned, let alone even notice.

[chuckles1066]

The business is the missus setting up as a mobile beauty therapist. Car needs to look clean and modern and we thought we might as well get a new one. Current car is on its way out anyway.

New business needs a new car for sure............image is everything.

[Stu666]

New business needs a new car for sure............image is everything.

Precisely what we were thinking! :beer:

[chuckles1066]

The potential customers won't give a monkeys if it is new or previously owned, let alone even notice.

Well I guess everyone's mileage differs; if I'm having several builders round, for example, to quote me on some work, I feel much more confident in the guy who turns up with the clean, shiny 57-plate Transit than the guy in the 10 year old Renault Trafic with dents in it and missing a front bumper.

The former says to me "he's doing well for himself, he must be doing a lot of business so, by definition, he's good at his job", the latter says "if he was any good at his job he'd be able to afford a newer motor than that".

The OP is on the right lines; first impressions and image are very important to potential clients.

[richardw]

New business needs a new car for sure............image is everything.

Agree image is important.

But will they notice the difference between the same car, one that is new or 6 or 12 or 18 months old, I don't think your potential customers are those with car knowledge.

[Kez100]

Oh dear. We have a lot of people on here impressed by material wealth.

I'd rather drive around in a 10 year old vehicle and know I was overpaying my mortgage by £200 a month. It makes no difference to my ability to do business successfully. Old vehicles can be looked after.

[firesidemaid]

i'm a fan of ford ka's - i've had mine for 3 years (6 years old) and it's been fab. the boot space is surprisingly large for this size car too. 1.3 and cheap insurance.

you should be able to buy a new one for 5k. do you have any clubcard vouchers that you could turn into deals for motorpoint?

did you see the guardian advert last week? you will get a much better deal on a year-old car.

[goldspanners]

go and visit dealers,get one thats been pre registered,will have low mileage and will have a good saving over brand new.it will more than likely be a 57 plate with a few thousand miles on it at the most.and you will make a good saving.
i would be looking at the fiesta rather than the clio as a new one is due out soon so even better prices on current model.

[cyclonebri1]

Well I guess everyone's mileage differs; if I'm having several builders round, for example, to quote me on some work, I feel much more confident in the guy who turns up with the clean, shiny 57-plate Transit than the guy in the 10 year old Renault Trafic with dents in it and missing a front bumper.

The former says to me "he's doing well for himself, he must be doing a lot of business so, by definition, he's good at his job", the latter says "if he was any good at his job he'd be able to afford a newer motor than that".

The OP is on the right lines; first impressions and image are very important to potential clients.


No, sorry can't go along with that one. If some smarmy dude/dame, (no offence), in a flash car comes along offering to do a value for money job, I have to ask myself "who's paying for that car?"
:confused: :confused: :confused:

[JoeyEmma]

Well I guess everyone's mileage differs; if I'm having several builders round, for example, to quote me on some work, I feel much more confident in the guy who turns up with the clean, shiny 57-plate Transit than the guy in the 10 year old Renault Trafic with dents in it and missing a front bumper.

The former says to me "he's doing well for himself, he must be doing a lot of business so, by definition, he's good at his job", the latter says "if he was any good at his job he'd be able to afford a newer motor than that".

The OP is on the right lines; first impressions and image are very important to potential clients.
Yeah, but there is nothing wrong with a nearly new car, say 6-12 months old. I would not look at somebody and think they were giving off a bad impression.

[Stu666]

For a beauty therapy business, I would have thought a clean and tidy missus would be more important than a clean and tidy method of transport that the customer may never even see.If you need one anyway, why not, but if this is some sort of franchise requirement, I'd be careful splashing out too much money before you explore the market.

The missus prides herself on being very clean and tidy, would be a shame to have an old banger letting her down.

Image, unfortunately, is everything, particularly in her line of work.

Personally I'm a self-employed mobile computer engineer and I'm happy with my 6-year-old Fiesta. It looks smart and does the job. But it probably wouldn't cut it for a beauty therapist.

Anyway this is getting off-topic, the original question was is the Clio at 0% over 5-years a good deal? Seemingly not, but the low repayments would be handy.

[matt1987]

Yeh but you could have a low payment scheme with someone like Ford. Whatever you do, dont think that the £99 over 5 years is cheap, because it isnt.....

[matt1987]

For the Ford Fiesta Style @ Bristol Street motors =

Car = £6495 ( add £350 for mettallic paint )
Deposit = £0.00 ( assuming you dont have a deposit )
APR 7.9% Over 48 months ( 4 years )

Monthly payments = £156.96
Total amount payable = £7534

You then own the car outright after the 48 months. I think you can chose 5 years, but im not sure.

[Stu666]

I appreciate the replies Matt. I'm seriously looking at the Fiesta now.

The main issue is, it needs to be 5-door, black and we would prefer air con and alloys.

The Fiesta Zetec Blue offer seems like a good candidate at the minute.

[matt1987]

Yeah, if you wanted aircon and alloys then it would have to be the Zetec. I think someone on this board recently got a brand new one for £8100 after some haggling.

I think Toyota are doing 0% APR on finance at the moment too, but I think you need a 30% deposit.

[Stu666]

I've been around some Ford dealerships today and quoted the £8100 on here.

I can basically get the 5-door Zetec Blue for £8,700 at 4.9% APR over 48 months. Now if they will give me £500 for my knackered old Astra and I put down a £1000 deposit, the repayments aren't far off £160, which would be ideal for me. Trouble is they are being a bit funny about the Astra, which isn't in the best of nick.

[matt1987]

I've been around some Ford dealerships today and quoted the £8100 on here.

I can basically get the 5-door Zetec Blue for £8,700 at 4.9% APR over 48 months. Now if they will give me £500 for my knackered old Astra and I put down a £1000 deposit, the repayments aren't far off £160, which would be ideal for me. Trouble is they are being a bit funny about the Astra, which isn't in the best of nick.

How much are they offering you for your astra?? Say you will be prepared to sign on the dotted line today ( if you want it ) if they were to do the car for £8,500 and to give you £300 for the astra??

[Stu666]

How much are they offering you for your astra?? Say you will be prepared to sign on the dotted line today ( if you want it ) if they were to do the car for £8,500 and to give you £300 for the astra??

They don't want it at all by the sound of things. Even went as far as saying I'd be better off selling it privately. Renault dealership offered me £500 for it, but once they visually inspected it said it was only worth £350 or so. They were going to stick by the £500 though.

[matt1987]

Well if i were you, i would sell it privately. Do some research on Autotrader and see how much your type of Astra is going for.

I would also ask Ford if they would go any lower with that price you were quoted. Try and haggle them a bit.

[lineman]

You say that the car has to be new to impress.
Why not get a car that is the current model, 12 months old, 2-3k cheaper than new and spend 500 pound on a private plate? :confused:

Saw this done a few years back on tele.

[Stu666]

You say that the car has to be new to impress.
Why not get a car that is the current model, 12 months old, 2-3k cheaper than new and spend 500 pound on a private plate? :confused:

Saw this done a few years back on tele.

This is probably what we are going to do now, although we won't bother with a private plate.

We are looking at 2007 Fiestas for about £7,500.

[DealDrivers company representative]

Genuine advice (we have permission to post here from MSE)...don't take more than a couple of days to decide...there's a price increase across most Ford car models (Ka, Fiesta, Fusion, Focus, CC, CMax) from 1st April, you can order Fiesta Zetec climates and Zetec Blues by 31/3 and avoid the increase totally...and get the car at the current bargain prices which have been around since January and with you as first registered owner(£8,545 on 1.4 5dr zetec blue inc metallic paint panther black or ocean blue abvailable today at one of our Ford dealers/12mths tax, or £8280 on 1.25, same details). Ford's own Options finance remains the best deal around to buy a Fiesta.

It is normal for 0% apr deals to exclude you from any sort of discount on the car, as the manuf'r view is that you cannot have it both ways - but you'll sometimes find that getting a deal on the car then using a low-as-poss APR deal on finance works out better long terms than paying full whack on the car at list price.

[Charl__x]

I find it illogical how Ford's prices are going up In April. The new style Fiesta (Verve) will be out in the next 6 months, so inevitably the current shape will decrease in value over the next few months.. hence these deals.

So why are Ford putting their prices up? Surely they should be staying at the same rate.. or coming down more? :confused:

Just seems strange to me.

[DealDrivers company representative]

All car manuf'rs alter their pricelists at least once or twice a year, many use 1st April to do it as the rush for new March plates is then out of the way.

Most make changes to either base prices or discounts every calendar quarter, its just not that visible to most people unless you are studying the market over many months. Often they incorporate extra spec' too, to enhance value-for-money.

The Fiesta range has been incredibly cheap in recent months compared to other same-category brands, and it is not going up by much. Ford really have been very sparse and low on their price rises in the past 2 years compared to other volume manuf'rs so it isn't illogical, just overdue, to be frank.

This is just this manuf'rs annual change, other manufrs are changing deals on the same date too...its nothing unusual. There'll still be huge discounts on the range and model specifications often change, on all brands.

Verve is a little way off yet, ordering won't open until around Sept' onwards with first ones in the UK towards year-end and the current Fiesta is likely to still run alongside it for a while so it is by no means a dead model at all and remains a massive favourite with drivers, easy to re-sell, and provides huge value for money with most of the range available under 8-9k brand new depending on engine.

As initial sales of Verve will get low launch discounts and are unlikely to settle down until well into 2009 until stock builds up, the Fiesta has a life to live still for anyone wanting a cheap-to-run 3dr or 5dr hatch.