0% finance on cars

oggy

Hi all as title suggests my daughter is in her 3rd year at uni and her car has just about had it failed it's mot and needs about 400 pounds spending on it to make it right and safe!!.So my thoughts were to see about one of these 99 pound down deals and 99 pounds a month for 36 months or are there any other options,Thanks.

ftbworried

£99 deposit and £99 a month for 36 months? That means the car would cost ~£3700. I don't know where on earth you'd find a new car for that price. Usually the less desirable car manufacturers do 0% interest free (like fiat or daewoo), but even their cars will set you back at least £6k.

SAHARA

They're normally PCP deals, with a balloon payment of a couple of grand at the end of the term, or you hand the car back.

Volcano

So £400 to get another years motoring is too expensive, but £1300 over the same time period is ok?

If this 'deal' relates to one of those cheap and nasty Kia-type cars, then there isn't necessarily any reliability/safety advantage either.

MORPH3US

Volcano wrote:

If this 'deal' relates to one of those cheap and nasty Kia-type cars, then there isn't necessarily any reliability/safety advantage either.

Does that mean if it doesn't have a price tag of over £10,000 or a VW badge it must be unsafe!??!

Kia Rio - "Has a very respectable four star Euro NCAP rating. Rio also gets ABS (with electronic brakeforce distribution) and twin airbags as standard; LX has six airbags. Every car has an immobiliser and remote central locking"

Four star NCAP = same as Vauxhall Corsa, VW Polo / Golf, Ford Fiesta / Focus!

M

MORPH3US

OP, basically, most of the interest free deals require either a 30% deposit or a large final payment because obviously £99 a month over 3 years won't fully pay off the car.

If that is what you want to go for then fair enough, but with your daughter being at Uni, is it the best idea to get her a brand new car? I left uni 3 years ago and I know from experience that cars (especially newer ones) tend to get damaged by drunken students. Whether thats the green eyed monster, or probably just a total lack of respect blamed on too much booze (not all students btw!).

Does your daughter even require a car at Uni? I know most students have cars now but for that little bit less convienience you could save a lot of money and then buy her something new when she graduates (as a graduation present maybe!)

M

Volcano

My post, line 4.

MORPH3US

Volcano wrote:

My post, line 4.

Nearly, but not quite! :T

Your post, line 3!

Volcano wrote:

nasty Kia-type cars

:rolleyes:

kittiwoz

Personally I would recomend shopping around to get the necessary work done as cheaply as possible. You'll have to do it anyway because you'll need to MOT the car to get a decent resale value.

If you are going to buy another car you should know that cars exhibit "infant mortality", therefore if you want reliability you should buy a car which is not less than 3 years old. After this point its reliability will remain constant til about 100,000 miles. If buying a second-hand car get one with a recent MOT and take someone who knows about cars to look it over for you. Consider the practical aspects of any car you buy. Is it easy to park? Can you put whatever you're likely to be transporting in to it? What is the fuel consumption like? What is it like for maintenence and parts availability?

oggy

Well thanks for all your replys,I know a new car for a student might not be the way forward but we are considering all the options available to us (canny scots !).She really does need a car for her part time work as well as coming home from time to time.I just thought some of these "deals" offer free servicing as well which would be 1 more less headache,also the safety factor which comes hand in hand with more modern cars air bags etc,also some do free insurance which is another "BIG" plus !.Once again thanks for your valuable input.

kittiwoz

How tall is she? Because if she's small like me an airbag could be lethal. They expand with a lot of force and if you end up unconcious pressed into it you can suffocate. I don't know what the figures are like for air bags but I think it's generaly considered that women, who are likely to be closer to the air bag when it deploys, would be safer without them.