how best to finance a car purchase

paul1504

Folks
been doing some digging as want to buy a new / nearly new family car - have some deposit available (eg. £5k) and happy to go up to £20k - but dont see advantage of car dealer's supposed 0% deals - they dont give finance away for nothing !
So how about applying for a credit card with 0% over 15 months (eg. M&S, Tesco) and using this to pay the balance - is there a catch here ? anyone else done it this way and succeeded ? will the car dealer accept the card ? will they apply a % transaction fee ?
whatdoyouthink ?

wealdroam

Do you not have similar concerns about 0% credit card deals?

Car dealers 'give away' 0% credit deals to attract custom.

£15,000 on credit cards?
You may struggle to get that much.

On the other hand you may not... I don't know your circumstances, do I?

eschaton

0% can be good if it is funded by the manufacturer.

I had this with a 4 year deal and taking or not taking it make no difference to the final deal.

I ended up selling the car after 15 months so had to pay it back




But the real answer to your question is..... cash

paul1504

thanks for the feedback folks

thinking behind the credit card approach to buy a car was I would be able to get the required amount (credit rating very good / already have a card with a £20k limit which is paid back every month) plus can afford to pay back circa £1000/month to clear the balance

but not sure (until I try) if I would get better price with the car dealer vs. their own 0% deal

also car dealer 0% packages are only on specific dealers and cars - so minimises cloice

understand cash is best option and negotiating tool - but not really feasible

any other views welcomed !

cheers - Paul

blacksta

Unless you are desperate for car right now - why not save up 1000/mth and buy the car outright.

firstly do u have a car in mind? You might be able pick a 1 year old of the same car and making a massive 15 to 20% of savings

For example - I bought a 2 year old c class for 13k and when a brand new price was going for 23k

forgotmyname

The manufacturer or dealers 0% deals will be over a longer term than the credit card 0% deal.

I think most card deals are over a short term.

Go and ask what the 0% price is and how much for a card sale. Any discount?

theblindman

Ive been investigating this over the last week or two, I quite like the Antara from vauxhall and if i was a cash buyer i could get one for £15800 with vauxhalls 0% its £17800, with my 5k deposit it about evens out with a 6.9% loan.
If youve got the cash can you buy it on a cashback credit card?

Ladyhawk

I am in the process of buying an Eos from a registered VW dealer and am disgusted with them on several levels. The most pressing issue at the moment is that of finance.

I was all set to pay for it using my 0% M&S credit card and now they are claiming that they do not accept credit cards. Could this be right?

I will be writing to complain about the other issues I have been having (ie them finding it acceptable to round up the price of the car)

cyclonebri1

There really is only one answer here, 0%????, sounds to good to be true???, Then it probably is.

Getting back to the original post the best way to finance a car is cash, even more so do to present interest rates.

The moneysaving answer is that the cheapest car is the 1 you own at present,

Ladyhawk

err.... what's wrong with a 0% credit card?

And by the way my current car had cost me over £3000 in repairs (not though accidents or incodents either) this year so I don't think it is actually the cheapest option.

mark5

Most of the dealers I have dealt with normally charge for credit card payments above £1000.