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"Arrangement fee" Car HP finance? Help?

Okay, i'm new here so go easy.
Found a car for sale this monday that i liked, advertised at £5200 i rung the dealer up and decided to apply for finance via them.
I gave him my details within hours i got a call back from a broker. They asked for statements etc which i gave them & within a day i was accepted & they gave me the monthly repayment rates & what deposit i have to put down.
£129.60 per month (48 month period) & a £400 deposit which i'm happy with.
When i got the agreement emailed to me, there were other fees there such as an "Arrangement fee" of £325.00 and a "Option to purchase fee" of £50.00
At no point during our phone calls were these mentioned (all are recorded on my iPhone & i have played them back).
Normally i would back out but i don't want to ruin my credit by searching around, i really need the car & the dealer closes Sunday for two weeks.

I've not signed/paid anything yet (except my train tickets to the dealership) but is there any way i can avoid paying the arrangement & option purchase fee ?
Any help much appreciated as this is my first time buying on finance/loan ect.
Dave

Comments

  • Mara69
    Mara69 Posts: 1,409 Forumite
    You could ask the dealer for a better deal, to take into account the fees but really, they've got you by the short and curlies. Did you negotiate on the price of the car?

    Not mentioning them during a phone call (recorded?? Really?!? Why?) is not just cause for you refusing to pay them. They are clearly noted in the paperwork.
  • BugsyBrowne
    BugsyBrowne Posts: 5,697 Forumite
    Mate 4 years is a hell of a long time to be in a car finance agreement.
    As the car is Only £5200 I would guarantee you that if You save £129 for the next 12-18 months you will be able to pay for the same car outright.

    Buy a cheapy for now and bung as much into the car savings pot for the next year.
  • The admin fee and option to purchase fee are just two ways of extracting more money from the punters.

    My first HP loan in 1966 had an option to purchase fee of £2. I know it is a legal requirement to have to purchase the vehicle following the 'hire', but upping it to the rates of sometimes £400 we have seen on these Forums is ridiculous.
    "There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe a 'Princess Coronation' locomotive in full cry. We shall never see their like again". O S Nock
  • Thanks for the info guys, i will get on the phone to them & try haggle.
    The dealer offered to service, tax & MOT the car today so if i threaten to back out maybe they'll drop the charges. Lets hope my train tickets are refundable if they dont!
  • pvt
    pvt Posts: 1,433 Forumite
    Dave,

    It's not clear from your post if those extra fees are payable up front in addition to the £400 deposit, or whether they are included in the loan.

    If the latter is the case, then they will (or should) be included within the APR calculations and in which case it's their way of front loading the interest. So if you are happy with the APR rate then there's no reason for you not go for it.

    But Bugsy's advice gets my vote as the better option!
    Optimists see a glass half full :)
    Pessimists see a glass half empty :(
    Engineers just see a glass twice the size it needed to be :D
  • The arrangement fee comes out of my first monthly installment (129 + 325) = £454
  • dLockers
    dLockers Posts: 348 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Dealer closes for 2 weeks? Sounds !!!!! as it is.
  • oldhand
    oldhand Posts: 3,748 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    Agree with dlockers,any respectable dealer would not be closing for 2 weeks,they just could not afford it in the present economic situation.I would be more concerned they are closing for good.
  • Mara69
    Mara69 Posts: 1,409 Forumite
    I'd still like to know if you haggled over the price of the car and.....you have actually been at looked at the car you are considering buying, haven't you? Looked at it, checked the condition, driven it, looked around and compared it to other cars of the same make, model and year....?
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