0% finance deals on cars

neuromancer

Sorry if this has been asked a thousand times before - the search engine didn't seem to like '0%' as a keyword!

I'm just wondering what experience people have of these. I've looked at car financing schemes - HP, PCP etc - and most of them have a big deposit at the start, a final payment, and various rules about who the car belongs to, mileage charges etc. 0% deals (official ones, not third-party companies), on the other hand, appear deceptively simple - pay a deposit, pay off the rest at 0% interest, end of story. Is it really that simple?

Assuming the usual rules about making sure I can actually afford the repayments, telling the insurance company that the dealer has a financial interest in the vehicle, and so on - is 0% really the cheapest way to buy a new car?

I'm looking at new cars (only looking at the moment) and if 0% actually works like that, it's a no-brainer - much cheaper than any other arrangement. Does anyone know of manufacturers other than Vauxhall and Toyota that do such deals?

Thanks!

verityboo

Looked at a Vauxhall a couple of years ago as they were offering 0% finance but were told we would have to pay list price!

daveyjp

Skoda were doing it on some models which were also reduced in price.

Hintza

There is no such thing as a free lunch. If it is a zero % deal you haven't got the best price available.

But with a bit of hard work you could get close but you MUST know your market.

forgotmyname

Compare the 0% deal price to drive the deal etc. prices.

And maybe arrange your own finance.

neuromancer

So the gist of it is, 0% in itself might be a good deal but they're making up for it elsewhere, by giving me a worse price than I'd get with other finance deals?

kazd

I bought my car through 'Drive the Deal'. I managed to save £600 off the price the local dealer could offer me, I got £1000 cash back on my car and 0% finance.