Car finance...can the price be lowered?

lrb7691

Hi guys, I'm hoping someone can give me some advice as my car financers have chosen to ignore every method of communication i've used.

I'm currently paying for my car via finance. I'm perfectly comfortable with the amount i pay each month, however my question is, can the payment price be reduced on a finance agreement? I'm concerned that if anything was to happen in the future it would make everything tight. (no idea why i've got a sudden panic on, better to be safe than sorry!)

Current price is approx £250 a month, ideally would like to get it at £150-£200 a month if they'd allow it! Does anyone know anything about this?

Stooby2

I ask this as I can't believe I'm reading it right. You agreed a price to buy the car and got finance, now you're saying you want to reduce that price, by what seems to be a substantial amount? If you are then absolutely no chance and I'm not surprised they're not answering your letters etc. Probably filing them in the "he can't be serious" bin.

Or are you asking if it's possible to reduce the monthly payments, but pay the same overall amount? Again you've signed a contract and the only way would be to extend the length of the finance agreement and companies would only consider that (and the majority probably wouldn't) if you were having serious problems paying now.

lrb7691

Stooby2 wrote: »

I ask this as I can't believe I'm reading it right. You agreed a price to buy the car and got finance, now you're saying you want to reduce that price, by what seems to be a substantial amount? If you are then absolutely no chance and I'm not surprised they're not answering your letters etc. Probably filing them in the "he can't be serious" bin.

Or are you asking if it's possible to reduce the monthly payments, but pay the same overall amount? Again you've signed a contract and the only way would be to extend the length of the finance agreement and companies would only consider that (and the majority probably wouldn't) if you were having serious problems paying now.

Thanks for your reply. Obviously not wanting to reduce the overall price, I'm definitely not that stupid. I agreed to pay that price for the car, which I'm happy with. I wanted to buy the car, so i did!

What i'm asking is do they let you reduce the monthly payments and extend the time you pay it over. There are no serious problems which would mean i need to reduce it. I'm just aware that things do happen out of the blue and wanted to check whether it would be possible should something happen. I like to know in advance what my options are.

Geodark

lrb7691 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. Obviously not wanting to reduce the overall price, I'm definitely not that stupid. I agreed to pay that price for the car, which I'm happy with. I wanted to buy the car, so i did!

What i'm asking is do they let you reduce the monthly payments and extend the time you pay it over. There are no serious problems which would mean i need to reduce it. I'm just aware that things do happen out of the blue and wanted to check whether it would be possible should something happen. I like to know in advance what my options are.

I don't want to sound hard here, and I am trying to think how to word this so I don't come across too bad - but if you are so worried about this then what on earth are you doing taking a car out on credit in the first place. If a £50 a month change in your circumstances will make that much of a difference then you should not have agreed to the terms you did.

forgotmyname

You negotiate BEFORE signing the paperwork not after.

Any negotiations after signing will impact your credit rating. Big red markers on your credit file does not uphold payment schedules.

Take out another loan and pay off the current one?

Stooby2

lrb7691 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. Obviously not wanting to reduce the overall price, I'm definitely not that stupid. I agreed to pay that price for the car, which I'm happy with. I wanted to buy the car, so i did!

What i'm asking is do they let you reduce the monthly payments and extend the time you pay it over. There are no serious problems which would mean i need to reduce it. I'm just aware that things do happen out of the blue and wanted to check whether it would be possible should something happen. I like to know in advance what my options are.

No worries - I don't think you're stupid, but you'd be surprised at some of the daft things people ask on here.

It would be very much up to the finance company as to whether they'll let you extend the finance. The other option may be to look around for a cheaper loan that you can use to pay off the finance and extend the repayments. Have a look here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/cheap-personal-loans

But be careful of early repayment charges etc on the finance that might cost you.

Hintza

If they will reduce your monthly payments then you will pay for longer and at a potentially higher rate so it will cost you more at the end of the day. You would be better off making savings elsewhere eg go out one night a week less per month.

Stevefromdonny

I ditched my car finance during the cooling off period and took out a loan at much lower APR. Car finance is overpriced anyway (unless its 0%), so I had no intention of staying with it.

Ring your finance provider and ask for a settlement figure for a date of your choice (when you will have secured alternative finance). Make it clear to them that this is only speculative at the moment and you don't wish to definitely settle the account on that date (mine assumed this and sent a threatening letter saying if payment was not made on that date they would mark my credit file etc).

Shop around for the best APR on loans you can find and take one out (beware you may not get the APR advertised depending on your credit rating and currently available credit). Then ring the finance company and pay the settlement via debit card. The good thing about taking out a loan now is that you can spread the repayments over a longer term than you originally signed up for - its a new agreement so you can start again with 5 years if you wish, depending what you can afford.

BUT your car finance provider may be within their rights to charge a hefty early repayment charge or even the full amount of interest you would have paid over the term. They will factor this into any settlement figure.