Car finance - how to entice dealers?

rash.m2k

Ok so I'm going to pay off the finance of a car immediately after the first payment, so I can keep the deposit contribution and any freebies (servicing etc)

The car is about £5k-7k. So when the dealer asks me deposit amount and monthly payments (plus any other questions they ask) what do I say? Low deposit/high deposit? Payments over 1 year/2 years etc?

Since the finance APR etc doesn't affect me at all, it's really of no consequence. I just want to give the dealer the right answers so he will give me a bigger discount on the finance amount!

bigjl

The only person that can reliably answer your question is the dealer.

You do realise that the deposit contribution on a used car is simply a deduction of the sale price which has been inflated to allow for it?

rash.m2k

yep - indeed but I'm using this finance deal as a bargaining chip. I know what the car is worth so definitely won't be paying their over the odds price!

Perhaps someone has some clues though? If I take finance for longer would the dealer get more? In which case I'd say 2 years or 3 years finance!

daveyjp

Always negotiate the cost to buy the car first. How you intend paying for it comes after this stage.

colino

Not a huge amount of difference from the deposit side of things, you are personally getting the finance (good credit score = better deal), the car is merely collateral.

motorguy

rash.m2k wrote: »

Ok so I'm going to pay off the finance of a car immediately after the first payment, so I can keep the deposit contribution and any freebies (servicing etc)

The car is about £5k-7k. So when the dealer asks me deposit amount and monthly payments (plus any other questions they ask) what do I say? Low deposit/high deposit? Payments over 1 year/2 years etc?

Since the finance APR etc doesn't affect me at all, it's really of no consequence. I just want to give the dealer the right answers so he will give me a bigger discount on the finance amount!

IF the car is in the £5-7K band, it suggests its used not new?

Theres unlikely to be any finance incentives worth talking about on a used car.

You may well get a better deal overall by getting a cheap personal loan

jellie

Why wait until after you've made the first payment? You only have so many days to cancel the finance (15 days IIRC), pay for the car in full plus any interest for the days you've had the money. If you go over this time, you might have to pay a settlement figure which could well be more than the cost of just cancelling the finance.

harveybobbles

Deposit contribution, "free" servicing and other "freebies" will be built into the price of the car anyway.

Ask them how much the car is to drive away today using cash (well, debit cards, as dealers dont generally like cash as it costs them money to bank chunks of it) and some dealers will want to check each pound note with a pen, which is time consuming and a PITA if you are giving them 400 £20 notes to check..

DUTR

rash.m2k wrote: »

Ok so I'm going to pay off the finance of a car immediately after the first payment, so I can keep the deposit contribution and any freebies (servicing etc)

The car is about £5k-7k. So when the dealer asks me deposit amount and monthly payments (plus any other questions they ask) what do I say? Low deposit/high deposit? Payments over 1 year/2 years etc?

Since the finance APR etc doesn't affect me at all, it's really of no consequence. I just want to give the dealer the right answers so he will give me a bigger discount on the finance amount!

Depending on the plan there is a maximum deposit 33%-50%, don't forget the arrangement and termination fees.

AdrianC

daveyjp wrote: »

Always negotiate the cost to buy the car first. How you intend paying for it comes after this stage.

Yes and no.

If you're taking a finance product, there may be some kickback to the dealer from that, based upon the profit from the interest over the full term. Negotiate some of that into additional discount, then pay it off quickly, and you could very easily be ahead on the deal.