My contract expires with Arnold Clarke, need advise

brat02

Hi all,

I have been with Arnold Clarke for 2 contracts now(brand new cars) and now my second contract expires in 3 month so they gave me a call and gave me an appointment to explain my options.

So basically need advise what I need to watch out for when they offer me something, can someone experienced advise?

Herzlos

What kind of contracts? This just sounds like a sales pitch to sell you on a new contract, so just consider all of the options and don't be talked into anything.

Shaka_Zulu

brat02 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have been with Arnold Clarke for 2 contracts now(brand new cars) and now my second contract expires in 3 month so they gave me a call and gave me an appointment to explain my options.

So basically need advise what I need to watch out for when they offer me something, can someone experienced advise?

What are we talking about here?

Lease? PCP?

The most important thing is to do your homework before you go to see them so that you know what a ggod/bad deal looks like.

Look at all the ways to buy a car.

Banger? Cheap and hopefully cheerful but not the end of the world if it fails.

Go to copart (my normal choice) and buy a decent write off can get a lot of car for your money but you need to be on good terms with a decent body shop and be able to source cheap parts to make this work and don't expect retail price IF you decide to sell it. Best for long term, run in to the ground cars where the residual is not important.

Decent second hand car 6 years old hopefully with full service history and belts etc already done.

2-3 year old car with some remaining warranty.

Nearly new

Pre-Registered

PCP (probably what you have) not normally a great deal and ties you in

Lease - Need for a loan as such but will need 3-6 months up front (look for unpopular cars or run out models and you should get a good deal, if you decide on the model then look for a deal you will probably be disappointed)

Buy new.

You then have to decide on most of these options how you will finance it.

Buying a car is all about research, more research and even more research normally with a spreadsheet and a bit of a calculated guess on residuals 2,3,4 years time.

brat02

I used to get brand new cars from them on 3 years contract with their finance company I believe where I pay monthly and at the end of the contract(or before) I can pay the last big payment and keep the car(don't want) or get a new card from them and carry on paying

TadleyBaggie

Sounds like PCP.

neilmcl

brat02 wrote: »

I used to get brand new cars from them on 3 years contract with their finance company I believe where I pay monthly and at the end of the contract(or before) I can pay the last big payment and keep the car(don't want) or get a new card from them and carry on paying

Don't take this the wrong way but you sound like the person who shouldn't be taking out finance if you don't even understand the basics of the agreements you're signing up to.

Sounds like you'll have 3 options, which all would've been explained clearly if you read your original documentation btw. You can either pay off the optional final payment (balloon payment/GFV) and keep the car, hand it back and walk away, or take out another agreement on another new car.

The only reason the dealer want you to come in now is for the latter where it's in their interest to get you into another new car and finance agreement.

wgl2014

Do you want a brand new car every 3 years and not mind paying out for this? If so PCP may be suitable for you. Also look online at how much a lease is on the same spec car, it may be less (add up ALL the costs for each deal).

If you don't mind having a second hand car why not buy one second hand that is a year or two old, most will be virtually as new but at significantly less cost. You may be able to get a bank loan with similar payments to what you have now that will cover the purchase price, the benefit comes three years down the line when you will own the car and can either keep it and have no more monthly payments or sell it and get something back.

Don't just get trapped doing the same thing without considering your options.

If you want some more advice could you tell us what kind of car and monthly payments you are looking at?

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

They are not there to help you and explain your options, they are there to help themselves to as much of your money as they can get within the law.

Starting point is to ignore monthly payments but check how much the car will cost in total for the term.

They will not be offering discounts, they will be offering list price and making it sound like there is no negotiation, that's just how it is. They have plenty of scope and if they are not offering a repeat customer a starting point of 10-15% discount on list, they are not even trying to be nice.

They want to get you locked in before the end of your contract to stop a soft touch going to another company. They will do things like taking the remaining finance on the current car and adding it into the new deal - you will not escape paying off the old car, it will just be hidden.

Your starting point is to decide what you want and how much you are prepared to pay. You are not a car salesman benevolent fund. If they haven't got GOOD deal, you simply walk away and say you are going to look around. It is a fair bet you will get a response like "What do I need to do to sign up today?" and then they might start offering something. There are also no such things as "I can only offer this today" - if they want to make money out of you, then they will always find a way to do the same deal tomorrow after you have had time to think.

You can always get an offer, ask for time to think and post it here and people will happily rip it apart and explain it to you.

rus4u

Thanks for all your replies.

Yes, I want to get a new car again , pay a bit extra and don't worry about anything rather then get an old car and spent hundreds on repairing it time to time, been there, tried it, not for me.

My main question is what I need to watch out for when signing a new deal with Arnold Clarke finance department when getting a new car in my situation and not where else I can go and get an old car

rus4u

wgl2014 wrote: »

Do you want a brand new car every 3 years and not mind paying out for this? If so PCP may be suitable for you. Also look online at how much a lease is on the same spec car, it may be less (add up ALL the costs for each deal).

If you don't mind having a second hand car why not buy one second hand that is a year or two old, most will be virtually as new but at significantly less cost. You may be able to get a bank loan with similar payments to what you have now that will cover the purchase price, the benefit comes three years down the line when you will own the car and can either keep it and have no more monthly payments or sell it and get something back.

Don't just get trapped doing the same thing without considering your options.

If you want some more advice could you tell us what kind of car and monthly payments you are looking at?

you make a very good point to be honest but don't they all ask for a big deposit to pay on these deal at retailers ?
I probably won't mind if the car 1-2 years old(not older than that).
At the moment I am paying £170 for Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 Sting edition 15 plate.

What car do I want? something similar, not big hatchback .... was thinking about Ford Focus, Honda Civic but don't really want to pay more than £200 a month

tykesi

Why have you changed usernames?