Car loan after bankruptcy discharge and credit file clean up

Thingsarelookingup

Hi,
My wife and i went bankrupt in 2013 (partly circumstance and partly being young and naive...), with around 30k in credit card debt, as well as handing the keys back on our house and including in the bankruptcy. 

We were discharged a year later, and now more than 6 years have passed, the bankruptcy has been removed from our credit files.

After looking on Experian/Equifax statutory reports, none of  the previous accounts that defaulted are listed at all, and our credit rating is building nicely with all accounts (Current account, credit card with £1k limit and mobile phone contracts) all paid on time each month, with the CC usually settled in full each month. 
According to Experian, my credit rating is 824 out of 999 (higher end of "fair"), while on Noddle, its 625 out of 710 (lower end of "good").
I earn about £28k, my rent (the only outgoing i was asked about on the Moneysupermarket loan soft search) is £695 per month. In addition, my wife earns £20k a year. we have a decent amount of disposalanle income each month (£600+).

How likely is it that i will be accepted for a car loan.... I was looking at maybe 4-8k taken over 4-5 years. 
The money supermarket came back with:
        * Lendable - 39.9%!,  no indicator of chance of being accepted
         *Zopa, 16.8%, 70% chance of being accepted.
         *Post Office, 4.2%, 95% chance of being accepted
         *Bank of Ireland UK, 4.5%, 95% chance of being accepted
          *Car finance 24/7, 9.9%, 95% chance of being accepted.
Does anyone have any incite on any of the above lenders, and the likelyhood of them lending to me.

On a couple including the post office, the following wording included the wording:
"To be eligible, you must have a good credit rating without a history of CCJ or bankruptcy" - Now i do have a good/ok credit rating, and the rating has no record of a bankruptcy, is this sufficient, or will i be asked if I've ever been bankrupt and be turned down?

Any incite would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thingsarelookingup

*disposable income.

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately, your credit rating is of no interest to lenders.  They will only look at your credit history.

Some lenders will ask if you gave ever been bankrupt, which you'll want to answer honestly.

You seen to have a fairly thin file so you need to maximize your chances. Ensure you pay off the card in full each month.

While you're building your credit history, save as much as you can, so as to reduce or even eliminate the amount you need to borrow.

jonesMUFCforever

How much of that disposable income have you managed to save?
This is relevant as it could show that the OP could manage monthly loan repayments. If they have no savings it would show that they are already fully committed and possibly would struggle to repay a loan.

Thingsarelookingup

Thanks both.
On the credit front, I’ve had my Vanquis card since June 2017 and settle it each month.
In terms of savings, i don’t have massive amounts but could could put down about £2k, which could be between 20-35% of the car value depending on what I go for.

MinuteNoodles

Thingsarelookingup said:

Thanks both.
On the credit front, I’ve had my Vanquis card since June 2017 and settle it each month.
In terms of savings, i don’t have massive amounts but could could put down about £2k, which could be between 20-35% of the car value depending on what I go for.

If you don't have a decent of savings how are you going to pay £250-£300 a month for a car? If you'd had a few hundred a month spare, the amount the monthly repayments on a loan would be not doing anything, you should have over £10k. You'd have over £6k saved by now even if you just saved £20 a week given you became completely debt free in 2013.

Need to be sorting out your finances and spending first and building up an emergency fund of 3-6 months living costs before getting yourself in several grand of debt again. The lack of any meaningful funds suggests lessons haven't been learned and the advantages of what bankruptcy gave you not taken.

DrEskimo

As above. 

What's the sudden rush to borrow money to buy a car right now? Can you wait?

If you really are set on it still, spend at least 6-12months putting aside the money you would be spending on a loan into a savings account and see how you get on. If you can afford it, then you have shown that and now have a larger deposit. If you can't afford it, then good news, you didn't take on any debt and also have a larger savings pot.

I would also recommend having an emergency fund of 3-6m savings, so is this £2k all you have? If it is, I would suggest saving more for your emergency fund first, then build savings for the car.

Fighter1986

I think there's a big risk at this point in time with the bankruptcy falling off your credit file that it will trigger a psychological reaction.

You're aware that you're all of a sudden eligible for all sorts of credit you wouldn't have been a few months ago and are therefore trying to justify the purchase of a replacement car on tick.

I think at this point in time it's important to take a deep breath, a step back, and a more pragmatic view of things. Don't let your new enhanced creditworthiness lure you back into the lifestyle that earned you a bankruptcy in the first place.

If you still had issues with your credit file that prevented you from borrowing, would what you have serve its purpose?

If you've got £600 a month spare and over £2,000 in savings, how long would it take to make this up to enough to buy a really nice car like an early Jaguar XF? By my calculations, and looking at the market, an additional four months.

You don't need to borrow again. You're all good. Take your time, save a bit more, and if you really do need to replace your car, then buy what you can afford from what you've been able to save.

I'm driving a 2004 Mercedes C180K Coupé at the moment. The AC has gone. It's got 140,000 miles on the clock. Its worth the grand total of naff all. I'd like to replace it too; OH & I have £1,500 a month spare between us, but I'm not going to until a wheel falls off. The money stays in the bank until it's genuinely needed or until we buy a house. 

fatbelly

If you play around on Autotrader you may be surprised by how good a car you can buy for how little money. If you are a cash buyer you are in a very strong position at the moment.

Thingsarelookingup

Thanks for the comments so far...
My bankruptcy was 7 years ago -  i can confirm lessons have been learned and i am aware/grateful of the position bankruptcy has put me in. 
From an affordability point if view, i appreciate the views, but am confident in my ability to pay.

In regards to savings, I was paying an IPA until mid 2017, so all disposable money to that point was taken towards the bankruptcy. I could have saved more since then admittedly, but after living in crippling debt for years, I've enjoyed living within my means. I appreciate some will judge that i haven't saved more, but that's not my concern. 

My savings have been hit by spending about 2k on car repairs in the last 7 months. I'm sick of throwing good money after bad, hence the reason for wanting something more reliable... I could go and buy something in cash, but there's no guarantee at that level of the market that i won't end up with a similar dog of a car, which is why i'm looking to potentially take a loan and get something more reliable.

If anyone has any info on the below wording, and it's intention...i.e "don't apply if bankruptcy is currently on  your file" or "don't apply if you've ever been bankrupt", i'd be interested to hear:
"To be eligible, you must have a good credit rating without a history of CCJ or bankruptcy" 

Also if anyone has any experience of having applied from a similar position i'd also be interested to hear.
Thanks

fatbelly

The intention of the wording is to exclude bankrupts and former bankrupts. However,  if it's dropped off your file the worst they can  do is turn you down. 
New car doesn't equal reliable by the way. There's a motoring forum on  here that can  help.