Decision time about my car - these are my options

FDa65rdk

macman said:

FDa65rdk said:

Grumpy_chap said:

To choose a car and take delivery in a week and 3 days seems a bit of a rush.  Or, do you just need to choose and order this month?

This is what I was told in a recent email:
'The sooner the better so that we can get you the 3 months free as to benefit from that offer the car has to be collected by 30th September. All of the cars we have offered aren't at our site yet so we would need to allow for enough time to get them here.'
So it looks like I will have to delivery by the end of the month.

This is simply an unsophisticated sales pressure technique to push you into making a rushed decision and getting a poorer deal. As others have said, there are no free months. It's costed in, and the real price would be the same now or later.

Thanks. So am I right in what I wrote in the message about the 33 payments vs 36?

NottinghamKnight

FDa65rdk said:

macman said:

FDa65rdk said:

Grumpy_chap said:

To choose a car and take delivery in a week and 3 days seems a bit of a rush.  Or, do you just need to choose and order this month?

This is what I was told in a recent email:
'The sooner the better so that we can get you the 3 months free as to benefit from that offer the car has to be collected by 30th September. All of the cars we have offered aren't at our site yet so we would need to allow for enough time to get them here.'
So it looks like I will have to delivery by the end of the month.

This is simply an unsophisticated sales pressure technique to push you into making a rushed decision and getting a poorer deal. As others have said, there are no free months. It's costed in, and the real price would be the same now or later.

Thanks. So am I right in what I wrote in the message about the 33 payments vs 36?

Maybe, but it may be that the 3 months are simply wrapped into the deal, and there is no saving as others have pointed out.
What cars are they offering, what apr is being quoted, there's no reason to be paying hundreds of pounds a month, at a potentially high interest rate, it genuinely is money down the drain. Keep the current vehicle, save the payments you would have been making, this will form a fund for a new car when you choose to buy and/ or pay for maintenance and repairs on the current vehicle.

macman

It doesn't matter how many monthly payments there are. What matters is the total cost of the deal, over the term, including all interest and finance costs.

FDa65rdk

macman said:

It doesn't matter how many monthly payments there are. What matters is the total cost of the deal, over the term, including all interest and finance costs.

In that case the 36 months vs 33 months example is correct isn't it, once the subsequent balloon payments have been included?

FDa65rdk

NottinghamKnight said:

FDa65rdk said:

macman said:

FDa65rdk said:

Grumpy_chap said:

To choose a car and take delivery in a week and 3 days seems a bit of a rush.  Or, do you just need to choose and order this month?

This is what I was told in a recent email:
'The sooner the better so that we can get you the 3 months free as to benefit from that offer the car has to be collected by 30th September. All of the cars we have offered aren't at our site yet so we would need to allow for enough time to get them here.'
So it looks like I will have to delivery by the end of the month.

This is simply an unsophisticated sales pressure technique to push you into making a rushed decision and getting a poorer deal. As others have said, there are no free months. It's costed in, and the real price would be the same now or later.

Thanks. So am I right in what I wrote in the message about the 33 payments vs 36?

Maybe, but it may be that the 3 months are simply wrapped into the deal, and there is no saving as others have pointed out.
What cars are they offering, what apr is being quoted, there's no reason to be paying hundreds of pounds a month, at a potentially high interest rate, it genuinely is money down the drain. Keep the current vehicle, save the payments you would have been making, this will form a fund for a new car when you choose to buy and/ or pay for maintenance and repairs on the current vehicle.

The strange thing is that I had the option to have paid for the car in full up front back in April 2017 but that would have actually cost more than to make the monthly payments for 42 months and then make the balloon payment.
I couldn't figure that one out.

MalMonroe

FDa65rdk said:

daveyjp said:

They aren't free months, they are priced into the deal.

When to expect major unexpected expense depends on the vehicle in question, how it has been driven and how well it has been maintained.

The car is in good condition but I'm concerned about them saying 'We've found this, this, this and this...' and I have to take their word for it.
I don't know a great deal about cars and would not be in a position to confidently or convincingly argue with them telling that.

My car is through a PCP arrangement and I don't know a great deal about cars either but if the dealer started saying they'd found 'this, this, this and this, I'd argue with them. Because I know it's in good condition. In the agreement I signed it states that normal wear and tear is expected, and the initial price was probably arranged around that too. 

If they do start saying such things, PLEASE don't take their word for it. There's nothing to suggest they would do that, though and some car dealerships are actually honest and above-board, in my experience. DO learn to stand up for yourself, though, or people ARE going to take advantage of you. I'm a single woman in what's still, misogynistically, considered a man's world but I won't accept any nonsense from anyone. Especially when it could cost me money!

facade

It will probably work out more expensive to have the "free" months, as there will be 3 months worth of interest on the whole loan, rather than a diminishing one. (Remember "Buy now, pay nothing for 12 months"? If you couldn't/didn't clear the whole borrowed amount by day 365 there was 12 months interest slammed straight onto what you owed)

Unless they are chipping in with the first 3 payments because they really like you, in which case it would obviously be a better deal with 33 payments of £330 rather than 36

NottinghamKnight

FDa65rdk said:

NottinghamKnight said:

FDa65rdk said:

macman said:

FDa65rdk said:

Grumpy_chap said:

To choose a car and take delivery in a week and 3 days seems a bit of a rush.  Or, do you just need to choose and order this month?

This is what I was told in a recent email:
'The sooner the better so that we can get you the 3 months free as to benefit from that offer the car has to be collected by 30th September. All of the cars we have offered aren't at our site yet so we would need to allow for enough time to get them here.'
So it looks like I will have to delivery by the end of the month.

This is simply an unsophisticated sales pressure technique to push you into making a rushed decision and getting a poorer deal. As others have said, there are no free months. It's costed in, and the real price would be the same now or later.

Thanks. So am I right in what I wrote in the message about the 33 payments vs 36?

Maybe, but it may be that the 3 months are simply wrapped into the deal, and there is no saving as others have pointed out.
What cars are they offering, what apr is being quoted, there's no reason to be paying hundreds of pounds a month, at a potentially high interest rate, it genuinely is money down the drain. Keep the current vehicle, save the payments you would have been making, this will form a fund for a new car when you choose to buy and/ or pay for maintenance and repairs on the current vehicle.

The strange thing is that I had the option to have paid for the car in full up front back in April 2017 but that would have actually cost more than to make the monthly payments for 42 months and then make the balloon payment.
I couldn't figure that one out.

Do you want to quote actual figures? Also details of the car involved.

daveyjp

The three months 'free' is merely the new way of offering a dealer incentive for a PCP agreement and ensuring they maintain profit on the finance.

Previously the incentve would be a few thousand as a lump sum, but MSE cash buyers were buying through brokers to get a hefty discount, getting the PCP incentive on top, then paying the loan off in full after a couple of weeks.

As others said three months of no payments possibly means extra interest paid, but we need figures to see if that is the case.

ontheroad1970

With some, Skoda for example, they are giving both deposit contributions and 'paying' the first three payments.