Car Finance / Purchasing Help

[sigma]

A 20% saving typically isn't enough to offset a much higher interest rate on the finance agreement and offset any 'new' dealer discounts.

Also in your analogy, graphics cards don't have consumables nor suffer from conventional "wear and tear". A year old car will have a years worth of mileage on the tyres, clutch, interior, blah.

Alright, alright, I was just trying to see if the OP could save some money! Jeez

If you’re not sure what point in making, read post 27 again... the second sentence. Who said anything about cash?? I’ll not derail (lol) the thread any further.

 

[[TW]Fox]

PCP on used cars is rarely value for money.

 

[HangTime]

You’re both arguing against a point that nobody made.

An analogy to my point is a non-gamer wanting the latest graphics card when there is someone else selling the exact same card that’s a year old but still in warranty and is 20% cheaper.

I didn't think I was 'arguing' with anyone, just acknowledging a point made by another poster.
You are saying if they are not a car person they should buy a is older and hence cheaper. I didn't take any issue with this, although I do feel that non-enthusiasts might be more swayed by 'ooh new and shiny', modern gadgets etc compared to an enthusiast who is more concerned about what lies underneath the surface. Or conversely the enthusiast might say if they are spending £50k they would get something better second hand rather than a brand new Q3.
I'm acknowledging a comment by the OP if they are not a car person they might still want a luxury car. Your point and mine can both be valid and co-exist without being contradictory or either being 'wrong' (i.e. them wanting a luxury car doesn't preclude them buying used).

Anyway, to get back on topic:

• "ensuring the monthly payments are affordable" is not a good way to look at buying a car on its own. Lets say you could afford to pay £2k/month for 3 years. That would be £72k worth of payments against a £50k car plus the deposit and baloon payment. What you should be looking at is the total cost.
• Baloon payment size personally I don't think matters too much in isolation, again I would be looking at the complete picture of all costs. It might be something to think about if you would consider keeping the car long term, i.e. a low baloon payment might make it an attractive purchase. If you know you are likely to want to switch cars when the term is up then you'll want to focus more on minimising the cost over the term.
• Sometimes the baloon payment might be placed 'artificially' high as part of a strategy to keep you locked into PCP, i.e. when your term is up they want to sell you another expensive PCP on a new car rather than have you buy the old car outright. Given recent trends with used car prices I suspect this may get more common i.e. if depreciation is going to be less over the next year or two than it has historically they might not want to risk letting you grab the asset on the cheap (if your example where £30k depreciation is expected, perhaps in reality it will only be £25k).
• Consider alternative methods of finance, PCP might be more expensive than bank loan, mortgage etc, although again it depends whether you want the car long term or not.

 

[Nitefly]

Thanks for the ongoing discussion, has been an enjoyable read.

Audi’s PCP interest seems to have shot up massively to +6% interest since this thread started…. Gone from 2.9% to 6.3% on the Q5s?! Wtf!

 

[Greebo]

Isn't R Line a trim level adding new bumpers and seats? It has little to do with performance.

Doesnt add performance but it adds lots of luxuries and toys

Driver Assistance plus pack
Keyless Entry
Better Satnav
Winter pack

And the car looks nicer (imo)

VW have always been much better bang for buck then the equivalent audis. They get better and newer tech than the Audis as well. Recently, the VW models seem to have their engines tweaked so they are slightly more powerful than the same engine in the Audi. Okay interior quality not quite on par but you get way more gadgets and they are cheaper to boot.

The R models (not R-line) are the performance models.

In fact, pretty much ticking every option on the R Line hybrid Tiguan, I cant get it more than £41,845.

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/configurator.html/__app/31101/r-line.app?category-app=private&carlineId-app=31101&exteriorId-app=F14+2T2T&options-app=GPE2PE2-MKSUKA6-GPXCPXC-GWL4WL4&interiorId-app=F56+++++IH&modelId-app=AX15ZY$GPFCPFC$GPJTPJT$GRBDRBD$GWDDWDD$GWN3WN3$GWW1WW1$GYOSYOS$MLRA2PT$MLKC76C&modelVersion-app=3&modelYear-app=2022&salesGroupId-app=31717&trimName-app=R-Line&buildabilityStatus-app=buildable

VW put £2,750 contribution into PCP deals plus you should be able to get a discount from the dealer.

4.7% APR

 

[[TW]Fox]

Doesnt add performance

Which was my point. It's a trim level and nothing more.

 

[Journey]

after another visit to the showroom we’re now looking at the Q5s. Thanks for the steer!

Did you look at the new Q4 as well? It's a really nice car inside and out of you want that SUV vehicle type thing.

 

[gailjon]

There is always the option of Personal Contract Hire as well. (PCH). If you are financing a car on a PCP with the thought that you might just end up handing the car back at the end of the term anyway, then PCH can be much cheaper. There are caveats in that you can't just sell the car, pay off a settlement figure and get out early that way, as you can with a PCP, but if you are certain that you would be okay running the car for 1/2/3 years then it is certainly worth a look. There are no RFL costs (which on a 40k plus car are a significant amount) and there are many different companies who can supply PCH cars, many with special deals for cars in stock, pre-reg cars, etc.

 

[Greebo]

Which was my point. It's a trim level and nothing more.

Indeed you were correct on performance but its a lot more than "bumpers and seats"

A few years ago it certainly used to be just outside appearance plus special improved R logo seats but nowadays VW put several thousand pounds worth of useful options on the R line models as well.

I think the touareg gets air suspension and rear steering as well as being 25mm lower from memory. Okay no engine improvement but handling considerably improved!!!!!

 

[[TW]Fox]

There are no RFL costs

lol, of course there are. Just because they're included in the lease amount doesn't mean they're not there!

 

[turbot1984]

I remember paying over 10% interest on PCP's years ago, bloody bargain now

 

[XeNoN89]

Does anybody know where is good to check for low APR uses car loans?

Getting annoyed with representative APRs being way lower than what I get offered on personal loans, despite having a great credit score.

NatWest for example says I can get one at 3.4% but then actually offers 7.4% when I actually fill in to apply

 

[dlockers]

Does anybody know where is good to check for low APR uses car loans?

Getting annoyed with representative APRs being way lower than what I get offered on personal loans, despite having a great credit score.

NatWest for example says I can get one at 3.4% but then actually offers 7.4% when I actually fill in to apply

https://www.uswitch.com/loans/

Check out ones which give you the advertised rate or a decline.

 

[Spleen Sauce]

Does anybody know where is good to check for low APR uses car loans?

Getting annoyed with representative APRs being way lower than what I get offered on personal loans, despite having a great credit score.

NatWest for example says I can get one at 3.4% but then actually offers 7.4% when I actually fill in to apply

Mine is 2.9% with Nationwide. 2nd time I've had one with them at that rate.