Agreed, but i personally hate having several outgoings when a big chunk comes out at once.

I once paid monthly for insurance when i was 18, got bummed on interest ...never again.

Paid for my S in one go.

 

Bought my S2000 in cash.

Bought my Ibiza (or I-beat-a as I call it) on 0% finance.

Hmmm I think my outstanding finance on my Ibiza "hampers" my enjoyment... or maybe it's just that there's not much to enjoy about it!

Buying in cash or finance - it's a personal thing I guess. Whether finance makes sense or not, you're buying a car which isn't a sound financial decision in the first place!

 

I've no problem with finance. It's cheap at the moment, bought from a dealer so have a guaranteed future value if I want to trade in 3 years (or I can pay off then and keep it), and as the dealer gets commission on the finance the theory that you get a better deal for cash often isn't true. The dealer makes more money and so can do a better deal if you take finance. Mentally then you can off set that saved money against your interest costs!!

 

You do seriously get humped on the dealers's finance though. They're not arranging you a loan just because they like you anymore than they enjoy feeding you biscuits and coffee.

 

Not necesserily. The theory that dealers finance is expensive is not always true. It is a lesser known fact that dealers rates are nearly always negotiable. My wife is ex-motor industry and haggles like a demon

Result is my rate is comparable to high street / internet rates but with a guaranteed future value.

Like with any part of the car buying experience you just have to be prepared to haggle hard and walk away if you can't get the deal you want.

 

Mmmm... this shoulda been a poll.

Lots of people here seem to paying cash.... bragging rights bringing those folks out here to some extent? My guess is that at least 75% of owners here have finance. Nothing wrong with finance IMO providing (at the moment) you are somewhere near 7.9% APR with a decent guaranteed future residual value with at least 25% deposit.

As for me? I started out in my car life paying cash (including for new). Then over recent years for most decentish cars in the

 

My new S is being financed by trade-in, scrap scheme and the remainder going on a 0% purchase for 12 months credit card. I've set myself a monthly payment figure (not minimum payment) so that I can try and reduce it as quickly as possible and when the 12 months expires I will transfer whatever is left onto a 0% transfer card.

 

Well done BOM - You are an MSE girl!!

 

I've got a spreadsheet and everything (Petron would be proud of me )

 

Stupid question. If you have the cash; pay with cash. If you don't, and you can borrow money borrow the money.

I've never had "finance". I've mostly bought cars with personal bank loans that I could use for anything I wanted, and then always paid them off early.