Finance repo's

[rovamota]

The SMMT likes to big up the amount of new cars that are sold every month and always states that attractive finance options boost sales. I was wondering how many cars are repossessed within the first year after buyers realise they can't afford the 'just' £350 a month that seemed so attractive when they first sat in that shiny new car in the showroom, before they started having to pay it every month.

 

A friend of mine is a manager at ATS and he was telling me a young girl came in with a puncture on her 4 month old Vauxhall Adam. She'd driven it several miles with the tyre flat therefore nuking it, so it had to be replaced. When she was told that the 18" tyre she needed (yes, the Adam has 18" wheels as standard!) would be £180 (has to be like for like or it can invalidate the manufacturer warranty) she burst into tears as she said she wouldn't be able to afford the monthly payment if she bought it. In the end her mum paid it.

 

After all, the salesman doesn't give a shit whether you can afford it or not; if the finance company says you can have it he gets his commission.

 

I do wonder why people sign up to long term finance deals for large amounts as it's a foregone conclusion that the car will depreciate faster than it can be paid for. 'Just' £270 a month for 5 years is a bloody long time for run of the mill chod.

 

 

[Alexg]

Some people debt themselves up to the eyeballs living paycheck to paycheck. Car finance is often one part of their store card/credit card/everything else on tick lifestyle.

[colino]

While "EeeZfinance" is part of the equation, retail therapy, keeping up with the Joneses and newest plate wins are all in the mix as to why people stretch themselves to get things they don't need.  Several of the finance company forms I have here have thick black boxes around all of the stuff that people will swear blind the salesman never told them about, including the extras and the APR, they zoom in on the monthly and weekly actual payment boxes though and everything else goes out the window.

I personally know a young girl who has a Corsa, less than two years old on 5 years finance that sits in her Dads driveway most of the time because it is cheaper to get the bus to work than lash out on petrol.  Depreciation is not a word she understands.

[Stanky]

The local auction always has at least 2 or 3 finance repos - so thats 5+ cars a week going through one auction house.

 

I think it has a lot to do with the 'shiny' factor, people get too deep after being suckered in to a deal they can't afford, or life circumstances change and suddenly you have to ditch the car because you're suddenly on JSA and getting £70 a week, not the same amount you earned when you signed up to the arrangement.

 

I know that I personally have gone from being out of work and living on JSA to earning a fair decent crust within the last 5 years and can't be the only one. I'd probably be accepted for a £400 a month finance deal but there isn't a cat in hells chance of me being willing to do so. Many people would though, especially when they have bad credit and the bank wont give them a loan.

[Mr A Lawrence]

I have poor credit due to having a house repossessed and thus haven't been able to get credit but last December I managed to get car finance of 4.5k to but my jag.

 

The catch is the interest is higher than regular car finance but, this is the best bit, every month when my payment has gone out they send me, by email and text a code number which I enter, via a remote control, into a tracker unit which lets me drive the car, non payment means no car!!

 

Thought it was rubbish when I first heard about it but now I think it's the way forward.

[Sealtainn]

Been there and done - when I first got together with Mrs Seal and we were living in Bristol, I had a 2yr old Escort Si on finance which I could afford quite comfortably. As it was only a 3 door, I decided that the "sensible" thing to do would be to get a 4/5 door family car.

Went to Carcraft in Newport and signed up to a 1yr old Pug 406 diesel after the salesman told me it was "only" £250 a month. It turned out that with the PPI and a couple of other bits I had neglected to take notice of before I signed, I was forking out near on £400 a month.

I managed to keep up payments for just over a year and ended up phoning the finance company and telling them I couldn't afford it - they offered to take half payment for a couple of months then recover the money over the next 2 months which was just postponing the inevitable so I told them I wanted to hand the car back. I even agreed to take the car to their representative (who was in Brighton), washed/waxed and valeted it before I dropped it off.

They simply took it back, wanged it through an auction and deducted what it made off my finance and then continued to chase me for the outstanding £9k.

Took me years to get out of the shite from that - lesson learned.

I've seen the future...........and it's shite

[holbeck]

A work colleague has just signed up for finance on something called a Golf R, I don't know or care what that is but the payment is between 500 and 600 per month (He was too coy to say the exact figure).

 

But then again he's a single man who lives with mum and dad.

[Junkman]

Some people debt themselves up to the eyeballs living paycheck to paycheck.

 

I certainly don't need any debts for that.

 

The latest Rover 75 V8 sightage (this one: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201509136876166 )

actually prompted me to get an insurance quote (£600/yr), check the tax rate (£505/yr) and the price of a £2,500 loan (£110/mo for 24 mo),

so for the first two years, it would cost me over 200 quid per month, before I even turn the ignition key.

On the plus side, contrary to a new car purchase, I'd still have a car worth at least 2,500 once it's paid off.

 

Enter my current P6 - it's paid for, costs 185/yr to insure and will be tax exempt from next April.

Yes, it does cost more than that to run (sigh), but not nearly to the extent of ~200/mo average.

 

A new car in the same league would cost around 20k. Even streching out the repayments over five years, it'd cost £385/mo

just for the credit (I have bought entire cars for less and drove them five years)!

Add insurance and tax, and you are rid of 450 quid per month before having driven it for as much as an inch.

What's it worth after five years?

[greengartside]

There's a quote going round about this sort of thing - something along the lines of...

 

"People buy expensive things with money they don't have to please people they don't know"

[mercrocker]

I could stomach paying £400 a month for a 20k car if it was something I enjoyed and relished every moment behind the wheel.    There are even some cars I would pay that for just to sit in for an hour every day and look out the window at the rest of the time.   Given that this type of car would likely have a sizeable residual after it was paid for I am almost talking myself into it right now. 

 

However, that is a wide, wide world away from having a ton a week sucked out of your pay cheque for a leased 65-plate shitbox.   One, that, moreover you have to fucking well pay again for the dubious pleasure of retaining the wanked-out anodine blob after three years.   Yet that is precisely what people I work with are doing on salary-sacrifice lease deals.  In every case, their shiny new turd looks like a five-year old beater inside of 18 months - they never look after them and before they are two years old they are on odd tyres and heading for their first MOT fail.  Crazy.

[Mr A Lawrence]

The missus has the best deal coming up.

 

A 2015 65 reg abarth 595 custom on order, which comes with tax, insurance and servicing included and the option of, after 3 years getting exactly the same again or something totally different.

 

 

The only drawback is she had to get a life threatening, life changing aggressive disease to qualify.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I certainly don't need any debts for that.

 

The latest Rover 75 V8 sightage (this one: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201509136876166)

actually prompted me to get an insurance quote (£600/yr), check the tax rate (£505/yr) and a £2,500 loan (£110/mo for 24 mo),

so for the first two years, it would cost me over 200 quid per month, before I even turn the ignition ke. On the plus side,

contrary to a new car purchase, I'd still have a car worth at least 2,500 once it's paid off.

 

Enter my current P6 - it's paid for, costs 185/yr to insure and will be tax exempt from next April.

Yes, it does cost more than that to run (sigh), but not nearly to the extent of ~200/mo average.

 

A new car in the same league would cost around 20k. Even streching out the repayments over five years, it'd cost £385/mo

just for the credit (I have bought entire cars for less and drove them five years)!

Add insurance and tax, and you are rid of 450 quid per month before having driven it for as much as an inch.

What's it worth after five years?

BUY IT. BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT.

Compared to the £8k Cat D or the £15k one its a mega barg.

£200 a month is half the cost of gym membership and takeaways . ( now there's a thought, if I got rid of one of those bills I'd be twice as well off and could afford a nice car...... Where's the Gyms number.

[dave21478]

...., every month when my payment has gone out they send me, by email and text a code number which I enter, via a remote control, into a tracker unit which lets me drive the car, non payment means no car!!

 

 

Its like a 21st century version of putting 50p pieces in the leccy meter!

[Mr A Lawrence]

Its like a 21st century version of putting 50p pieces in the leccy meter!

I've never thought of it that way!!

[richardmorris]

At the chevrons rally I had a go in the cactus that the local dealer had on display. It was very nice in the mid-spec level and colour scheme. But the girl couldn't tell me how much it was only what the monthly payments would be. She says they're all sold on finance.

[Junkman]

She says they're all sold on finance.

 

An American car dealer (Cable - Dahmer Chevrolet in Kansas City) told me that when I wanted to pay cash for a brand new 1987 IROC-Z.

He also said he hadn't sold a single car for cash in 25 years.

[xtriple]

I have bought loads of cars on finance and sold shit loads more! It really is a bit of a 'mugs game'. When leasing first came out (you know what I mean) back in the late 80s I was selling loads of top spec motors to business types 'cos back then, it was 101% efficient! It really was a no brainer when you explained it correctly.

 

HMRC soon cottoned on to that and closed the loophole so it wasn't so good but still...

 

I cannot get my head round PCP (thought that was a drug?)  for a private person as you are just squandering your money, though, having said that, in a lot of cases, the monthly payments are less than the car would lose in depreciation in a straight sale! How come? I guess it's all manufacturer financed to 'move the metal' and get the cars sold and into the used car market.

 

What people don't realise is the 'fines' and costs when you give the car back if you've fucked it like most people do! You will be charged rather a lot for scrapes and dents and missed services. There are a couple of young lasses round here in brand new cars with dents/scrapes/kerbed wheels and they don't care.... they will!

 

I have no problem with HP. Yes okay you are paying a wedge out every month but you own the car (will at the end) and it will (should) still have a decent value. Mate of mine is looking to upgrade his now 4 year old High and dry IX35 thing and he cannot find out how much they actually want for a new Toucan just how much a month it will cost. Adverts on the box are the same, no price listed just £199 per month or whatever.

[rovamota]

Five long years...

http://www.edenvauxhall.co.uk/offers/mokka-zero-deposit/

[Bobthebeard]

I have poor credit due to having a house repossessed and thus haven't been able to get credit but last December I managed to get car finance of 4.5k to but my jag.

The catch is the interest is higher than regular car finance but, this is the best bit, every month when my payment has gone out they send me, by email and text a code number which I enter, via a remote control, into a tracker unit which lets me drive the car, non payment means no car!!

Thought it was rubbish when I first heard about it but now I think it's the way forward.

Interesting concept. But relies on technology, and, I assume some sort of radio signal for the tracker? I have a 3/4g mobile phone but it may as well be a tin of sardines in 75% of the areas I travel to/live in/visit.

Maybe driving it in Wales/Scotland/Cornwall could be a problem? "Bleep" "Oh for fucks sake etc"?

Although pushing the car onto the summit of a nearby mountain may restore comms.

[Junkman]

BUY IT. BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT.

Compared to the £8k Cat D or the £15k one its a mega barg.

£200 a month is half the cost of gym membership and takeaways . ( now there's a thought, if I got rid of one of those bills I'd be twice as well off and could afford a nice car...... Where's the Gyms number.

 

Not doing gym or takeaways, but in theory, I could afford it, if I really wanted. I just don't want to enslave myself more than I already am, so it's a no.

[Lacquer Peel]

The finance tracker sounds bloody awful, I'd rather just drive a £500 car.

[rovamota]

This is the kind of bollocks the Trade keeps spewing out...

 

Glass's says anything over 10 years old is a banger and worth about £875. But in the real world... This Rupert bloke seems to talk bollocks as it seems he's contradicting himself... 



Low cost PCP deals see motorists switch into newer cars – but banger market is booming

Thousands of car buyers are switching out of their bangers to newer cars to take advantage of low cost PCP deals, reports motor trade bible Glass’s – but at the same time the banger market is exploding with values and volumes rising.

Rupert Pontin, head of valuations at Glass’s, said: “We are seeing something interesting going on. Since the start of 2013, the number of cars over 10.5 years old being sold at auction has increased by around 50%. We believe this is because large numbers of buyers are selling their bangers and signing up to low-cost new and used car PCP deals to get behind the wheel of a newer model.

“However, instead of this flood of bangers entering the market leading to a collapse in values, they have actually increased quite substantially. The average auction price for a 10.5 year-plus car in January 2013 was £725 but in June of this year, it was £875. Enough new buyers are entering the market to soak up the extra volume and the banger market is actually in excellent health.

“Partially this is as a result of improving economic conditions – more people are feeling confident about buying and running a car at the entry level – but also the quality of older cars on sale is improving all the time. We see many bangers going through auction in excellent condition at very reasonable prices and, for many people, they make extremely sensible purchases.

“It is very much a case of ‘The banger is dead. Long live the banger!’â€Â

Rupert said that the question for the medium term was how many more people would opt for a PCP deal on a newer car and whether banger values would continue to increase over time.

“The number of people switching into PCPs does not really show any sign of slowing down and this means that the volume of older vehicles on the market will continue to grow. At some point, this will lead to oversupply and falling values but it is quite difficult to predict exactly when.â€Â

[gordonbennet]

Some of us are old enough to have seen this bollocks at least once before, people, believing the effin shit put out by the govt of the day and endorsed by their meejia mates, that its all a bed of roses again and the economy is the envy of the world, without fail it always ends up in tears and disaster for people on lemonade money trying to live champagne lifestyles, repo follows as sure as night follows day, cars houses you name it.

 

The only thing you should ever be prepared to pay interest, for mr or mrs average that is, is the bloody house you are buying that you live in....if you're a clever bugger who knows how to manipulate markets or has a property porfolio as long as next week then such basics probably don't apply, but i for one aint a clever bugger but i was lucky enough to have been brought up by two of the most old fashioned parents of the last century and i'm bloody glad of it, SWMBO is equally devoid of any pretentions of grandeur, basically no monee no havee.

 

I have a horrible feeling that the truth of our country's finances is going to bite millions on the arse big time when interest rates have to rise from their artificially held down position, when the country cannot service its out of control debt (have a butchers at the debt clock) the ongoing roller coaster of doom will bowl many to hell and back.

No bugger's bothered either, the country is swamped in debt and credit.

 

I often seen finance snatch backs for sale, not a chance, if they can't afford the payments they sure as hell haven't been able to afford proper care/maintenance.

[Mr A Lawrence]

The tracker box is on a timed code lockout, once my payment day has arrived I get a code that's imputed which then starts another timed sequence.

 

If I miss a payment I get a sound warning a few days after then have upto 14 days to make the payment.

 

If, after 14days I don't make a payment then the next time I start the car another warning tone sounds then next time the cars turned off its immobilised.

 

When you ring up to pay they give you a code for the remainder of the month.

 

They can't track my movements either.

 

Sounds complicated but it's as simple as pay, get code, drive, don't pay, no code, no drive. Simple.

 

It's enabled me, with shit credit history to get a car I wouldn't be able to afford if I'd have to save up for it.

 

Also, after the finance ends I can have the box removed or pay a fee and keep it as an extra immobiliser.

[brickwall]

My folks always said that as soon as you get a car you should start saving for the next. that's what I do - all those 50 pence pieces add up.

[Bobthebeard]

My folks always said that as soon as you get a car you should start saving for the next. that's what I do - all those 50 pence pieces add up.

I do the same. Apart from the actual saving up bit.

[Bobthebeard]

Some of us are old enough to have seen this bollocks at least once before, people, believing the effin shit put out by the govt of the day and endorsed by their meejia mates, that its all a bed of roses again and the economy is the envy of the world, without fail it always ends up in tears and disaster for people on lemonade money trying to live champagne lifestyles, repo follows as sure as night follows day, cars houses you name it.

 

The only thing you should ever be prepared to pay interest, for mr or mrs average that is, is the bloody house you are buying that you live in....if you're a clever bugger who knows how to manipulate markets or has a property porfolio as long as next week then such basics probably don't apply, but i for one aint a clever bugger but i was lucky enough to have been brought up by two of the most old fashioned parents of the last century and i'm bloody glad of it, SWMBO is equally devoid of any pretentions of grandeur, basically no monee no havee.

 

I have a horrible feeling that the truth of our country's finances is going to bite millions on the arse big time when interest rates have to rise from their artificially held down position, when the country cannot service its out of control debt (have a butchers at the debt clock) the ongoing roller coaster of doom will bowl many to hell and back.

No bugger's bothered either, the country is swamped in debt and credit.

 

I often seen finance snatch backs for sale, not a chance, if they can't afford the payments they sure as hell haven't been able to afford proper care/maintenance.

Am a financial idiot, but I fail to see how Britain has any money at all given that we, as a country don't manufacture anything much in real terms... All seems to hang on credit. The roller coaster of doom indeed!

[Bren]

I bought my Audi in April. It cost me £5k - top dollar but it was one owner and low mileage. The most I have ever paid for a car. The bank gave me a loan - I have never had a car on finance and never will.

 

I will never pay £5k for a car again - I feel extremely uncomfortable spending so much on a car.

 

I can weld, wield a rattle can and have a reasonable selection of tools - owning an old car is not an issue for many of us.

 

As I have got older I have realised happiness is about finding your level in life - cars bought with borrowed money are deffo not my level.

[Station]

I got a 2 grand loan about 10 years ago, will never get finance or stuff on tick ever again!

[Bobthebeard]

"As I have got older I have realised happiness is about finding your level in life"

 

Me also TBH. Car finance aside!