Loan versus finance revisited

ifconfig

I was considering the Hyundai i20 having test driven one last week.
Scrappage deal, etc.

For a 10k variable rate personal loan my bank is offering
36 monthly payments of €326
versus ....
€303 over the same period at a fixed 5.9% rate with Hyundai finance.

With a €23 per month difference it looks like an 828Eu saving over the 3 year term.
I understand that , with the Hyundai finance I am only penalised if I attempt to settle in the first 2 years of the finance. If I settle early any time into the 3rd year there are no penalties.

The catch is that the preferential rate is being offered on the Hyundai i30 and not available on i20.
I am considering putting in 5k of savings and going for 10k finance in order to get the i30 instead of the i20 thus availing of a more favourable finance rate.

Any general advice again on Car finance ?
Obviously if I got a windfall within the next 2 years I won't be able to accelerate out the interest due on the finance.

Are there pitfalls I need to consider with this kind of finance ?
Normally I am more conservative and prefer a conventional variable rate loan.
To be honest I am more sceptical that variable interest rates might be on the way up given the state of the banks, etc.

--ifc

Reloc8

I would weigh up the probability of you deciding within the first 2 years that you'd like to accerate/pay lump sum to clear against the probability of interest rate hikes over the duration of the loan.

I don't know anything about the first factor but the second is a certainty.