Would 0% finance offers make a huge difference to Irish car sales.

MMAGirl

I usually wait until I have the money save up to buy cars. I never borrow the money. If I had 0% finance then I would get the car at the beginning of the saving process rather than at the end.

Im sure there are a lot of people like me too, who are allergic to paying interest.
And also people who just might be convinced to buy a car with the 0% finance, who were on the fence with the more expensive option.

Its common in other countries, why not in Ireland.

Lutecia

Renault Ireland is offering 0% Finance at the moment (with 5000km free fuel and 5 years unlimited mileage warranty)

bazz26

It might make a small bit of difference to some people who have secure jobs or didn't go mad during the boom times but I'd doubt it would make a huge difference to many.

Alot of people are struggling to pay their mortgage and everyday bills, a brand new car is simply not on their list of priorites even if credit for one was free so it's not just about avoiding paying interest.

bmwguy

Lutecia wrote: »

Renault Ireland is offering 0% Finance at the moment (with 5000km free fuel and 5 years unlimited mileage warranty)

Anyone can advertise 0% finance but it will be built into the price of the car, you can be sure of that. If a car was 18,000 new and interest meant you pay 20,000 overall over 3 years, would it be any different to paying 20,000 at 0%? Possibly some difference in resale values however.

bazz26

Or silly baloon payments due at the end of the term.

MugMugs

Real question is, Who buys new cars anyway?

HandsomeDan

The last thing the country needs is people spending money they dont have on new cars.

Jesus Christ

Think I've seen VW advertising 0% finance.

AltAccount

Why are you so afraid of paying interest OP?

bmwguy

The only way to look at buying a car is total cost of ownership over say 3 years. If that works out at 10,000 who cares if it is 5,000 depreciation 1,500 tax 2,000 insurance and 1,500 fuel or as is more likely in my case 0 depreciation 4,000 tax, 4,000 fuel and 2,000 insurance! Same hole in your pocket after 3 years, dont take individual items into account, just a budget. Or just buy something and enjoy it!!

MMAGirl

AltAccount wrote: »

Why are you so afraid of paying interest OP?

I suppose its something my parents taught me.
We even overpaid the house mortgage and had it paid off in 10 years.
It kills me if I forget to pay off the credit card and i get caught with the interest too. Even insurance and car tax i will pay in full rather than hand over the higher amount for paying it monthly or quarterly.
Hate it.

Big Nasty

It would make a HUGE difference.

If people could actually get approved for it in the first place.

biko

I'm pretty set in my ways to not borrow for a car and even 0% wouldn't change that I think.

djimi

I suspect the price of new cars puts the majority of people off rather than having to pay a bit of interest to purchase one. Id find it really hard to justify spending €15k-€20k+ on a new car, even if I was getting it interest free; it would always be in the back of my mind how much more I could have gotten for that money had I not wasted the money on a newer reg plate.

Funfair

MugMugs wrote: »

Real question is, Who buys new cars anyway?

every car you see on the road was bought new by someone

Mr.David

I'm sure that if dealers were offering 0% finance then this would be factored into the sale price of the vehicle. It will cost the dealer the rate of inflation plus the risk of default.

So I'd imagine that the customer will end up paying for this in the sale price i.e. indirectly and so there might in fact not end up being a saving at all?!

Jesus Christ

Funfair wrote: »

every car you see on the road was bought new by someone

Absolutely. I love those guys. Their vanity is my pride and joy.

dudara

I'd prefer that someone else bought the car new rather than me. I'll come along and pay hard cold cash in a few years at a much better price.

sheff the ref

Skoda advertising 0% finance on the new Octavia at the moment on one of these PCP deals.

Basically you are talking (a) a lump sum at the start (value of current car), then (b) an agreed repayment structure of €170 per month upwards and (c) an unpaid amount at the end whereby (i) you can hand back the car in lieu of that amount, (ii) you pay off the amount and keep the car or (iii) you agree to upgrade to a new car.

Part (a) and Part (b) are straightforward but Part (c) is raising questions in my mind. I come to the end of the specified 3 year term. For arguments sake my car is worth the same as the lump sum owed. As I said above I can (i) hand back the car and walk away (but I do not have any car then), (ii) I can pay off that amount (fine if you have the cash, but what if you dont) and (iii) agree to upgrade to a new car.

If I choose to upgrade in 3 years time, I owe a lump sum of anything up to say €10,000. I will also need a deposit. Lets say they write off the lump sum owed in lieu of getting the car back. I assume I still have to cough up the deposit. Let us say the original deposit was €6000, that means that at the beginning of every 3 year cycle, that amount would need to be paid along with the regular repayments.

I guess if you owned your car and traded in every three years, it would probably cost a lot more than €6000 to move up the three years!