[booforty]

I would welcome views on finance companies worth considering. I'm particularly interested in ones that can provide finance for second hand or nearly new vehicles and incorporate a residual value / balloon to reflect the future value of the car to keep monthly repayments lower than repaying the debt in full like a loan.

I've used BMW Finance before and they were fine, but wondered if there are others I should consider?

Post away!

[chrisbin]

I haven't used them personally (yet) but the chap who runs the Touareg forum speaks very highly of

http://www.mhcfinance.co.uk

Contact "Kam" on Kam@Mhasnain.co.uk.

[booforty]

Thanks, although reading the detail they say:

"Generally the vehicle must be new/nearly new and supplied by a franchised dealer/bank approved dealership"

This limits me buying privately or buying Squeeze's M3!!

Will they all be like this or do some finance companies cater for private purchases as well?

[M3-FAST]

Hi Paul - I use a company called ACPL up in Glasgow

Speak to Derek (he is a top bloke) and say Paul from 'The Calibration Centre' said to try him.

We have had about 4 or so cars through him now including my vert. I effectively spec the make/model inc whatever options I want, he finds the best deal on it, and then puts it through the best finance company. I choose a lease type deal on mine - I can then either get a final figure to purchase it (but I must purchase it through a 3rd party) or hand the car back and choose another which is what I usually do and will defo do when the vert's lease expires next June.

ACPL phone number is 0845 3301675

He used to work at a BMW dealer so is very clue'd up on the finance side of things.

cheers, Paul

[booforty]

Originally Posted by redE93cab

Hi Paul - I use a company called ACPL up in Glasgow

Speak to Derek (he is a top bloke) and say Paul from 'The Calibration Centre' said to try him.

We have had about 4 or so cars through him now including my vert. I effectively spec the make/model inc whatever options I want, he finds the best deal on it, and then puts it through the best finance company. I choose a lease type deal on mine - I can then either get a final figure to purchase it (but I must purchase it through a 3rd party) or hand the car back and choose another which is what I usually do and will defo do when the vert's lease expires next June.

ACPL phone number is 0845 3301675

He used to work at a BMW dealer so is very clue'd up on the finance side of things.

cheers, Paul

Bloody brilliant post, thanks Paul!

Anymore anyone?

[tisme]

My re-mortgae has just come through and I have an offset mortgage at 6.45%. I only pay interest on the net difference between my mortgage and the current account balance. I will have £40k in my current account just before I order my 330D, which will be as soon as the facelift is announced.

Also, benefit is no penalty for overpaying and finishing mortgage early.

[gIzzE]

Speak to Gareth and tell him Guy sent you, this is exactly what he specialises in.

http://www.bespoke-auto.co.uk/bespoke-automotives-terms

[gIzzE]

He has been doing finance on M3's and prestige cars for years and gets paid a flat rate so it is in his interest to get you the best deal rather than the best deal for him.

He has financed around half the cars on bm3w.co.uk or mtorque.co.uk as it is known now.

[booforty]

Thanks gIzzE - a great recommendation!

Thanks also to HotCoupe who recommended a contact on EvoT who deals in car finance.

The contact works at http://www.brindleslimited.co.uk/ who I've spoken to and was very helpful indeed and they can accommodate nearly new cars. His rates were fantastic compared to quotes I've had from BMW.

Thanks HotCoupe!!

[gIzzE]

Dealer rates are verging on criminal at the moment, seen a few flat rates of 8%, and knowing the person is going to swap cars at 24 months or maybe earlier means it is an apr equivilent of over 20% apr.

[squeezebm]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Thanks gIzzE - a great recommendation!

Thanks also to HotCoupe who recommended a contact on EvoT who deals in car finance.

The contact works at http://www.brindleslimited.co.uk/ who I've spoken to and was very helpful indeed and they can accommodate nearly new cars. His rates were fantastic compared to quotes I've had from BMW.

Thanks HotCoupe!!

Not long now then

[booforty]

Originally Posted by squeezebm

Not long now then

Just lining up me soldiers thats all!! I can't do this sort of stuff last minute...

Hey, its amazing what contacts people have on here. Well done everyone!

I'm getting dressed up to the nines for me night out. I'm looking the dogz, like an M3

[NFS]

In my experience BMW finance will pretty much match anything that you have been offered elsewhere.

The best loan rates on moneysupermarket.com are around 6.6% APR so that would be a good target.

Lombard are a good option for alternative quotations.

[gIzzE]

I have never got BMW to match anywhere near the rate, the problem is BMW will give you a rate that is 'flat' and will have an apr 'equivalent' that is getting close, but a flat rate on a car is only good for the dealer.
They will tell you to "do it over 48 months to keep the monthly figures down a bit" but they don't finish the sentence with "however if you want to swap your car after 2 years the apr 'equivalent' will now be around 20%!! hahahahha".

being realistic though I don't think anyone will get a rate as low as 6.6% apr on a car loan at the moment, not with a balloon payment involved, I would think 8.5% apr, and that is a proper apr rate on a lease purchase scheme, is about right.

Good car loan calculator...

http://www.dynamic-webs.co.uk/inform...alculator.html

I would put in 8% apr for an M3 at around £45k, and work on balloons of 50% for 3 years, 45% for 4 years and 40% for 5 years on the new list price.

So buy one of the M3's for £45k and do it on the right scheme over 5 years with a 40% balloon of list and look at something like this.....

£45k to borrow
60 x £615
balloon of £21,000 in 5 years.

I think that is a fair balloon for a 5 year old M3. Put in £5k and it brings the monthlies down to £500 a month.

With that scheme you are get an invoice each month, it says you have paid off £615, and then charges the interest on the remaining finance, so you are paying it off from day one, so after a year you will owe about £42k, far better than doing it with BMW where you owe more than you have borrowed!!

[booforty]

Ok need some more advice...

I know its personal preference and dependent on personal circumstances but I'm interested to hear people's views on the following:

a) pay high deposit (£10k-£15k) and enjoy lower monthly rentals

b) pay lower deposit (say £5k) but suffer higher monthly rentals

c) finance term - shorter (24mths) or longer (48mths)?

With a) I will enjoy lower monthly finance costs and have a good level of equity in the car but its probably not the best use of cash given that the car will depreciate

With b) I can invest my cash elsewhere or use to supplement the higher rentals, but will have little equity at the end of the finance period (if any)

With regard to finance term, shorter means less finance cost and a higher balloon but longer will incur higher finance costs but with a much lower balloon at the end.

There is no right answer to the above questions, but I would appreciate people's independent views on what they would do and why...

[NFS]

Originally Posted by booforty

Ok need some more advice...

I know its personal preference and dependent on personal circumstances but I'm interested to hear people's views on the following:

a) pay high deposit (£10k-£15k) and enjoy lower monthly rentals

b) pay lower deposit (say £5k) but suffer higher monthly rentals

c) finance term - shorter (24mths) or longer (48mths)?

With a) I will enjoy lower monthly finance costs and have a good level of equity in the car but its probably not the best use of cash given that the car will depreciate

With b) I can invest my cash elsewhere or use to supplement the higher rentals, but will have little equity at the end of the finance period (if any)

With regard to finance term, shorter means less finance cost and a higher balloon but longer will incur higher finance costs but with a much lower balloon at the end.

There is no right answer to the above questions, but I would appreciate people's independent views on what they would do and why...

You should always start of with any finance deal by trying to minimise the costs, to that extent the shorter the term the better.

Obviously that increases the monthly payment so you then factor in affordability and think about the amount of disposable income you want to have for the next few years. At the moment rates are still low, so a longer term is not a massive cost and may be worth taking so that you can enjoy having a couple of hundred quid additional spending money each month.

The deposit question is just about locking up your savings. If you stick it in the building society you can earn 3-4% interest (less tax) and it's easily available in an emergency. But if you keep your savings intact you need to borrow more and will end up paying something like 7.2% on that debt. In that case the 'cost' of keeping those savings 'liquid' is around 3.2% (before tax).

If you use your savings as deposit your monthly payments drop, but this is a false sense of economy. Unless you save an amount each month to replace those savings over the loan term (meaning you pay almost as much each month as if you left them in the bank) then you have thrown that money away on a depreciating asset.

[booforty]

Thanks NFS.

I've been shopping around on finance and found some cracking deals thanks to the people contacted above. They are miles cheaper than quotes received from BMW too!

Its now just a case of deciding what term I go for and whether I put down a large deposit or not. Its personal preference I know but just interested what others would do and their views...

[andy69]

Originally Posted by booforty

Thanks NFS.

I've been shopping around on finance and found some cracking deals thanks to the people contacted above. They are miles cheaper than quotes received from BMW too!

Its now just a case of deciding what term I go for and whether I put down a large deposit or not. Its personal preference I know but just interested what others would do and their views...

Hi BF,

Come on, your loaded, you don't need finance

Are you definitely going for an M3 then ?

[booforty]

Originally Posted by andy69

Hi BF,

Come on, your loaded, you don't need finance

Are you definitely going for an M3 then ?

You'll have to wait and see!

[booforty]

Originally Posted by chrisbin

I haven't used them personally (yet) but the chap who runs the Touareg forum speaks very highly of

http://www.mhcfinance.co.uk

Contact "Kam" on Kam@Mhasnain.co.uk.

Chris,

Thanks for the contact above. Of all the finance co's I spoke to MHC Finance were the best by a mile both in terms of price and service. I cannot recommend them enough. Kam was superb throughout the purchase of my M and did more than I expected and kept me informed on a daily basis. He was even available over weekends for me. Simon assisted when Kam was unavailable and again was superb.

MHC are well known on other car enthusiast forums and they certainly impressed me. Not only did they help make my buying process smooth and efficient, but they saved me a fortune!! So thanks to Kam and Simon at MHC Finance!!

If you need finance, these are the guys to talk too.

http://www.mhcfinance.co.uk

Contact "Kam" on Kam@Mhasnain.co.uk

[jjbirch]

could you pm what sort of deal you got as i have never done this and want a inside look at it

[chrisbin]

Originally Posted by booforty

Chris,

Thanks for the contact above. Of all the finance co's I spoke to MHC Finance were the best by a mile both in terms of price and service. I cannot recommend them enough. Kam was superb throughout the purchase of my M and did more than I expected and kept me informed on a daily basis. He was even available over weekends for me. Simon assisted when Kam was unavailable and again was superb.

MHC are well known on other car enthusiast forums and they certainly impressed me. Not only did they help make my buying process smooth and efficient, but they saved me a fortune!! So thanks to Kam and Simon at MHC Finance!!

If you need finance, these are the guys to talk too.

http://www.mhcfinance.co.uk

Contact "Kam" on Kam@Mhasnain.co.uk

Excellent! Glad it helped!

Looks like I'd better use them myself next time!!!!