23 February 2005
New research by the website moneysupermarket.com has revealed that consumers could be wasting more than six billion pounds by accepting car finance deals from the showroom – and could save thousands by financing their new car with a personal loan.
The website compared a selection of current car finance deals available through the car showroom with the best personal loans available, and found a driver could pay £2377 more for a Ford Mondeo through the Ford finance deal than with a personal loan.
If all those who bought a new car in 2004- 2,567,269 people according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders- were to use the showroom car finance deal, they could potentially waste a collective £6.1 billion, the research claims.
Our research shows that accepting the deal offered in car showrooms could be costing motorists a lot of money,” explains Richard Mason, director of personal loans at moneysupermarket.com.
He adds: “Despite interest rates going up over the last year, there are still many low rate loans available at less than 7% APR.”
The research reveals that consumers should look around for the best deal on a personal loan before committing themselves to a showroom finance deal which could cost them dearly.