[StarKaysee]

Hiya I want to purchase a mini through Finance but im a bit confused Would it be best to go for Mini Select as you can trade it in for a new one or is mini purchase the better option? Also is it worth trying to negociate on the APR?

Thanks Kim

[Mini Princess]

If you're interested in finance why don't you opt for PCP? It's like having your car on contract - you decide the term (usually 3 years) and after that time you can give the car back and get another, or sell it privately using the funds to pay off the outstanding amount? You might even make a few hundred quid. Only downside is the mileage limits but there are various thresholds you can choose depending how much you travel.

[Jon Chalk]

Apart from the mileage restrictions / cost penalties with PCP, you may find (I haven't checked small print, but it would seem sensible from BMW's POV) that you would be limited with any mods you may decide to make. They will be interested in protecting their investment (because the car will never really be yours!) & so not risk "devaluing" (their POV, again) the car.

If you don't want to mod, are confident that you'll be able to stick to agreed mileage & don't mind that the car will never be yours until you make the final payment, then it's usually the cheapest way to get in car.

[Adrian_T]

If you can get it at 5.8% Apr

You can get HP finance at 6.5% through Mini Finance on 95% of full price

Best Price on PCP I got was 8.5 %

You take your pick and pay the price......

Remember though, DO NOT EVER PAY FOR PAYMENT PROTECTION
if you need it you can get it yourself their version contains all of the below and is very expensive!
Unemployment protection, life insurance and return to invoice insurance.

All the best

A

[envy]

Yup read my post on it

Trying to speak to them to sort it out, but they never answer the damn phones!

I personally took mini finance, and it was a good rate and i purchased it outright which i dont regret. I looked at this way - I [ay would lower installments for say 3 years, at which point i would need another loan to pay for the rest of the car if i kept it. Thats under the whole mini lease purchase thing anyway.

So you would be paying it off for years. If you did want to sell your mini anyway, im sure you would get there set value for it anyway.

Im one of those people who like to know they own the car. The only problem with mini finance is - you pay the interest first, and then the car later. (e.g. first year - mostly the interest, 2nd year and so on)

Hope the above helps in your choice!

[mini-me-tx]

I was actually debating this too... Here it's called Owner's Choice, and was seriously considering it. However, after really researching, it's only good if you really know you won't keep the car. I decided I am going to pay the extra $40-odd a month so that I own it and don't have the mileage crap plus I pay it off sooner and at a cheaper price than if I did the Owner's Choice thingy.... Basically, it lowers your payments for the term you choose, and then you have a final 'balloon' payment. Problem is, your interest rate is much higher and you end up paying a lot more interest in the long run. You then have to consider refinancing if you decide to keep it, but then (if you want to keep around the same payment) you will be paying for a lot more years than if you had done straight out financing. I have a credit union near me offering a 4.99 APR and $50 gas card, but it expires May 31st... However, I called them and they said they will most likely offer it again towards the end of the Summer - right when I get my MINI

I think proper financing is the best choice in the long run - especially if you plan on running the car into the ground like I do!

[Mini Princess]

Quote: Originally Posted by Adrian_T

If you can get it at 5.8% Apr

You can get HP finance at 6.5% through Mini Finance on 95% of full price

Best Price on PCP I got was 8.5 %

You take your pick and pay the price......

Remember though, DO NOT EVER PAY FOR PAYMENT PROTECTION
if you need it you can get it yourself their version contains all of the below and is very expensive!
Unemployment protection, life insurance and return to invoice insurance.

All the best

A

I've always thought the same about payment protection, but having considered it, I decided to take it - not only because if I loose my job I don't particularly want to give my car back but also because what BMW was offering was quite good as it included GAP insurance too. So I may be getting ripped off but at least I have peace of mind...

Dunno really - personal choice innit.

Oh and by the way I've already modded my car too. As long as you can return it to stock before you hand it over it's not an issue plus as I mentioned before you can sell the car privately so you can mod to your hearts content if you want to.

[Gillian Hogarth]

I agree, personal loan is best. I took up the mini finance for 1 year and then decided to clear it with a personal loan and it reduced the monthly payments signifiicantly.

[Laury]

Personal loan is the way to go, the rate I obtained on the internet could not be matched by the dealer, in fact they couldn't get near it

the great thing about a personal loan is the car is yours from day one, if you obtain finance through Mini, the car is theirs until you have finally paid off the outstanding finance

if you do go through Mini Finance, it's definately worth haggling over the APR, this is where you save alot of ££££'s,

Payment Protection is expensive and depends on the individual themselves but it does adds that peace of mind should anything (ever) happens......

[StarKaysee]

Its hard for me to get a loan cos im 19 and the APR's ive been offered from loan companies so far have been really high, it kinda sucks but im gonna keep trying to i get a low quote from someone lol!

[cooper_s_dreamer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Adrian_T

If you can get it at 5.8% Apr

You can get HP finance at 6.5% through Mini Finance on 95% of full price

Best Price on PCP I got was 8.5 %

You take your pick and pay the price......

Remember though, DO NOT EVER PAY FOR PAYMENT PROTECTION
if you need it you can get it yourself their version contains all of the below and is very expensive!
Unemployment protection, life insurance and return to invoice insurance.

All the best

A

Just to point out a few things following the above post:

APR's will ALWAYS vary depending on the amount of money borrowed. The APR's quoted above for straight finance were only available in "New-Reg" Months (March / September) and shouldn't be taken for granted. If you're looking at adverts in papers/banks check what the bank will offer YOU - they have to advertise a low rate, but often won't offer it, making excuses...

Almost all MINI Finance products are available with £0 deposit if you wish, although it's not recommended as the interest is "Front Loaded" - similar to a mortgage, and you will be paying the interest first.

Payment Protection is available to you (at a premium), but doesn't automatically include FULL Cover as stated in the above post. There are 5 different levels of cover, which your dealer will no doubt be happy to discuss with you. I must stress that:

"their version contains all of the below and is very expensive! Unemployment protection, life insurance and return to invoice insurance."

is NOT TRUE and doesn't contain all of the below!

The only benefit of taking a personal loan over car finance is that you are free to sell the car at any point without the need to settle the loan first. If the monthly's are about the same, why not finance it? Signing a few documents on the day is a darned sight easier (and less time consuming) than waiting for monies from loan companies/banks to clear........

If you are looking to compare any finance figures with a bank, don't bother looking at APR's as they're misleading - ask your dealer for their Flat Rate of Interest - you'll probably find that you could save money taking out finance over using your hard earned savings! Believe me!

[xavier2k3]

How much deposit would be reccommended then when going on Mini Select?

regards
--marty

[mg1232]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooper_s_dreamer

If you are looking to compare any finance figures with a bank, don't bother looking at APR's as they're misleading - ask your dealer for their Flat Rate of Interest - you'll probably find that you could save money taking out finance over using your hard earned savings! Believe me!

I'm afraid I disagree with this statement and I'll give you an example why in a minute.

You are quite right about one aspect though; the interest on the MINI finance is 'front loaded' and so regardless of when you pay it off (i.e. after 1 month or 48) you still have to pay the same amount back. But with a bank loan, this often isn't the case; if you choose to pay it off early, you usually pay a penalty fee but this is much less than the amount you have saved in interest.

A lot of hype and mystery surrounds APR, but it is a 'simple' means of contrasting the rates of loans with different payment structures. APR gives the true rate of interest repayment incurred over a full year. In my opinion, it is 'Flate rate' or Principal Interest' that is misleading as it appears to give a much lower rate, yet if you work out the payments, you end up paying more! Banks do not give 'Flat rates' yet this is what BMW dealers tend to quote and in my opinion it makes what they are offering sound much more competitive than it really is. For example:

Say I want to borrow £10,000 for a new MINI over 3 years:

If the dealer offers me a flat rate of 5%, it would mean that at the end of 3 years I would pay back £11,500 (i.e. £1,500 more than the original loan). This doesn't sound too bad, but this is equivalent to an APR (if I have solved the equations correctly! ) of 9.31%! Therefore, if I had got my loan from a high street/internet bank (say 5.8% APR), over the same period I would pay back £10,895.04, only £895.04 more than the original amount and I could save even more than this by paying it back early! That is a saving of £604.96 over the full term!!

My advice, if you go to BMW for finance, get them to give you their APR rate, and then compare it with rates you can find online or on the high street! Many online and high street banks do offer their lowest rates to customers; just shop around and see how much you can save!

[cooper_s_dreamer]

Xavier2k3 - Don't plough too much money into it - I'd suggest c.£1500 to £2k, any less and a negative equity situation is probable (not always, but think carefully), anything more is throwing money away!

MG1232:

Appreciated, and not disagreeing with or arguing about, but wouldn't it always make sense to look at the bottom line figures - WHAT IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAYABLE?

I've known - in quite a few cases - of people that have had higher APR's quoted by Dealers, but it's still cost them less in the long run. This can be due to Document fees - Dealers charge a set up or Credit Arrangement Fee along with the first and last payments which don't incur any interest. A lot of lenders include this with the monthly payment to make the APR's come down and it looks like there isn't a Doc fee! Cunning, but because the APR looks low, everyone thinks it must be better and goes with them!

More fool them! Personally I'd rather save the money and take the higher APR than throw it away just to have a low APR on my paperwork!

Please note, this is only in my experience, and opinion - always best to check yourself...

[Mini Princess]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooper_s_dreamer

MG1232:

Appreciated, and not disagreeing with or arguing about, but wouldn't it always make sense to look at the bottom line figures - WHAT IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAYABLE?

I've known - in quite a few cases - of people that have had higher APR's quoted by Dealers, but it's still cost them less in the long run.

I have to agree. Originally I was looking at an AA car loan - nice low APR. So I spoke to the finance guy at the dealership and said why can't you match this? He went through the figures with me and it actually worked out that I paid more with a lower APR with the AA that I did with the Mini finance on a higher APR. God knows how they work it out as it's so confusing but at the end of the day it's the figures that count!

[mg1232]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooper_s_dreamer

MG1232:

Appreciated, and not disagreeing with or arguing about, but wouldn't it always make sense to look at the bottom line figures - WHAT IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAYABLE?

I've known - in quite a few cases - of people that have had higher APR's quoted by Dealers, but it's still cost them less in the long run. This can be due to Document fees - Dealers charge a set up or Credit Arrangement Fee along with the first and last payments which don't incur any interest. A lot of lenders include this with the monthly payment to make the APR's come down and it looks like there isn't a Doc fee! Cunning, but because the APR looks low, everyone thinks it must be better and goes with them!

You are completely right! The figure that you should always look for is the TOTAL amount you will be paying! Just make sure you are comparing like for like!

What you mention is the huge reason why APR's, AER's, Flat Rates, etc. are so confusing! In theory when the APR is calculated (and this is theory!) it should include all charges so that everything is bundled together; but, as you say, you get arrangement fees and then of course the optional final payment which can 'hide' so many other things!

In my opinion, the best value loans are the unsecured loans that you can get from the likes of Cahoot, etc. If you look at the totals repayable, these will often be less than what dealers have quoted. BUT, it is up to everyone to decide which option is best for them. My advice is to look around and see what else is on offer before making a decision. I know when I bought my MINI, the dealer was quoting so many different finance options it can get really confusing.

Make sure you get any offer in writing and as Cooper_s_dreamer says, check out the total amount payable to inform your decision. If anyone wants impartial advice on figures they have been quoted, PM me and I'll do the sums!

[Hodude]

Definately worth negotiating APR!! try different dealers too! I didn't know this until after i signed on the dotted line, hence i'm paying 12.5%APR!!

My mate has just ordered a MCS and we negotiated APR to 9%, the dealer staff rate apparently, and different dealer to where i bought from!

Both schemes with Mini Finance, but obviously cheaper with personal loan... £2000 difference in total amount payable!

If you don't ask you don't get!

but for those of you also looking to buy a house or remortgage in the future... a personal loan is regarded as a debt when assessing your affordability. Using Mini finance will not be regarded as a debt, and increases your affordability when taking out a mortgage!