[ian73]

Hi all,i'm new on here.
My GF wants to buy a Mini (cooper or S),we went to our local dealership & had a test drive in an 'S'.The salesman told us about Mini Select & i was wondering if its any good? I undersatnd the lower monthly payments with a settlement figure at the end of the time (3 or 4 yrs) & the different options we have .

Is anyone on this scheme? if so is it ok? & if not why?

Cheers for any info

Ian


(P.S please hurry as my GF is doin' me nut in , all i hear is mini,mini,mini,mini)

[Rakey]

you'll find many people buy on MINI select (a PCP payment scheme)

Mine is on it, the GF's is on it.

The idea is that you pay less per month than a full finance sheme and at the end of the scheme you either hand the car back, or you have a difference in the value of the car and the final payment, which should in an ideal world be your next deposit for a new MINI.

I have brought cars on PCP many times now, and only with MINI have I ever had a deposit at the end of it (as in the car is valued at more than the final repayment), this is partly due to the MINI retaining a high value, but this is again something that cannot be predicted, especially with the new model been released in November, as it could hit residuals on the current car.

[humph]

This sort of PCP deal is a good way of keeping your monthly payments low(er). Only works if you intend on handing the car back at the end of the finance period, paying the final balloon payment makes the whole thing very expensive. My new deal allows me to drive a brand new Cooper for £30/month more than I was paying for my previous 3 yr old one on straight car finance. Straight finance on my current one would be at least double what I pay now. The thing that surprised my was how low the excess mileage charges are on MINI's, mine are 2.1p/mile, compared to other manufacturers. It's each to their own really but so far it's working for me.

[ian73]

Thanks for your replies,it does sound a good deal.If she had a Cooper it would probably be the new one,so it should hold its value for the trade in,in 3 - 4 yrs time

[mini_jim]

WARNING!!!

Ask for the mini select plus scheme - The APR is much lower (8.2% vs ~ 12%). You're dealer won't tell you about it right away but after a bit of haggling they will give in!!

It has saved me around £70 per month over 3 years

Cheers

Jim

[Robbo32]

Quote: Originally Posted by mini_jim (original)

WARNING!!!

Ask for the mini select plus scheme - The APR is much lower (8.2% vs ~ 12%). You're dealer won't tell you about it right away but after a bit of haggling they will give in!!

It has saved me around £70 per month over 3 years

Cheers

Jim

Jim,
Should the dealer have offered me this option when I got my new cooper s in March, or are they not required to offer this Select Plus scheme ?.
What is the difference between the two other than £70.00 a month !!!!!.
Needless to say I am less than chuffed about this, and I would not use the same dealer again if this is the case.

cheers

Colin

[mini_jim]

Not sure about march, I think that it was running in June and had only just got going then, so don't feel too angry at your dealer.. There is no difference between Select and Select + as far as I can see, except the APR. If I recall correctly the scheme is running until the end of the year..

Also try Sainsburys and Freeway finance - they have both got PCP type schemes that you can negotiate down to 7.9 % APR. I am going with mini simply because the overall amount payable is around £5 more over the 3 years and it is easier to pop in and sign docs etc.

Cheers

Jim

[Scrogg]

My two-penneth worth:

APR
There is no set APR on ANY finance product offered by MINI (or any other manufacturer for that matter). All dealerships earn commission on the finance they sell, so will always start at a high rate. WHATEVER payment you are quoted, tell the Business Manager (finance chap) that it is too high and you cannot afford to buy the car - they will ALWAYS 'find a way' to lower it!

MINI Select vs Lease Purchase
These two products work in a very similar way, except that the final balloon payment is not guaranteed on Lease Purchase, so is usually higher. Higher balloon means lower monthly payments! The only downside to this is that, in the unlikely event that the car is worth less than the final payment, you do not have the option to hand it back. Ask your dealer to do comparable quotes on both schemes.

Payment Protection
Finding cheaper places to protect your monthly payments is easy - shop around!

Flat Rates
Do not allow yourself to be fobbed-off with the 'flat rate' when you ask what the APR is. Most dealerships use this to hide the true cost of borrowing through them. Although not 100% accurate, the APR is about double the flat rate!

Quotes
As a consumer you are legally entitled to a full written quotation before making a decision, so insist on it. This quotation will tell you exactly how much you will pay back, and at what APR. DO NOT accept hand-written quotes that do not contain ALL the information (which are actually illegal!)

Early Settlement
Dealerships have their commission 'clawed back' by the finance company if you settle your agreement early (how early varies considerably) so, if you are told any other reason why you cannot settle your agreement early you are being lied to.

Think that about covers it!

[Cardo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

My two-penneth worth:

APR
There is no set APR on ANY finance product offered by MINI (or any other manufacturer for that matter). All dealerships earn commission on the finance they sell, so will always start at a high rate. WHATEVER payment you are quoted, tell the Business Manager (finance chap) that it is too high and you cannot afford to buy the car - they will ALWAYS 'find a way' to lower it!

MINI Select vs Lease Purchase
These two products work in a very similar way, except that the final balloon payment is not guaranteed on Lease Purchase, so is usually higher. Higher balloon means lower monthly payments! The only downside to this is that, in the unlikely event that the car is worth less than the final payment, you do not have the option to hand it back. Ask your dealer to do comparable quotes on both schemes.

Payment Protection
Finding cheaper places to protect your monthly payments is easy - shop around!

Flat Rates
Do not allow yourself to be fobbed-off with the 'flat rate' when you ask what the APR is. Most dealerships use this to hide the true cost of borrowing through them. Although not 100% accurate, the APR is about double the flat rate!

Quotes
As a consumer you are legally entitled to a full written quotation before making a decision, so insist on it. This quotation will tell you exactly how much you will pay back, and at what APR. DO NOT accept hand-written quotes that do not contain ALL the information (which are actually illegal!)

Early Settlement
Dealerships have their commission 'clawed back' by the finance company if you settle your agreement early (how early varies considerably) so, if you are told any other reason why you cannot settle your agreement early you are being lied to.

Think that about covers it!

Hmm, oh dear. I must admit I'm very naive when it comes to these things and I just accepted what they offered, not realising the APR is flexible. Now, I haven't picked the car up, and I'm pretty sure I haven't signed any finance agreements just yet. Though I will be picking up the car in the next few days.
Would you guys be so good as to advise me as to how I should proceed with this?

[Scrogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardo (original)

Hmm, oh dear. I must admit I'm very naive when it comes to these things and I just accepted what they offered, not realising the APR is flexible. Now, I haven't picked the car up, and I'm pretty sure I haven't signed any finance agreements just yet. Though I will be picking up the car in the next few days.
Would you guys be so good as to advise me as to how I should proceed with this?

Don't worry about it, most buyers do exactly the same thing!

My advice would be to call your dealer tomorrow and tell them you've found a better deal on the finance so won't be needing theirs. They will bend over backwards and fall over themselves to keep your business!

I'm a little concerned that you are only 'pretty sure' you haven't signed a finance agreement yet, though!

[Cardo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

Don't worry about it, most buyers do exactly the same thing!

My advice would be to call your dealer tomorrow and tell them you've found a better deal on the finance so won't be needing theirs. They will bend over backwards and fall over themselves to keep your business!

I'm a little concerned that you are only 'pretty sure' you haven't signed a finance agreement yet, though!

Any suggestions as to other places I can look to see what they offer in terms of PCP? (yes, I am asking you to hold my hand, lol)

As for the finance agreement, I remember signing a couple of forms a while back, but I think that was just the new vehicle contract. The finance guy made a copy of my licence and said he'd get back to me to let me know if my credit was good, which he did. Haven't been back to sign anything else, I'm guessing that happens when I pickup the car.

[Scrogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardo (original)

Any suggestions as to other places I can look to see what they offer in terms of PCP? (yes, I am asking you to hold my hand, lol)

There are loads of places that do PCPs without selling you the car as well. Type 'PCP into Google and do a UK search and it brings up loads. Car Leasing | compare contract car hire plans - MoneySupermarket UK is a good place to start though. (Remember, you only need to get a cheaper quote - your dealer will do the rest!

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardo (original)

As for the finance agreement, I remember signing a couple of forms a while back, but I think that was just the new vehicle contract. The finance guy made a copy of my licence and said he'd get back to me to let me know if my credit was good, which he did. Haven't been back to sign anything else, I'm guessing that happens when I pickup the car.

This sounds about right, as there is no reason or need for you to sign the actual finance agreement before you pick your car up.

[Cardo]

Excellent, thanks a lot for the advice. One last one, bit of a tough question to answer, but what kind of APR should I be aiming for? At the moment, I think I'm at the extortionate rate of about 10%.

[Scrogg]

As MINI Select deals go, that isn't actually too bad (I've seen FAR higher!) so I would just suggest that you take some time to look at what else is available and just use those figures.

Don't be persuaded to try and push them too low, as they simply cannot match some of the really cheap deals out there so, if you do, be prepared to apply somewhere else. (Not a bad thing, just time-consuming)

Basically mate, if you can get them to drop the rate 1-2% you will have a pretty good result!

Oh, and when they try to sell you Shortfall, it is a good idea to have it, but the price they offer you is VERY negotiable!

[Cardo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

As MINI Select deals go, that isn't actually too bad (I've seen FAR higher!) so I would just suggest that you take some time to look at what else is available and just use those figures.

Don't be persuaded to try and push them too low, as they simply cannot match some of the really cheap deals out there so, if you do, be prepared to apply somewhere else. (Not a bad thing, just time-consuming)

Basically mate, if you can get them to drop the rate 1-2% you will have a pretty good result!

Oh, and when they try to sell you Shortfall, it is a good idea to have it, but the price they offer you is VERY negotiable!

Interesting day for me. Had a call first thing and been told I can collect my car at 5 today! Woohoo!
So I've looked around and seen rates as low as 7.9%. I called them up and spoke with one of the finance guys and mentioned the fact I've seen lower rates for PCP, that I've been told that they are flexible, etc. etc. He told me that the 10.8% rate I currently have quoted isn't much over the base rate, and that if the finance deal is recalculated, that if it goes to tomorrow, the rates will be higher, as the BoE have put the base rate up, and I could be looking at 12-13%. I couldn't help but point out his "This FANTASTIC offer only available for the next 10 minutes, take it now or lose out forever!" analogy. Though, in the end, he said he'd speak with Mini finance and see what they say, and he'll get back to me in an hour or so.
Should be interesting!

[Cardo]

lol, they knocked off 0.2%! Went from 10.8% APR to 10.6% APR. Woohoo! He claimed it was pretty good of Mini finance to lower it at all, considering it's going up tomorrow. Better than nothing, I guess!

[Scrogg]

Just checked with my Business Manager (sorry for the delay!) and he has confirmed that the current base rate offered by BMW Financial Services is 4.75%, and that it is not going up tomorrow at all!

Ask them what the flat rate is before you agree to sign.

[Cardo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

Just checked with my Business Manager (sorry for the delay!) and he has confirmed that the current base rate offered by BMW Financial Services is 4.75%, and that it is not going up tomorrow at all!

Ask them what the flat rate is before you agree to sign.

Hmm, really? He said they were lowering it to 5.33% or somesuch. I figured he could've gone lower, but I'm picking up the car this afternoon, and he knew it, so he had me by the short and curlies.
Interest not going up tomorrow? I wouldn't expect him to lie, isn't that against the law?

[Scrogg]

Like I said in my original post, the APR is roughly double the flat rate, so with a current base rate of 4.75% they have only lifted that just over half a percent, which is pretty good.

If you really push you could get a bit more off, and it won't affect when you can collect the car as once your application is accepted they can change pretty much anything.

[mini_jim]

Sorry to repeat myself but Mini Select Plus is clearly a different deal to the normal mini select - it is clearly stated on the illustration that it is the "plus" scheme.

I have been offered as low as 8.2 % APR through mini after getting quotes from other finance companies such as Sainsburys and Freeway who were both 7.9 % APR.

My advice would be to push the APR (ignore the flat rate - dealers use this as a trick to try annd make their deals sound cheap - see MSE advice here) as low as possible. Scrogg - you're not a dealer by any chance

Once you have the best deals they are willing to offer look at the bottom line - i.e. how much the TOTAL amount payable is over the period you require. Even though monthly payments may be lower under one scheme, the final payment (ballon, MGFV etc.) WILL be higher and you pay interest on ALL outstanding monies owed. Therefore a deal with slightly higher monthly payments but a lower final payment may work out cheaper!! This is what has happened in my case.

Just my two penneth worth!

Cheers

Jim

Disclaimer - Note I am not a financial advisor and you use the information contained within these posts at you're own risk!!!