[Little Miss MINI]

Went to the dealership today and they did a quote for me with the Select Finance and it sounds like a pretty good deal - £2.5-ish k deposit and £250 a month for 3 years and then trade my car in for a new MINI!

Yes please!

Is anyone else using this method to finance their MINI and is it any good or would I be better off spending a bit more per month and getting a loan from the bank for it?

It sounds like a great deal but is it too good to be true? I mean a new car every 3 years? Are they mad??

[jasonfields007]

Mini select rules!! Managed to trade in mums S after just a year. No penalties and the car trade in value was more than the settlement figure so managed to pocket some cash! It's a good way of doing it me thinks!

[Callaway]

I'm going to be using Mini Select when my car arrives next month. Looks like a nice way to keep my monthly expenses down, yet offers ownership. I'm no fan of leases.

[d2create]

New car every three years and always having a payment, or purchase the car and end up with equity a few years from now and use it to get a better mini/other car or use the equity to put more money down and have a smaller monthly payment. Just a few of several options. IMHO, leasing doesn't make financial sense.

[poki]

Is there a limit on the number of kms/miles you can put on it?

[SteveBrass]

Quote: Originally Posted by Little Miss MINI

Went to the dealership today and they did a quote for me with the Select Finance and it sounds like a pretty good deal - £2.5-ish k deposit and £250 a month for 3 years and then trade my car in for a new MINI!

Yes please!

Is anyone else using this method to finance their MINI and is it any good or would I be better off spending a bit more per month and getting a loan from the bank for it?

It sounds like a great deal but is it too good to be true? I mean a new car every 3 years? Are they mad??

As ever, check the APR (the interest rate). There are some good deals for personal loans at the moment from a variety of banks/building societies.

Personal loan = car is yours, to do with what you like - so you can sell it without having to pay the loan off.

Mini Select (and Hire Purchase) = car is not yours, so you need to deal with Mini Select if you wish to sell the car.

One advantage of HP is you get some more muscle to help you if there are problems with the car. HP companies will lean on the dealer/ mini uk to get things sorted.

[Fourkeelers]

[quote=
Mini Select (and Hire Purchase) = car is not yours, so you need to deal with Mini Select if you wish to sell the car.
QUOTE]

Actually the Select finance program is a "you own the car" plan as well, the only difference is the balloon payment at the end of the term. You don't get teh tax benefits of leasing either (there are differences in tax benefits between owning and leasing in the course of business, consult your financial planner for your options). In the select program, you can sell your car at any time. Actually you can sell your leased car as well at any time, as long as you cover the financial obligations. I know of leased exotics that have been "flipped" for a quick buck on hard to find cars.

I think there are too many people out there thinking the select is like a lease program in that you either walk away or turn in the car at the end of the term. Not true, you make your monthly payments for the specified period of time and then have a rather large balloon payment due. What you are hoping is that you can either sell the car for that amount before the payment is due or hope the trade in value covers the balloon payment. I believe US dealers are specifiying 64% value after 3 years. (i've been quoted as high as 67% and low as 61% for the same period as well). Another good thing about the select program, any additional funds you put in, go to pay down the ballon.

Regards,
Fourkeelers

[paul wheadon]

My advice is look at the interest you are paying with select against say a personal loan.
I financed our first Cooper with Select, and with the S we have just got we went with Sainsburys personal loan because I was saving around £2K against the quote from MINI Select.
We bought our Cooper in May 2002 for £13,350, and were given £11K against the S.
To be honest I may have got more privately, but you`ve got to find someone with that cash.
So with select it was more a convenience thing, new car arrives, in with the old cooper and out with the new S.
We found you were always conscious of the mileage you were doing also.
But at the end of the day, you pays ya money and takes ya chance.......Good Luck.

[sammyjdawson]

hi
im looking to buy a 2008 mini one at around 13K, using mini select
i have around 2k deposit, prob want to complete after 3 or 4 years
does anyone know how much would monthly payments be and how much payment would be left to pay
and does the mini select plus lower interest still exist

thanks

[Martin L]

If you can afford it get a loan.
These PCP deals are good on the face of things as monthly payments are low, but however at the end of the term you have no car.
The difference between paying the extra for a car loan and then having a car at the end is far more benificial then going for PCP.

However it really depends on personal circumstances.

[Martin F]

My daughter has her MCC on a PCP with MINI Finance and they just wrote to her as it ends in October asking her if she would like to discuss a replacement. Otherwise the options are to return the car ( and there is a list of penalties for various types of minor damage) or pay about £9000 which they say they will debit to her current account on the final day of the agreement. Put like that there is a lot of pressure to take a new car which is what MINI hope will happen.

But she will only have done 18000 miles by the end of the agreement and I said she is better off financially to keep it. So she told them that is what she will do. As soon as she had done so, the Finance Manager at the dealer rings up offering to finance the bullet repayment at an APR of around 8%.

So there is actually a lot more flexibility than is advertised when the end of the PCP arrives.

[Dann172]

I was going to take up the mini select option but when all was calculated I'd be paying 4k in interest over the 3 years.. and I'd still not have paid the car off And that was the best the dealer could do.
I have ended up taking out a 6.9% APR loan over 5 years and paying 1.8k in interest instead. One heck of a difference.
I usually always take a PCP deal but not at my local mini dealers rates.