[Mr.Chrome]

****ING PARENTS!

I told them bout my Mini purchasing plans, and as soon as i mentioned 'finance' i got a slap round the face and an earhole of ******** horror stories!!

STILL IN THE OLD DAYS!!

Any way, i gota get a Mini now, cos to tell the truth, im in love with it!!

Is it possible to put my deposit down for the car now (at 17) and then sign the finance stuff when the car arrives in september, hopefully, and then im 18!!?!?

I dont care if it makes me skint!! i just want one!! RAHHH!

Take care!!

ANDY

[Wynn]

My parents were never militant like that with me, but basically taught me the same lesson. When I bought my Maxima ten years ago, I wrote a check for it. And now I'm waiting a little bit longer until I can write a check for my MINI.

Once you start on financing, you'll never break the cycle. And, over time, you'll resent paying for something that is old, and broken, but still costing you the same thing each month. Moreover, of course, you'll be paying 50% more for it.

And while you're making those payments for years on your car, there'll be no money for things like replacing your crusty, ancient, unbearable 600MHz Pentium III.

Parents aren't EVIL... they just recognize that some of life's lessons are about compromise, and our inability to always have what we want right away. But ultimately, this particular lesson is about having MORE of what you want, over the course of your life, rather than merely all of it right now at the expense of your future.

...and no, I'm not a parent. Still young.
-wynn

[timlowden771]

As you know you have to be 18 before you can have finance. I don't think the dealer will be able to send your finance details through to the finance compnay untill you are 18. I sell Cars and my computer will not allow me to. It is always worth asking though. I don't know your details but at 18 I would of thought that BMW finace will want your parents as a joint hirer which is bascially a fall back for the Finance company. will your parents be hapy to do this?? Without this I doubt weather you will be able to get finance, I hope this helps

P.s If you do get one ityou won't regret it

[spanky2k]

Put the deposit down in cash. Then when you go to the dealers once the car's arrived you can sort out the finance. I wasn't sure if I would need finance until a few days before picking up and they were very helpful and said that if need be, I could go for the finance at the last minute.

[KenL]

At 18 you should be able to get finance but there is no guarantee the companies will give it to you. They will assess your income and ability to pay for it. If I were you I'd get an agreement in principal before ordering the car.

I wish I could have afforded a car at all at 18 never mind a MINI.

[Ginger]

Sorry to be boring, but have you considered running costs such as insurance ( which is likely to be very high at your age!) and running costs such as tax. The MINI is a cracking car, but I'm not sure if I would want finance at 18!

[batemano]

I say go for it if you can afford it. You won't regret it. For the quite reasonable performance the Mini One gives you it is still relatively cheap to insure (group 5)for an 18 year old.

[Daveyt]

Have you tried Cahoot ?

I got quoted a loan for my MINI One at 8% over 5 years.

This was quite a bit cheaper than the 10.4% ("Best I can do, mate") rate at the dealer.

And it allows you to pay more back if you suddenly get a better job/promotion.

Worth thinking about ?

[MiniBloke]

must have a look into that myself!

[sprog69]

have you tried your bank/building society about a loan?

They seem to be offering good rates at the moment and most do car finance stlye packages. They might be more understanding of the age factor etc

[bennyboy]

Marks and Spencer ( ), Alliance and Leicester and Direct Line all do plans similar to MINI Select but at cheaper APR. Not sure if they limit the mileage like Select. If anyone knows if they do let me know.

[Macsport]

I financed the car through Direct Lines Car finance plan. The APR was 8% compared to 14.5% through Mini Select and there isn't any limit on the mileage. The other difference is that I own the car from day one, unlike Mini Select where BMW own the car until you make the final payment.

Also, I estimate that I will save nearly £1000 over the 3 years!