Motor home finance

GordonMorrison
GordonMorrison Forum Participant Posts: 8
edited September 2016 in Club Products & Services #1

Just about to change the motorhome, any advice on how to do the finance most inexpensively ?

 

Comments

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
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    edited September 2016 #2

    assuming you need cash from another source, then just have a look at the current rates...they should be very low at the moment, base rate cant get much lower.

    a couple of years ago Black Horse (who were sponsoring the NEC show) were offering interest free (or extremely low) rates at the show.

    if youre flush....just sign the cheque.....no good in your bank Sad

  • JD6620
    JD6620 Forum Participant Posts: 202
    100 Comments
    edited September 2016 #3

    When we changed our motorhome last year we initially arranged finance through Black Horse.  We then got a quote from our bank which was considerably cheaper so went with them.  

  • MichaelT
    MichaelT Forum Participant Posts: 1,874
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    edited September 2016 #4

    Sainsbury bank loans as low as 3.1% depending on the amount, term etc.  Black Horse was 9.9% but more like HP than a personal loan.

  • Wildwood
    Wildwood Club Member Posts: 3,581 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited September 2016 #5

    You can get comparative quotes from comparison websites like Compare the Market but beware if you ask a few for a quote you can get problems with them being recorded against your name.

    A bank loan will almost certainly be cheaper than a dealers finance deal. With finance the loan company owns the item until the final payment and if the purchase turns out to be a dud you do have rights against them but with a loan you do not get that protection
    so you should be aware of this.

    If you fail to pay the loan back a finance company can snatch it back but with a bank loan the loan company would need a court order. 

    If you have debts then on a loan the item would be an asset so could be taken against a debt but on finance it is not yours so it cannot be taken in the same way. Probably not relevant to you but these are the main differences.

  • GordonMorrison
    GordonMorrison Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited September 2016 #6

    Thanks all, in the end we got a deal on the finance through Black Horse because it was a new motorhome so 6.9% was good enough we thought. 

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
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    edited September 2016 #7

    for info...

    it is acceptable to 'haggle' over interest rates, some lenders will play ball, might save you a bit...

    also, BH are now doing a PCP-type deal on new MH in the same way as they do for cars, again, this might bring the payments down, tho there will be a baloon payment at the end of the deal.

  • volvoman9
    volvoman9 Forum Participant Posts: 1,053
    500 Comments
    edited September 2016 #8

    Tesco or Sainsburys rates are very favourable at the moment especially if you are borrowing over £7000 for instance.They are less than half what they were two years ago at just over three percent.Both will do it all over the phone in a matter of minutes Happy you wont find any better.

    v9

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited September 2016 #9

    Tesco or Sainsburys rates are very favourable at the moment especially if you are borrowing over £7000 for instance.They are less than half what they were two years ago at just over three percent.Both will do it all over the phone in a matter of minutes
    Happy you wont find any better.

    v9

    I agree re Tesco finance, couldn't be easier

  • HughR
    HughR Forum Participant Posts: 67
    edited September 2016 #10

    +1 in agrKent re Tesco and you get a lower rate still if you are a Clubcardholder we recently swapped to Tesco on an existing car finance went from 6.2% to 3.2%, result.

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
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    edited September 2016 #11

    Sainsbury bank loans as low as 3.1% depending on the amount, term etc.  Black Horse was 9.9% but more like HP than a personal loan.

    Out of interest, why would HP (where the lender has far greater security) cost more than three times as much as an unsecured loan?

    Is it because Black Horse are present at caravan shows and so people just go to them without really thinking about it?

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
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    edited September 2016 #12

    Thanks all, in the end we got a deal on the finance through Black Horse because it was a new motorhome so 6.9% was good enough we thought. 

    That sounds a heck of a high rate.......especially with the base rate at 0.25%

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,859 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2016 #13

    Sainsbury bank loans as low as 3.1% depending on the amount, term etc.  Black Horse was 9.9% but more like HP than a personal loan.

    Out of interest, why would HP (where the lender has far greater security) cost more than three times as much as an unsecured loan?

    Is it because Black Horse are present at caravan shows and so people just go to them without really thinking about it?

    I suspect the reasoning is that the loan is secured against the item purchased. The finance company have no guarantee they will be able to recover the full value of the outstanding loan if they have to repossess the purchased item as they won't know the
    condition. A personal loan is secured against your assets, ie a house which has a more certain value, From memory Hire Purchase rates have always been higher than bank loans but banks tend to ask more questions!!!

    David

  • GordonMorrison
    GordonMorrison Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited October 2016 #14

    Yes, the personal loans stop at 25k and are usually 5 year deals. This was for 10 years and well in excess of 25k! Its flexible in that we can overpay etc and not get penalised. I did check around a bit but maybe should have done a bit more on it

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,859 ✭✭✭
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    edited October 2016 #15

    Gordon

    If you are happy with the deal that is all that matters. The problem that caravan/motorhome dealers have is that they don't have the same buying power in terms of finance that say motor manufacturers have. As with cars they is always a limit to the total
    deal and you have to look at the deal in its total. So paying a slightly higher interest rate may well have been offset by any extras/part exchange etc.

    David

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
    1000 Comments
    edited October 2016 #16

    Sainsbury bank loans as low as 3.1% depending on the amount, term etc.  Black Horse was 9.9% but more like HP than a personal loan.

    Out of interest, why would HP (where the lender has far greater security) cost more than three times as much as an unsecured loan?

    Is it because Black Horse are present at caravan shows and so people just go to them without really thinking about it?

    I suspect the reasoning is that the loan is secured against the item purchased. The finance company have no guarantee they will be able to recover the full value of the outstanding loan if they have to repossess the purchased item as they won't know the
    condition. A personal loan is secured against your assets, ie a house which has a more certain value, From memory Hire Purchase rates have always been higher than bank loans but banks tend to ask more questions!!!

    David

    Not so, David.

    A personal loan from a bank is an unsecured loan. You would not normally put up your house (or anything else) as collateral for this type of loan.

    If you default due to inadequate funds, a bank loan would be a non-priority debt and they would take their place in the queue along with all other non-priority debtors.

    I suspect that a bank would be less willing to lend a large amount of money on a depreciating asset, like a M/H. Black Horse obviously do, but charge a serious premium for the priveledge.

  • Polyphemus
    Polyphemus Forum Participant Posts: 19
    edited October 2016 #17

     

    I suspect the reasoning is that the loan is secured against the item purchased. The finance company have no guarantee they will be able to recover the full value of the outstanding loan if they have to repossess the purchased item as they won't know the
    condition. A personal loan is secured against your assets, ie a house which has a more certain value, From memory Hire Purchase rates have always been higher than bank loans but banks tend to ask more questions!!!

    David

    More likely the reverse David...Although some are unsecured loans, dealer finance can also be HP or Conditional Sale, which means the lender can repossess in certain circumstances.  Bank personal loans are usually unsecured, but the acceptance criteria may
    be tighter.

    The main driver of the higher rates on dealer finance is their commission.

  • MichaelT
    MichaelT Forum Participant Posts: 1,874
    1000 Comments
    edited October 2016 #18

    Sainsbury bank loans as low as 3.1% depending on the amount, term etc.  Black Horse was 9.9% but more like HP than a personal loan.

    Out of interest, why would HP (where the lender has far greater security) cost more than three times as much as an unsecured loan?

    Is it because Black Horse are present at caravan shows and so people just go to them without really thinking about it?

    Write your comments here...that's what I thought, must be a captive market there does not seem to be any competitors to challenge them.

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,859 ✭✭✭
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    edited October 2016 #19

    Perhaps also worth pointing out that the actual size of the market is quite small compared to say the car industry and this must influence to rates as there is little competition to drive rates down?

    David

  • jakeontour
    jakeontour Forum Participant Posts: 63
    edited October 2016 #20

    Point to note when discussing / considering finance / loan/ hp, etc., the interest rate can be expressed either as a flat rate or an APR (though the APR must be included somewhere).

    As a rough rule of thumb the APR is twice the flat rate.

    Always make sure you're comparing like for like, and don't forget to include the impact of any fees, e.g. 0% balance transfer, subject to a 3.9% fee.

    Reading teh small print can make a big difference to what you pay.