[RoadRunner]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question but -

How do people finance a car in New Zealand? I've looked at several bank Web sites and do not see anything like a car loan rate. I see personal loan rates over 15%. :eek

In the US, it is trivial to get a car loan from a credit union (or sometimes even the dealer) for less than 4%. I just don't see the equivalend in NZ.

Do people just pay cash? That seems a bit hard to do since most of the cars (even 10-year old used ones) seem to be so incredibly pricey.

I'm even contemplating using one of my US credit card convenience checks to get some cash to use for the NZ car (of course, I then have to pay it off in the next year to avoid a nasty rate increase)...

Any thoughts?

RoadRunner

[xanctus]

Roadrunner,
I believe we are in the same boat here looking to finance a car in NZ, and yet the APR rate in NZ it's quite scary compare to US rate I must say.
Anybody here experience, might want to share their experiences.
thank's

[Carol]

We financed through the company we bought the car through.
And I would NEVER do it again in a million years.
We were sucked in..........loved the car......wanted it......in fact NEEDED it.....then came the:
"lets go in and see if we can organise some finance for you sir" and before we knew it we were paying nearly $5000 interest on a $13,000 car.

hmmmmmmmmmm stupid stupid stupid.


I am glad to say...we paid it off this very week. Almost 18 months early and saved ourselves the princely sum of $800.


DONT DO IT!!!!
Go to your bank.

Carol

[xanctus]

Carol,
thx for the feedback, so I guess financing through a bank is a better bet eh? Allright then. So, do you think since we as new comer in NZ, obviously have no record of credit history, would make the financing process harder? especially if someone has no job yet (so no proof of income)

[Carol]

hmmm...yes - probably.
I hadnt thought of that.
We brought our own car out when we first came so didnt have that problem.
It was when we came to change it that we struck upon that particular gem!


Oh dear - I'm not being much help am I! :oops:

[RoadRunner]

Thanks, Carol!

Xanctus, we worried about how to get "credit" when not having a job, too! So many stressful things to worry about. I just keep telling myself to take one hurdle at a time!

[Simon & Emily]

Just a thought on this - and excuse me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs - but if you do take a loan out, try to get one that adds interest on a daily or monthly basis rather than an 'interest up front' loan. Here in the UK, this used to be the banks that did the better loans, and the finance companies added the interest up front, but I know it's changing.

The problem with the loans that add the interest up front is that if you want to settle up early you still have to pay most of the interest. If you have a loan with the interest added each month, you will only pay the interest on the time you borrow the money (and usually no large settlement charge either).

Good luck with the car hunting,

Emily

[Gran]

Some house mortgages let you add more money for a car etc, so that would be between 7.5-8.5 %.