In this day and age it’s near impossible to purchase a vehicle without obtaining car finance. Most if not everyone wants a new shining vehicle and if they cannot obtain a new one a used one will be a good alternative.
It seems that people have a change cycle of approximately every two to three years; this appears to be the ideal time for the need to change. This is quite odd as it appears that most people would actually prefer to change their car and obtain car finance again for the next vehicle, rather than paying off the total loan before buying another. This can be the result of some socio-economic issues. For instance, is it that the neighbour has recently changed their vehicle, or perhaps they have become bored of the existing one and see the new models released on television adverts and this triggers the compulsion to change it.
My opinion is that it has something to do with “keeping up with the Jones’s” syndrome. The need to appear successful and affluent compared to your peers is what drives many to change. Why have that old vehicle sitting in the drive for so many years, when you can obtain a new one by just changing your car finance deal.
The other thing to keep in mind are the people who just need to have the latest model, they are “into” their vehicles and read all the publications and reviews and then a deep seated urge to get it drives them to change. This is followed by a few visits to the local dealers to see what their missing, a sort of intel mission. If they then find the vehicle is just what they want then the compulsion to buy becomes almost unstoppable then they start to organise the car finance facilities to make it happen.
Car finance rates will not stop this person from buying as the need to buy will now outweigh the rates on the car finance and as long as they can get it organised there happy. Car finance is available to consumers here.
Showing posts with label vehicle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vehicle. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
When it all goes bad
Sometimes people get the car finance, look after the vehicle, make a few payments and then decide it’s not a priority anymore. They have loads of other bills to pay and seem to fall back into the trap of "maybe I'll pay it later" syndrome.
The problem here is that if you have obtained the vehicle from a specialist subprime company with car finance, they don't hang around waiting for you to pay when you want.
The car finance account usually falls pass due into a list after a day or at most three days overdue. At this point, the collection machine starts to move into action.
It’s not usual for you to receive a polite reminder in the post, nope that was a thing of the past when your credit rating was good. Now, you will receive a telephone call from the car finance company and put into an auto dialler list so they can get hold of you as soon as possible. Depending on the collection technique of the company, they will try all the known numbers, work, home, mobile etc. They also will not leave just a polite message; usually the car finance will call and if you don’t respond, will diarise the call for later in the day. Don’t forget, this isn’t something they do manually and might forget, this is on an automated system (dialler) so you can be assured that the car finance company will continue to call all the known numbers until they can get hold of you.
So, the best solution is to take the call as soon as possible. You need to respond in a none combative manner and arrange to make the payment as soon as possible.
Your real objective when taking the call is to ensure that the collector "feels" that you are not a problem and it was a mere oversight on your behalf and the car finance problem is now solved. This way you don’t get comments on your file about a bad attitude or offensive behaviour. This is important because if they need to speak to you again, the person calling you reads the notes of the previous call before they talk to you and therefore you don't start with the collector thinking that you are going to be difficult with them.
The problem here is that if you have obtained the vehicle from a specialist subprime company with car finance, they don't hang around waiting for you to pay when you want.
The car finance account usually falls pass due into a list after a day or at most three days overdue. At this point, the collection machine starts to move into action.
It’s not usual for you to receive a polite reminder in the post, nope that was a thing of the past when your credit rating was good. Now, you will receive a telephone call from the car finance company and put into an auto dialler list so they can get hold of you as soon as possible. Depending on the collection technique of the company, they will try all the known numbers, work, home, mobile etc. They also will not leave just a polite message; usually the car finance will call and if you don’t respond, will diarise the call for later in the day. Don’t forget, this isn’t something they do manually and might forget, this is on an automated system (dialler) so you can be assured that the car finance company will continue to call all the known numbers until they can get hold of you.
So, the best solution is to take the call as soon as possible. You need to respond in a none combative manner and arrange to make the payment as soon as possible.
Your real objective when taking the call is to ensure that the collector "feels" that you are not a problem and it was a mere oversight on your behalf and the car finance problem is now solved. This way you don’t get comments on your file about a bad attitude or offensive behaviour. This is important because if they need to speak to you again, the person calling you reads the notes of the previous call before they talk to you and therefore you don't start with the collector thinking that you are going to be difficult with them.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
The implications of the recent budget
As you’re on this car finance site, you probably have an interest in vehicles, are a driver or are hoping to become one very soon. As such, there’s no doubt at all that the budget affects you, whether you’re a millionaire or on minimum wage. Let me just say this first - the budget hits you where it hurts.
Once again, us cash-cow drivers with car finance are going to suffer in a number of ways…Fuel Petrol and diesel prices had a planned rise of 2p per litre - however thanks to much industry (and some faceless entities) lobbying, we’ve now seen this put back to October. To me though, this just stinks of ‘stealth tax‘. What I mean by this is that if the government can make everyone calm down or forget about it for long enough, they won’t complain half so much and the coffers will still be filled. Fuel duty also has a guaranteed rise of 0.5p per litre in 2010 - no doubt with more raises in-between, all this on top of your car finance repayments.
Alternative fuel Car finance that aren’t powered by petrol or diesel are on ‘alternative fuel’. Those vehicles could well come in for a discount of up to £20 per year on their road tax. Not great, but better than nothing. Duty differential will disappear from alternative fuel and a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will force suppliers (such as Shell) to ensure that 5% of their fuel comes from renewable sources.
Vehicle excise duty/road tax - The number of bands for car finance vehicles will go all the way up to 13 from next year, with band M (255g of cO2 per km) being charged an annual fee of £425 per annum. Vehicles with a lower than 150g output per km will pay a lower rate from 2010 (why not from next year like the higher paying vehicles is anyone’s guess). Vehicles with a lower rate than 130g will not pay road tax in their first year. If this were every year I’d see the point… but just in the single year? Regardless, the most shocking fact is that band M vehicles will receive a massive bill of £950 in the first year.
Funding for more car finance tax - The government has freed up funding for local councils and private companies to investigate the idea of further congestion charges and national road pricing. It’s a great way to essentially fund further taxation I must say, and I’m not quite sure how making people pay more will stop them using the roads that they physically must use.
My overall thoughts on the budget and car finance - Frankly, as per usual, those who drive have been hit where it hurts - their wallets. I’m not surprised, given the fact that more than £45 million is generated for HMRC every year, over and above the car finance. However, as long as the government has the ideal of ‘being green’ to hide behind, people won’t rally behind the injustice of how much we pay for vehicles. The budget is once again unfair and a great way to eke more money out of an unwitting public let alone the car finance.
As a side note, due to the fact that we’re close to recession, this is one good year to buy a used vehicle on car finance. Depreciation is going to be 8% more than expected, so look for car finance in a couple of months to pay a price that’ll keep some change in your pocket.
Once again, us cash-cow drivers with car finance are going to suffer in a number of ways…Fuel Petrol and diesel prices had a planned rise of 2p per litre - however thanks to much industry (and some faceless entities) lobbying, we’ve now seen this put back to October. To me though, this just stinks of ‘stealth tax‘. What I mean by this is that if the government can make everyone calm down or forget about it for long enough, they won’t complain half so much and the coffers will still be filled. Fuel duty also has a guaranteed rise of 0.5p per litre in 2010 - no doubt with more raises in-between, all this on top of your car finance repayments.
Alternative fuel Car finance that aren’t powered by petrol or diesel are on ‘alternative fuel’. Those vehicles could well come in for a discount of up to £20 per year on their road tax. Not great, but better than nothing. Duty differential will disappear from alternative fuel and a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will force suppliers (such as Shell) to ensure that 5% of their fuel comes from renewable sources.
Vehicle excise duty/road tax - The number of bands for car finance vehicles will go all the way up to 13 from next year, with band M (255g of cO2 per km) being charged an annual fee of £425 per annum. Vehicles with a lower than 150g output per km will pay a lower rate from 2010 (why not from next year like the higher paying vehicles is anyone’s guess). Vehicles with a lower rate than 130g will not pay road tax in their first year. If this were every year I’d see the point… but just in the single year? Regardless, the most shocking fact is that band M vehicles will receive a massive bill of £950 in the first year.
Funding for more car finance tax - The government has freed up funding for local councils and private companies to investigate the idea of further congestion charges and national road pricing. It’s a great way to essentially fund further taxation I must say, and I’m not quite sure how making people pay more will stop them using the roads that they physically must use.
My overall thoughts on the budget and car finance - Frankly, as per usual, those who drive have been hit where it hurts - their wallets. I’m not surprised, given the fact that more than £45 million is generated for HMRC every year, over and above the car finance. However, as long as the government has the ideal of ‘being green’ to hide behind, people won’t rally behind the injustice of how much we pay for vehicles. The budget is once again unfair and a great way to eke more money out of an unwitting public let alone the car finance.
As a side note, due to the fact that we’re close to recession, this is one good year to buy a used vehicle on car finance. Depreciation is going to be 8% more than expected, so look for car finance in a couple of months to pay a price that’ll keep some change in your pocket.
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