Tag: Consumer Finance Ireland

Your Need to Know Guide to Buying Imported Cars

So, you are thinking of importing a car, it’s an idea that a lot of Irish customers have had over the years because of Euro/sterling fluctuations due to Brexit concerns. This exchange rate has benefited Irish customers as the Euro has increased its value against the pound and this gives Irish customers better purchasing power.

Euro GBP Exchange rate graph
How can you best take advantage of the Eur/GBP exchange rate?

Although there is an advantage in value for money, Irish customers need to have their homework done before purchasing directly from the UK. Importing a car is a long and complicated process of getting the vehicle from the UK supplier to your front door. There are almost 20 steps involved in the process of ending up with your fully registered car back here in Ireland.

There are a lot of risks involved and extra costs and considerations that need to be taken into account. You have to consider transport costs to/from UK, calculating the local VRT payable to get the Irish registration number. A car history check is vital to establish if a car has finance owing, is stolen, written off or clocked. These history checks also show if a car has been previously written off, cars with unverifiable mileage and stolen cars.

The Answer

To bypass a lot of stress for yourself, you could do what a lot of people opt for which is to go through a good local dealer here in Ireland. They can source the vehicle you wish to purchase through their network of trade sellers, UK auction houses or main dealers. They purchase the vehicle for you while keeping an eye on the ever-changing exchange rate to benefit you. The dealers here would have already established contacts and relationships with the UK dealers and can do all the negotiating on your behalf so you can just sit back and relax while they do all the work for you.

Going through the process this way, buying through a local dealer also gives you more legal protection and warranty on the vehicle and the security you wouldn’t get going to the UK dealer. Now, having said that your dealer will do all the work for you, you should double check that everything that needs to be in place, is in place. This includes:

  • Car history check to verify mileage and check if it has been crashed
  • Service history needs to be checked

For example, a popular Irish website you can use is Cartell for both UK & Irish car history searches.

How We Can Help

Vendor Finance operates with a wide range of independent dealers throughout the country who can source UK vehicles for you which will provide you with peace of mind. Irish Finance Companies are generally unable to finance UK imports for consumers purchased directly from UK supplier as:

  • The vehicles generally have no warranty and it is a cross border sale
  • The VRT payable cannot be financed and needs to be paid by the consumer directly through their local NCT centre
  • The vehicle would have to be paid for prior to delivery from UK to Ireland which can bring its own risks

Vendor Finance can arrange finance for your locally source vehicle through several different finance companies.

You can apply directly through our website

PCP Financing – Are you in the know?

PCP stands for Personal Contract Plan and is an agreement between you and a financial institution. You agree to pay monthly instalments to essentially lease a car for an agreed financial period, which is usually 3 years, then after the finance term is up, you have 3 options which are outlined below. You must have either a deposit or a trade in to be eligible for PCP financing.

Calculating the costs of PCP
Have you considered all of your financing options?
Your 3 options after the finance agreement is up;
  1. Keep the car and pay the final amount or finance the payment over another number of years, either way you will own the car once the final payment is made. This is known as a ‘balloon payment’ and can often be quite high.
  2. You can hand back the car and make no more payments. This can depend on the condition of the car and the service history, you will be restricted to having the car only serviced in the dealership that you purchased the car from, the exact stipulations will be explained to you. You will hand back the car and keys to the dealership and you will not owe any money but also not own a car.
  3. You can trade in the car for another one, the age of the car and the condition will affect the trade in value of the car. If you do decide to trade in your car for another one then the process will start again and you will have to enter into a new contract which will not be the exact same as the last one. You will also have to put down a new deposit for the next car that you finance through PCP.
The Advantages & Disadvantages of PCP

Advantages;

  • The monthly payments are often smaller than getting a direct loan for the asset
  • A newer vehicle can decrease maintenance and running costs
  • You have the option of upgrading to another car and enter a new contract

Disadvantages;

  • You must keep the car in good condition and only service it at the stipulated service station
  • There is a mileage stipulation that you must adhere to which can be quite low, usually the lower the mileage limit you agree to, the cheaper the monthly payments will be
  • You can’t modify the vehicle as you like
  • The final payment can often be quite expensive
  • The penalties incurred for damage to the vehicle and going over the mileage limit can be very high
  • Once you get into a PCP contract, often people have found that it is difficult to get out of them
  • You must put down a new deposit each time you want to upgrade to a new car
Being Sensible

Entering a Personal Contract Plan is something that you need to consider carefully before finalising and know and understand all of your options, you must ensure that this option you choose is suitable for you and your situation.

Realistically, nobody knows what situation they will be in in 3 years’ time, will you be able to make the balloon payment at the end of the term to own the car or will you be able to make up the deposit for the next car, is it worth the cheaper monthly payments or would you be better off paying a higher monthly amount but own the car and be done with payments at the end of the term? Will you be leasing a car for the rest of your life, if so, is that practical? It is very important to look at the fine print and know what you are getting yourself into.

Talk to Vendor Finance Today about PCP Finance Plans