Hi All,
Don't know if anyone out there can help me. We are trying to buy a car on finance, reason being, we have a GSD and Briard and only have a Focus hatch, imagine it if you will We are looking at buying a Mondeo Estate for the dogs and generally because we have had alot of probs with the Focus! Trouble is, we don't have a good credit history, we have lived in our house for 5 years but 3 years ago my husband was made redundant so, therefore the credit agreements that we had went into default, all four of them!!!! We are now in the position that we can well afford another car with about £5500 deposit. But dont know who to turn to? We don't want to apply to endless credit companies and get turned down as they all leave searches on your credit profile which won't do us any favours. It seems, because you have had problems some 3 years ago, no body is willing to give a second chance and we either end up paying horrendous interest rates or they offer a car that is totally impractical. Have tried places like guaranteed car finance and the most they can offer is a car smaller than the one we have got, which defeats the whole object of the excercise. And in most cases, is the same value as the Focus. Does anybody have any experience of this problem, if so, I would love to hear how you got satisfaction :-) Somebody must be able to advise me, please, we are going on holiday to France this year with both dogs and if we dont find a solution soon we will have to rent a bigger car than we have, at the horrific price of £350 per week!

If you are house owners you could extend your mortgage. You could prepare a list of your incomings and out going and approach the bank, it would help if you have been saving on a regular basis. Other than that I can't help you except to say watch the interest rates.

I have no experience of that situation Hairypooch. 
Can I ask what happens in a situation like that?  When you've had a bad experience, and then you recover, like you have, do you paid off the loans that you defaulted on before you apply to borrow more money?  Because if you have paid all outstanding debts, then I can't see why anyone should incur a bad debt history.

Hi Val,

Unfortunately we have not paid off the entire default loans as they come to some £20,000 but they are under arrangement, we are paying back a regular agreed sum with the creditors, each month, we could increase what we pay but feel reluctant to as they just keep pileing on the interest.The problem is, the defaults will not be cleared for another 2-3 years. We have a private rented house and have done for 5 1/2 years as we were living in France before this due to my work contract. I know this doesn't stack up well in the eyes of lenders, and am now starting to regret the £11.500 cash I spent on my Focus some 4 years ago!!!

You need to find out how much your focus is worth and sell it privately... then put your deposit to it. I bought a year old diesel Mondeo Estate for 10K. If you get 5 for your focus and put your deposit down then job done! :) I would NEVER buy a new car again - ever - mine has been absolutely perfect.

I can't help you in finding a way but I can say that the modeo estate is a good choise with plenty of room!  It will be worth it however you get it

Rox

Have you actually applied for any credit yet and been turned down? :)

Yes car credit offer credit to people with bad credit and I dont think their interest rates are much higher than some car companies.
Good luck
Mary

Hi ChloeH,
No, we haven't, as we know that if you accrue too many searches (they are called foot prints, as they are recorded) it is less likely that you will get credit. So understandably, we only want to contact companies that are likely to offer what we are seeking :-) basically we are looking for a £15,000 loan with £5,500 deposit as I am totally rapt with the ST220 estate and know that we can easily afford it :-) sounds a lot and is probably asking the impossible but I am starting high :D have to put a bit of levity into the situation,like my OH :D

Hi Hairypooch

It might be worthwhile first of all speaking to your bank as they are the ones best placed to see that you are conducting your finances well now and therefore are more likely to lend to you :)   Other institutions will just see the credit history and will draw their conclusions from that without making allowances for your much improved circumstances.

I'm lucky, I get a lease car from work, but I must say I agree with ChloeH!!  If I didn't have a lease I would never buy a car brand new - they lose value the minute they roll off the forecourt :D

Good luck in your search, and I hope you get something worked out :)

Lesley

Why not buy a second hand one, you can get great bargins, auctions are good as sometimes you can get a nearly new quite cheeply.

Buying cars on finance is like throwing money down the drain :) Not only are you losing the depreciation on the car but also the finance charges. It is much better to just buy a second-hand car for cash and then save monthly what you would have paid out on the finance. This way you will be saving up for your next car :)

Daisy

We bought a mondeo estate 3 years ago for £1000 ...still going strong and has been great.
Sell your old car and buy privately....look on www.autotrader.co.uk..will give you an idea of prices of both cars.
Archer

Hi, there is a company called experian who log all of your credit agreements and applications.  You can request a copy of it from them for a couple of £'s - On it you can see scores for things such as late payments, missed payments and the like and you get a general idea of how good you look on paper - the car finance company (if you use one) would actually use experian to do a credit score of you!  It could give you a start???  I'm sure they have a website!  We got a copy of ours prior to getting agreed for a mortgage last year.
Sarah
PS - I once bought a new car and would never do it again due to depreciation...And remember, car finance company's totally rob you in interest I would try somewhere like Sainsbury's (I actually have my mortgage with them) and they are very good, their loan rate is about 6.9% at the moment whereas Yes! Car credit is about 19.9%

Totally agree on the depreciation - and high spec big engine petrol guzzlers are the worse! I lost 14K in a year on a BMW - NEVER AGAIN. I am Mrs Mondeo now and I love it!

Even though I work in the motor trade I would agree about not buying a brand new car (seen as you're looking for a Ford it won't effect my sales if I'm honest :D)

If you plan to keep the car for a nummber fo years then go for nearly new, you wont lose out on the depreciation like you would with a brand new one. However if you plan to get a new car every 3 years or so then look into leasing the car from the garage, it is a cheaper alternative to getting a new car on a regular basis.

We bought a Mondeo estate plenty of room. Bought it for £800 Mreg its petrol so does use abit, I know diesel is better couldnt get one at the time. But it does sit on the motorway wll good for the shows. Also got mine from Auto Trader by online.
Good luck