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View Full Version : What would be the cheapest motorcycle finance company



RPM91
25th February 2005, 13:44
hey guys, dont know to many finance companys, but would any of yous be able to suggest some finance companys with low interest rates for motorcycles as last time i had finance on a bike the interest was 17.5 % from south island finance :S

White trash
25th February 2005, 13:51
Your bank would normally give you the least expensive finance rate.

vifferman
25th February 2005, 13:52
Personal loan from a relative? :spudwhat:

(Was this a quiz? That's how I bought my first bike, by the way, and how #2 son got his car).

ManDownUnder
25th February 2005, 13:58
yup, bank.

If you don;t qualify at the bank... do something about it till you do. It's a sign your finances need sorting (or you need less stuff on hp)

jrandom
25th February 2005, 14:02
Like the Trashman says, best choice is an unsecured personal loan from your bank (they probably won't accept bikes as security, you see). Usually about 14-15%. And if the bank turns you down for that, think seriously about your financial situation and whether you can actually afford the finance. Banks are pretty good at figuring that stuff out and trying not to let you land in the poo.

You should get <17% from a dealer through Motor Trade Finance. But then you're limited to purchasing from a dealer.

Finance Now are great guys to deal with, too, but they probably won't give you anything under 20%.

Wonko
25th February 2005, 14:27
Hit up Mum and Dad?

Credit cards can be a good way if the bank won't let you have a loan. First 60 days interest free plus points, plus no early repayment penalties.aroun 18% interest, but if you have two cards you can bounce the balance between them and get 9%(depending on cards).

Warning if you don't have enough spare cash then this can/will hurt your wallet if it's done wrongly.

jrandom
25th February 2005, 14:50
if you have two cards you can bounce the balance between them and get 9%(depending on cards).

How? I don't see that working.

Credit card cash advances from an ATM get interest charged immediately. It's only items charged onto the card by merchants that get the 55 or whatever days interest-free.

Swapping balances between cards is pointless.

You can just pay interest on a credit card without repaying principal, of course, by making the minimum payment and then re-drawing cash from it back up to the limit each month. But that way lies madness and ruin.

Slingshot
25th February 2005, 14:55
And now to hear from someone in the industry:

Generally, finance companies will provide secured finance and will normally be cheaper than an unsecured personal loan from a bank. There are finance companies that will accept a motorcycle as security (UDC is an example) and normally finance companies are easier to get credit with (when compared to a bank).
Normally, a finance companies credit contract will penalise you for paying the debt early but banks normally wouldn't.

If you have a mortgage and you have enough capital to draw on, this would be the cheapest interest rate but my advise would be to pay the value of the bike off within the period that you would take out a personal loan for (ie 2 or 3 years). If you just continue to pay the minimum amount on the mortgage you effectively be paying heaps in interest (if your mortgage has 15 years left, then you'd be paying the bike off over 15 years).

You can generally call either the bank or the finance company to organise the loan, you don't have to use the finance provider that the dealer is aligned with.

Slingshot
25th February 2005, 15:00
While we're on the subject of Credit Cards. for this senerao (ie. a big purchase), you're best bet would be one of the hire purchase type credit cards. The National Bank card "Freestyle" springs to mind, generally these types of cards offer a low interest rate but you pay per transaction and you don't get interest free days.

Another option may be to purchase the bike using a card that offers reward points, once you've got the points, transfer the balance to a low interest card.

onearmedbandit
25th February 2005, 15:10
The two companies we use, Marac and GE, will only penalise you 10% of the interest charge for early pay out. Ie if you have a 36mth contract but pay out after 24mths, you get a 90% rebate of the interest amount outstanding.

Gen
25th February 2005, 15:30
What would be the likelihood of using my car that is fully paid off as security for a bank loan for a bike?

Would that be accepted along with a good income?
However I want to avoid getting a loan so soon after just having paid of my car. Repayments are a bitch. Just want to know if it's likely or not to be accepted. :(

jrandom
25th February 2005, 15:39
What would be the likelihood of using my car that is fully paid off as security for a bank loan for a bike?

Yeah, any bank or finance company that normally does loans secured over cars will be fine with that. Hell, they don't care what you do with the loan money so long as you can pay it back. Tell them you're gonna blow it all on P, dope and hookers or summat.

Calling them and doing a loan application doesn't cost you anything, anyway. Just check around and see.

Slingshot
25th February 2005, 15:42
Calling them and doing a loan application doesn't cost you anything, anyway. Just check around and see.

Except for the extra searches that will show on your credit report from Baycorp, if you have too many searches, it can put lenders off.

You may have to get your car re-valued, this isn't a problem when you're buying a car and getting finance as the finance company will assume that the dealer is selling the car for what it's worth.

jrandom
25th February 2005, 15:47
Except for the extra searches that will show on your credit report from Baycorp, if you have too many searches, it can put lenders off.

Mebbe. I went through that exercise as a potential borrower at one point, and yeah, after a while I just pointed out to the person on the other end of the phone that I was currently shopping around for finance and there would be a whole crapload of searches from every man and his dog in the last [however long], and not to worry about them.

If a finance company can't handle that concept, it's being run by morons. I certainly never had any difficulties arise from the situation.

Wonko
25th February 2005, 15:52
How? I don't see that working.

Swapping balances between cards is pointless.


American express has a reduced interest rate of 9% for 6 months for balance transfers from a compeditors card. You buy something on credit card B, wait the 55 days and transfer the balance to the American express. After 6 months you transfer it back to credit card B, and then transfer it to the American express card.

You still have to make minimum payments and have to remember to transfer the balance, but interest rate is lower. Understand?

Allways make sure you are paying off more than the mimimum amount

Slingshot
25th February 2005, 16:54
Mebbe. I went through that exercise as a potential borrower at one point, and yeah, after a while I just pointed out to the person on the other end of the phone that I was currently shopping around for finance and there would be a whole crapload of searches from every man and his dog in the last [however long], and not to worry about them.

If a finance company can't handle that concept, it's being run by morons. I certainly never had any difficulties arise from the situation.

Agreed, but with the credit decision management software available these days, often the initial decision is made by a computer. The application may be declined to start with and then you may have to go through the process of manual re-assessment.

Anyway, were you shopping around for the best deal or someone that would lend to you? If it was the later, then that can have an impact.

Slingshot
25th February 2005, 16:56
American express has a reduced interest rate of 9% for 6 months for balance transfers from a compeditors card. You buy something on credit card B, wait the 55 days and transfer the balance to the American express. After 6 months you transfer it back to credit card B, and then transfer it to the American express card.

You still have to make minimum payments and have to remember to transfer the balance, but interest rate is lower. Understand?

Allways make sure you are paying off more than the mimimum amount

All you're doing is recycling the debt, you'll probably find that the companies will pick up on this unless you falsify the application forms, in which case, if they find out you're in the poo.

jrandom
25th February 2005, 17:00
American express has a reduced interest rate of 9% for 6 months for balance transfers from a compeditors card.

Oooh. I didn't know they did that. I have an AMEX, but it's a charge card.

jrandom
25th February 2005, 17:02
Anyway, were you shopping around for the best deal or someone that would lend to you? If it was the later, then that can have an impact.

In that case, it was a 'best deal' thing.

I don't recall ever being turned down for finance. Why *would* they...

FROSTY
25th February 2005, 19:50
What would be the likelihood of using my car that is fully paid off as security for a bank loan for a bike?

Would that be accepted along with a good income?
However I want to avoid getting a loan so soon after just having paid of my car. Repayments are a bitch. Just want to know if it's likely or not to be accepted. :(
Ok well um er -I do this stuff all day sooooo.
Yep bank loan is gonna be cheapest However first teir (sp) finance companies can still be a better option.
I'd suggest in the first instance visiting the AA and using their finance,
Its actually GE finance but the AA do so many deals they get a super good interest rate--13.9%
Re using car as collateral --No worries--Send me a PM Gen I can do a valuation for you for finance purposes.-basicly yep theyll use the car as security no worries.

Racey Rider
25th February 2005, 20:31
Except for the extra searches that will show on your credit report from Baycorp, if you have too many searches, it can put lenders off.

How can I find out about my credit report? :spudwhat:
Is it free?

Slingshot
25th February 2005, 22:21
Ring Baycorp and ask them for a copy

onearmedbandit
25th February 2005, 22:57
hey guys, dont know to many finance companys, but would any of yous be able to suggest some finance companys with low interest rates for motorcycles as last time i had finance on a bike the interest was 17.5 % from south island finance :S


The question no-one has asked, including myself untill now, is what are you buying? You must be updating, or adding another bike. So tell us, what is it?