What car loan to go for?

I need to get a car loan for €5,500 and I’m looking for advice on the best way to go about it. Credit Union is not an option.

Is it just a case of looking up the Best Buys list to find the cheapest APR and going with that? I bank with BoI and have my mortgage with them and a relative is a branch assistant manager so I reckon I could give it a shot to get them to match the best APR – anyone have any experiences of similar?

Any opinions on whether fixed or variable would be best?

Also what would the normal length of such a loan be? I bought a house with my girlfriend 5 months ago and have been renovating it since and living at home but will have no problems paying the mortgage and bills on my current salary and I’m getting a 10k rise at the end of the month so can afford the car, but I don’t want to cripple myself to get it paid in a year. Would 2 or 3 years be the norm in this case?

Or do people make small payments with a view to paying the remainder off in one lump when you sell the car in a couple of years for an upgrade and take out a new loan for that?

Thanks

The best buys list is just a summary. You really need to shop around and see what the best deal on offer is for your specific circumstances. Ring around a few places and try online to see what's on offer.

For €5,500, I reckon your best bet would be the personal loan from Tesco, but as Clubman says, shop around. Couple of things to note in relation to a car loan:

New cars and more expensive used cars qualify for the better rates (these are usually the ones advertised)

Some places won't give you a car loan if the term of the loan and the age of the car are more than x years (7 in the case of ptsb I think, i.e. if car is 3 years old, max term on loan is 4 years).

I don't think you qualify for car finance if you are buying privately (I have just bought a new (used) car and the dealer had to be a member of SIMI and I had to produce an invoice for the lender.

In the Banking etc. thread, techman has mentioned an NIB rate of 6.2% for personal loans, seems too good to be true, but worth checking out.

I'm just reaching the end of a 4 year €10k car loan that worked out at €300 p.m.. While I could handle it, it has now dawned on me that €300 p.m. is a significant draw from my pocket and that 4 years is a heck of a long time. 2 years is a reasonable time frame IMHO.

Well and good, but I wouldn't be able to afford to finance any sort of decent car over 2 years. Also, this would imply that you would be selling the car in 2 years (i.e. if we go on the maxim "match the term to the use").

if you want to make just small little payments a month, consider leasing the car at good interest rates (talk to the dealer or something)

however i would rather OWN the car myself, thus financing it means higher monthly payments