Spotlight Case Study

Last month we had a tough deal come through our doors. Why was it tough? Because it was an out of the ordinary car, it was an imported vehicle, which was being sold privately. When it comes to cars, the age, type, condition, model of the car are important factors. Even who is selling the car can dictate your finance, for instance, are you buying it privately, or through a dealer?

In this particular instance, the client had already been quoted through a major car finance brokerage, and they were seeking a second opinion as the rate was very high. I asked to check this and received a copy of the email from the competition, indeed, it was high, double digits. Despite the rate not being explicitly quoted, the combination of deposit, balloon, amount financed and repayment quoted was enough for us to deduce the rate. On top of this, they wanted a hefty deposit, one fifth of the price of the car to be exact, when the client preferred to remain liquid and hold onto their cash.

The vehicle was an import from America years ago that had been converted to left hand drive. Further to this, it was already 8 years old, despite having very low KMS. Some lenders would accept these things but not in partnership with the fact that the vehicle was being sold privately. Most lenders would only finance this type of vehicle, if it was sold by a licenced dealer. After some research with our business partners, I identified a bank on our panel that would be willing to look securing finance against the car. To be honest, every other lender said no. I was not disillusioned however, as the bank indicating they would finance it was a good one, with very competitive rates. I shot up the highway to inspect the car, it was in very good condition. As a result of the condition report and photos we were able to negotiate an even lower rate than originally anticipated.

Further to this, the client did not have to put any deposit down. In the end our rate with our lender was less than HALF the competition. Yesterday I heard a honk and saw my client wave as I crossed the road, they were in the import car. I gave them a wave and was happily reminded of how narrowly we can escape uncompetitive rates and obtain great results simply by undertaking the research required to be the best in our fields.

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