fruitbat1970

My company is changing its Company car policy and insisting that we buy our own cars and then will be paid an allowance, ok in theory (well kind of) but it means an initial outlay...

In the Uk i would take a personal loan out in preference to a car loan, but here things may be slightly different so therefore i ask the following questions

1. car loan or personal loan- benefits, disadvantages
2. with either of these is it possible to pay it off quicker than the loan period (ie a monthly top up)

Thanks in anticipation

CeeBee

Not many people like the idea but HSBC do a PCP type scheme where you essentially offset an amount (usually 45% of the purchase price) for say 3 years. Ok you don't own the car outright but it depends if that really bothers you. The plus point is that you can get a MUCH better car for lower monthly rates. See this link...
http://www.mefco.hsbc.com/hsbc/hmef_...inancial-lease

lionheart

Why not buy a good quality used car from Al Futtaim Automall rather than a brand new one? The rate of depreciation will be much less.

Coxy the Bear

I got excitedreading that...until I read the you must have 3 months bank statements bit. I've been looking to see if it's possible to do a PCP here, and thats the only one I've found. None of the dealers seem to entertain it.

fruitbat1970

I wasnt planning on buying a new car,but more than likely a 4x4 as i currently have a company car and a very cheap jeep cherokee, however i am not keen to be commuting to dubai in that so decided that since i have to give up my company car then i should have something i can do both in (and i know there is lots of negative points to doing that) but i cannot justify owning 2 cars myself and i dont want to give up my weekend fun

IndieG

You can take a personal loan to buy your car - no problems.

Advantages:

You can buy a car with a nil down-payment.

Your car is not mortgaged - very useful in such cases: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=525235

Disadvantages:


Personal loans require a salary transfer letter. Your salary will have to be transferred to the bank (doesn't matter if you're taking a loan from the same bank where your salary is transferred)

Your company must be on the bank's approved list of companies (basically if you're working for a large company then you're ok)

Interest rates are typically higher - but you can negotiate.

If you prepay either loan early - they will sock you with pre-payment charges. I can give you tips to get around this

CeeBee

Why's that a problem? Don't you get payslips? Its what I'll be doing out there. Always done those types of deals....never saw the point of having a a straight up loan.

You can't buy a car till your a resident anyways can you?

Coxy the Bear

Yes, but you can't get a bank account till your a resident. Then if the finance is with another bank other than the one you bank with, you have to write the cheques for payments in advance. 48 months, 48 cheques.
I've been here 8 weeks, my bank account is just being sorted. If I wait until I've had 3 statements, I'm looking at buying a car in July/August, and quite frankly, I'm not waiting that long. Some of the banks will give you a cheaper rate than the PCP anyway, so it may not work out a lot cheaper.

IndieG

You can get a personal loan without a bank statement if you are new to Dubai.......

Send me a PM if you want more information.....

Confucius

What's the best interest lane on personal loans these days??? (Only numbers,names could be sent to interested parties by PM).
Car loans are going down to 3.75% with many banks now...

IndieG

Depends on three factors - your employer, your salary and the amount.

Still rip off greeeeeeeedy rates - 9.49!

CeeBee

So they basically don't do Direct Debit over there?
I just thought it was 3 months before you can buy a car as thats what my mate in AD told me. So that means that...if I bank with say HSBC...I could be getting a car straight away...which would be miles better than having to drive a clapped out 'somethingorother'. What you lookin at getting?

Indie...what sort of interest rates do you reckon you'd pay? edit.......already answered...i'm far too slow

Confucius

9.49 flat rate??? My colleague got a personal loan to buy a 20 yo car, I think the flat rate came to 5.5%...The amount was about 75K...

Confucius

5 years ago, I bought my first bank financed car here, with only 2 months of bank statement...At the time, I've been in the country for 2 years already...Got my bank account in early 2003...I'm still old school...

IndieG

Sorry - thought you were talking about personal loans...

Auto Loans - guess 3.5%