Britain is a very different place to how it was even three years ago. The recession has stunted the economy which will take years to recuperate, this has had an detrimental effect on people’s lives and will continue to do so for decades to come. Nothing and no one has escaped the vice-like grip of the recession, from the housing market to graduate job seekers, everyone has suffered. Big purchases are far from our minds at a time like this which is why car dealers, amongst many other businesses, have had to adapt to this re-defined market-place. Only the super rich will now be able to buy a car outright this has lead to the implementation of numerous finance packages which getting buying a new car that bit easier on your bank account.

Here are a selection of the current finance options on offer:

Buy Outright

Ultimately, this is the cheapest way of buying a car. Anyone walking to a dealership waving a wad of fifties will set the salesman’s tail wagging and tempt him to knock thousands off the price safe in the knowledge that he is making an instant sale. Of course very of little of us have thirty thousand pounds sitting in our account, this is where finance plans come in¦

Get a Loan

Depending on the plan that the dealer is proving, a bank loan may or may not be less expensive, the advantage is that you have the authority to barter on the overall cost if you borrow all or part of the cash to cover the purchase price.

Car Leasing

The simplest way to look at leasing would be to compare it to car rental. You make an agreement with the dealer or an private leasing firm to ‘hire’ a car over an agreed length of time, with a monthly rate. At the end of the term the car is returned. The advantage of this method is that you don’t need to worry about depreciation or selling up when you want a new model! There are some great car leasing deals about at the moment.

PCP

Personal Contract Purchase or known as contract hire is similar to leasing in that you ‘rent’ a car over a period of time, yet you also have the option of buying it at the end of the lease agreement. Typically you will pay a modest deposit followed by monthly payments at the end of which you will be faced the choice of paying off the rest of the car (a predetermined amount), using it as a deposit for a new car, or simply giving it back.

PCP is becoming very popular option among consumers having typically been used by firms to buy company cars, both this method and leasing offer mostly stress-free motoring. The problem with buying a car is that it will loose approximately a third of its value upon leaving the showroom, for many this is simply too high a figure in the current climate.