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6 ways you can cut costs on a new car

Want to buy a new car but need to cut down the costs? Read our 6 tips on how you can cut down the cost of buying a new car

13 March 2017Lucy Burgess 2 min read

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If you're in need of a set of wheels, the costs can seem overwhelming. Your aim to get as much car for as little money as possible, making sure you get the most from the seller. Thankfully, there are ways you can save money.

Just because you’re borrowing money to buy a car doesn’t mean you should accept the price on the windscreen. Before hitting the showrooms, check out the ‘target price’ of your dream car online and aim for something as close to this as possible.

Certain types of cars will be better value for money than others. If you’re willing to live with a different feature or model, you could find a car that makes your money go further, even if it’s not as high a specification as you had initially planned. For example, petrol cars tend to cost less than diesel to buy; smaller engines bring the cost of the car down; and manually operated cars tend to be cheaper than automatic.

Some months are better than others for buying a new car. All dealers have targets to meet, which are usually based on their quarterly sales targets. The end of March, June, September and December tend to be good times to buy, when sales assistants are more likely to offer better rates to secure their bonuses.

If you’re not in a desperate hurry to get the latest version of a new car, there are significant savings to be made. ‘End of line’ models often boast discounts of up to 30% on the original price.

If you’re planning to buy your car using finance, your credit score comes into play. Generally speaking, the higher your credit score, the more likely it is you’ll be accepted for car finance, and at the best interest rate. So checking your credit score and report regularly and taking steps to improve it could help you make big savings on any money you borrow.

Want to browse car finance deals? ClearScore searches a range of lenders to find market-leading deals from as little as 6.5% APR. See your offers now.

One other way to try and cut down on the cost of car finance is to choose the car you want a few months in advance. This way, you can start to plan (and improve) your credit worthiness before you go anywhere near a forecourt.

Generally speaking, the more time you have to improve your credit score the better. There are always quick things you can do to boost your score, but not every change you make will have an instant impact. So treat it like a long-term project to gradually increase your score.

Our 5 minute monthly checklist will help you get into the habit of checking regularly.

*Based on one of ClearScore’s car loan partners CreditPlus’s estimations of what APR you are likely to be offered based on your credit score, with a 10% deposit on a £25,000 loan over five years


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Written by Lucy Burgess

Global Content Manager

Lucy has a wealth of personal finance knowledge, and is one of our in-house experts.