Avi

No idea whatsoever about loans, never had one before and never researched them, anyone any suggestions for a 20 Yr Old (good credit rating & 21 in a few weeks). Need to borrow approx £3000 (Over 18 months - 3yr) and want to be able to pay it back early if I can.

Anyone give me an idea where i can start, and what APR is a good one for this sort of cash?


Cheers

Andy

mik

Avi ~ look here

Do "compare loans" and see what you think.....

Avi

Thanks - Great

Dave P

Tesco's and Sainsbury's do good rates.

And I even negotiated a rate on mine with my Bank.

Dave

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Also try Thisismoney and Moneyextra

Goldfinger

Try cahoot - pretty good rates and flexible as well

Avi

Yup Cahoot look like the best deal... Just have to wait three weeks till i'm 21

darlodge

Why do you have to wait until you are 21? I have had a loan confirmed for £15,000 from the AA, and I only just turned 20, but I get paid very well.

But I am not taking out a loan that big.

Darren

Avi

21 for Cahoot.

I can get a loan, but cahoot allow early repayment - no penalties, and is web based. Can wait 3 weeks for it anyway ;D

Andy

scoobyskid

Small loan amounts attract high APR's. If there are no early repayment penalties then I suggest that you take a £15K loan or higher in order to get a reduced rate and then immediately pay back £12K. Check this out with the lender first! You may still be liable for first repayment on the £15K, so you need to compare this to how much extra you would pay on the inreased APR. Whatever you do, get the quote in writing before signing!

Mufasa

Watch out for Cahoot their APR is variable.

P1Fanatic

Yep as mufasa says Cahoot may well be good now but their loans are variable APR so all could change. I personally would never go for such a loan as if pretty much every other loan cpy can offer fixed rates why cant Cahoot?

Also dont use APR as a comparison as different companies calculate it differently. Instead just compare the monthly payment figures and total interest paid over the duration as this is what counts. Sainsburys and Lombard are good but IIRC charge two months interest for early repayment. Northern Rock dont and offer some great prices - I will be trying them shortly for a loan to pay for my P1

P.S. Scoobykid - isnt that a little suss? Surely if lenders let you get away with that then everyone would be doing it....

[Edited by P1Fanatic - 4/2/2002 12:22:38 AM]

MattN

never borrow more money than you need!!!

I can't see the logic in borrowing 15k if you only need 3k. There are penalties for early settlement so be careful.

For 3k I put it on a credit card and transfer it to another card. That should at least half the APR if not more, and it's more flexible.

Tiggs

"good credit rating" "never had a loan before" errr... these two dont always go together!

and dont borrow more than u need it will cost u

Tiggs

Avi

So I've not had a loan, but everything that's been on finance has been paid off ASAP and all my Cards and phones have all been paid off by DD. Does this not count towards a credit rating .. I thought it did, but maybe I was wrong?

Andy

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Another vote for the AA.

Good interest rate, didn't have to start paying for 2 months and also got a £75 cheque back

P1Fanatic

Thats a very good point about the credit cards. Egg are doing 0% interest for 6 months on their card, RBOS are doing 2.8% APR until Jan 2003. On £3k youd have to pay a minimum off of around £60 per month and then whatever extra you can afford that month so very flexible. Although if you really want to pay off over 3 years then it maybe a risk to find another low interest card when one runs out. 3 years does seem excessive for £3k and for a standard loan you will be hit with a higher APR for such a loan size.

Avi

Can quite happily cope with it over 18 Months or so. Couple of hundred a month.

P1Fanatic

Then the credit card approach seems the best way as long as youve got the discipline to keep paying it off as the payments will be totally down to you.