Conditional Sale (CS) car finance is one of the easiest ways to finance a car.
When you buy a car on CS you will automatically own the car at the end of the agreement, with the cost of the car (minus any deposit you have or part exchange) spread over the full length of the loan. The length of the loan (the term) is fixed, typically somewhere between three and five years.
There are a couple of important points to consider though:
Firstly, as the loan is secured against the car you are buying, what this means is that the lender owns the vehicle until you have made all the payments due. If you fail to make the repayments, the lender has the right to repossess the vehicle.
With CS car finance you don't legally own the car until you make the final payment, until that payment is made the lender will hold the legal title to the car.
Secondly, although the lender legally owns the car until you've made that final payment, as the registered keeper, you are responsible for things such as the DVLA Vehicle Tax, insurance, servicing, and maintenance. However, since you don't own the car, you cannot sell or modify it without the lender's permission.
How does CS car finance work?
Conditional sale is nice and easy to understand, the contract you enter into with the lender has three components:
1) You pay a deposit (which can in some case actually be zero)
2) You'll then pay a fixed number of monthly payments
3) At the end of the agreement you automatically own the car
Is CS car finance right for me?
A conditional sale agreement could be right for you if:
● You want to keep your car the at end of the contract
● You don't want to worry or think about mileage restrictions
● You prefer to spread the full cost of the car evenly over 3 to 5 years
