Most people buying a used car will be taking out finance of some kind to pay for it, but there are plenty of options available in used car finance that make it worth shopping around rather than taking whatever a car dealer offers you.
If you’re buying a used car from a franchised main dealership, they will usually steer you towards the car manufacturer’s own finance company when offering you a finance quote. But that’s mainly because it’s better for them, rather than for you – always bear in mind that car dealers get sales commission for selling you car finance, as well as for selling you a car.
So if you’re looking to buy a used car, it absolutely pays to shop around for the finance offer you can find. Very few people even question whether the dealer’s finance offer is competitive, and only start looking around for alternatives if they are turned down for finance at the dealership.
Many independent finance brokers also specialise in bed credit car finance, for customers who struggle to be accepted by the car manufacturers’ own finance companies.
When taking out finance on a used car, the interest rate you pay on the money you’re borrowing will depend on a number of factors, like how much you’re borrowing and over how long, but a key factor is your credit history. If you have an excellent credit history, you might only pay about 7% APR. But if your credit history is poor, you could easily be paying more than 20%.
The sites below all list a ‘Representative APR’ number, which is what they expect at least 51% of customers to be offered. A higher Representative APR on a site usually means they help a larger number of sub-prime (bad credit) car finance applications, while a lower Representative APR often means they concentrate more on prime (good credit) customers.
So here’s our current list of some of the best sites for used car finance. These are all credit brokers, rather than lenders, which means they will find you the best deal available from the lenders who actually lend you the money.
We Finance Any Car*
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<p><strong>They say:</strong> “We finance cars and take the hard work out of the process for you.”</p>
<p>Essex-based We Finance Any Car is one of the best-known used car finance brokers around, catering for both hire purchase (HP) and personal contract purchase (PCP). It offers a ‘Beat the Dealer’ feature, as well as a car finance calculator. The calculator should be taken as a guide rather than gospel, but it does give you an idea of how your monthly payment changes depending on your credit rating, term or amount borrowed.</p>
<p>With a Trustpilot score of 4.9 based on more than 200 reviews, We Finance Any Car is highly rated by its customers.</p>
<p>Rates from 6.9% APR. Representative APR 23.9%</p>
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<p><strong>They say:</strong> “Motorly makes car finance simple.”</p>
<p>Motorly has a clear and easy-to-read site that explains everything quite well. Our main criticism is that it has about 24 unnecessary duplicate pages for “Car Finance in [your region here]” that are all exactly the same apart from the name of the city (“Car Finance in Glasgow” is – unsurprisingly – exactly the same as “Car Finance in Birmingham” aprt from the names of the cities). This is 2022, guys, and Google doesn’t work like that anymore.</p>
<p>Like all the providers on this page, Motorly can find you a finance deal from its panel of lenders and offers a choice of HP, PCP and personal loans.</p>
<p>Rates from 6.9% APR. Representative APR 22.9%</p>
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<p><strong>They say: </strong>“We’re passionate about matching people to a finance package that’s right for them.”</p>
<p>You might have seen the familiar Zuto logo on Auto Trader, which is because it’s the site’s preferred finance partner. It also has a Trustpilot customer review score of 4.6 from more than 11,000 reviews, which suggests that the vast majority of customers are happy with the service they receive.</p>
<p>Zuto’s site has plenty of good explanatory content that explains the different requirements for differing circumstances. The site is quite clear that it only works with what it calls ‘verified dealers’ that meet its requirements. That may limit your choice of car somewhat, but it increases the chances of the whole experience running smoothly and without any drams berfore, during or after your car purchase.</p>
<p>Rates from 8.9% APR. Representative APR 19.3%</p>
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<p><strong>They say:</strong> “Buy online, get it delivered, love it or return it”</p>
<p>Fairsquare integrates your finance preferences with a selection of cars available from its car dealer partners, which effectively reverses the usual process of finding a car you like and then working out how much it would cost you to finance it.</p>
<p>Fairsquare also provides car finance options for new cars and vans, including purchase financing like HP and PCP as well as leasing if you prefer a simple rental.</p>
<p>Rates from 7.9% APR. Representative APR 17.1%</p>
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<p><strong>They say: </strong>“We match car finance to you”</p>
<p>Match Me Car Finance has a very clean and simple website with all the relevant information clearly visible on the front page. Like most sites here, there is a page of largely pointless blog articles that have nothing to do with car finance, but at least they’re hidden away out of sight…</p>
<p>The Representative APR information is clearly stated up front, which is nice. There’s not a lot of explanation of different finance products or options, with only a minor mention of hire purchase.</p>
<p>Rates from 7.9% APR. Representative APR 21.9%</p>
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<p><strong>They say: </strong>“Going the extra mile to get the car and finance you deserve.”</p>
<p>Like Fairsquare, Choose My Car shows you a range of cars from their affiliated dealerships that fit into your monthly budget. The site’s homepage is well laid out, but unfortunately the explanations are basically word salad as they try to fit as many car finance keywords into each paragraph in an attempt to grab Google’s attention.</p>
<p>However, there is a nice table that clearly shows the different finance products they offer and the features of each so you can compare. There’s also a good FAQ section with helpful information, but unfortunately both of these features are hidden away in a sub-menu rather then being presented up front where they would be more useful.</p>
<p>Rates from 6.9% APR. Representative APR 21.4%</p>
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<p><strong>They say: </strong>“We deliver the best vehicle finance deals for all of our customers regardless of their circumstances.”</p>
<p>Carvine puts equal weighting on its van financing and its car financing. There’s a particular emphasis on bad credit car finance for people who have been turned down by car dealer finance providers or banks. On that theme, there are some helpful links to consumer advice services like StepChange and the Money Advice Service, among others.</p>
<p>The site is simple and clear, although some of the descriptions could be clearer. There’s also the usual collection of pointless blogs about ‘the best car-inspired baby names’ and other nonsense. That probably won’t help you with your car finance application, although it may explain how you came to be called Edsel or Mercedes or 911 Carrera…</p>
<p>Rates from 6.9% APR. Representative APR 24.9%</p>
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