Has anyone bought a car recently? Are they still offering around prime (depending on credit record) or are they pushing for more than that due to the low interest rates?
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Vehicle sales have been on the up since lockdown, I believe. My dad just bought a new car as a result with fantatic interest rate.
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Thread Necro.
I was busy creating a new post and saw the same one come up with the exact same wording… also by me 
Any idea what the interest rates are like these days (relative to prime)? I’m going to buy a cheap car for my wife driving to work and back every day, but want to know how much I must fight for a good interest rate… or rather what is considered a good interest rate to fight for these days.
I managed to get prime - 3% (with a decent discount) when I bought our Volvo 2 years ago. But it was a Volvo, and 2 years ago. So not quite cheap nor recent. So it might not be all that relevant to your scenario. 
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Thanks though. I haven’t financed a car in a very long time so I have no idea what interest rates they offer these days.
Did you buy new, or second hand?
New… But with a very good discount, as it was used as a showroom floor demo and registered a couple of months before I bought it.
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Which model did you buy again and are you still enjoying it?
Volvo XC60 D4 Inscription in pearlescent white. One hell of a car, probably the last one I’ll buy for many years to come. The epitome of luxury and Swedish design. I still marvel at the beauty of the car every time I get out of it in a parking lot. The huge array of safety and active monitoring kit makes hitting something around you nigh on impossible - the active braking has saved us in at least 2 close calls and the pilot assist (auto drive) is a Godsend on longer trips. The heated and cooled seats keep you comfortable in any weather. The lack of rattles, squeaks and creaks keep you sane, even on rough and gravel roads.
Honestly, I understand their slogan of “Volvo for life” - not because of the presumed low resale value (I can sell mine now secondhand for more than I paid for it 2 years ago, brand new), but due to the comfort, safety, craftmanship and peace of mind it gives me. Whenever I need to buy a new car in the future, I’m very certain it will be another Volvo.
Can you tell I’m still enjoying it?
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I’ll support here. I bought my V40 T4 Excel in silver second hand 4 years ago. At 180 000 km on the clock, she’s still going strong.
A suicidal rooibok picked my Volvo as it’s murder weapon, and other than the noise, I didn’t feel the impact. The car still got us home safely, and while she looked worse for the wear, she still worked the two weeks or so I had to wait for the insurance to wake up. I’ve also been saved from hitting a pedestrian by the built in safety systems, and I still live the feel I get when I put foot to overtake someone. At 8.4l/100km actual petrol consumption, she’s not too greedy either.
I do have a couple of gripes:
- the low profile wheels are not well suited to the terrible Mpumalanga roads. This leads me to
- I wish she was an XC60.
- She’s an older model at 2013, so she doesn’t have the Volvo On Call internet connectivity that comes standard now for me to pull lovely data into my car spreadsheet.
Next car will most likely be either an XC40 or XC60, and if I can get the same great interest rate as @FarligOpptreden, I’d probably consider new as well. Seriously, how, dude?!
Summary: I love my Volvo.
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Ok, so they offered me prime + 1 on a fixed interest rate. So I nicely asked them to lower it by 1% and keep it at a fixed rate, which they did.
Overall I’m still winning because I’ll be paying about R400 per month on interest and getting back about R600 in eBucks. Only catch is that it will only be paid out 4 times a year instead of every month, but that’s ok.
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Volvo has been very appealing to me until I finally decided to try one. I replaced my GTI with the 2015 Volvo S60 D5. I figured it should be a good replacement since it gives similar power (think 155kw) and should be light of fuel… I was severely wrong on both accounts. I couldn’t stand the car and traded in again after a month. I only later found out that they changed the models in 2016 and I had the earlier model that came with the 2.4 TD engine whereas the later / 2017 model came with the improved 2.0 TD engine.
After that I bought the 2015 Audi A5 2.0T which was much lighter of fuel and much better power, but not very comfortable to drive. Radio and computers also very outdated (comparable to the 2010 GTI). Sold that after a year and got my current 2017 Audi A6 3.0TDI which is essentially what I’ve always wanted, but the 3.0TDI cars are scarce.
Too bad my time with it is limited as we’ll need a bigger vehicle soon which means I can’t even look at the VW Arteon, Volvo XC60 or any of the cars on my wishlist. My options are pretty much the Tiguan AllSpace or Audi Q7 or whatever other 7-seater cars are out there.
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XC90!!! Also a phenomenal car. My business partner’s wife is on her second one in a row. First time the 7 seater, this time the 6 seater. They also have 3 kids (older daughter and twins). Granted, their kids are much older now… with the older one completing first year of varsity now and the twins in grade 11.
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