Inflation is making new cars more and more expensive, and used cars are also more expensive than they have been for a long time. If you choose cheap car financing, you can still keep the burden low, as FMH-Finanzberatung has determined.

combustion engine? electric car? Hybrid? Anyone who is currently thinking about buying a new car faces a variety of challenges. Because not only the decision for the right type of drive was rarely more difficult. The market has also changed in recent years: Anyone who wants a new car not only has to dig deep into their pockets thanks to record inflation, but also expect delivery times of a year or more. This also has consequences for the used car market: Good second-hand cars are rare – and therefore more expensive than they have been for a long time.

Anyone who is dependent on a new set of wheels therefore often needs financing. But which bank offers the best conditions? On behalf of ntv, FMH-Finanzberatung researched where the cheapest car loans are available.

Basically, banks are quite happy to lend money for a car purchase. Firstly, because the object of financing has a certain resale value and secondly, because the loan amounts are significantly more substantial than when financing a new television or a dishwasher.

However, the conditions on which the banks grant their loans vary, depending on whether the interest rates are the same for all customers or whether they vary depending on their creditworthiness. Some banks also have different interest rates for different maturities.

The FMH-Finanzberatung has therefore differentiated between creditworthiness-dependent and creditworthiness-independent offers for the evaluation of the offer. And she calculated an average of the possible loan terms for the comparison, because the customer preferences are very different here: Some want to pay off their debts as quickly as possible – for example in 36 months. The others want a low rate above all – and accept a significantly longer term.

In the latter case, the loan will be somewhat more expensive. However, the risk is manageable, because the legislator has stipulated that customers who repay their car loan early must pay a maximum of one percent of the amount repaid too early as compensation: with a repayment of 8500 euros, that would be just 85 euros.

Customers will find the cheapest car loan in the creditworthiness-dependent offers. A loan of 25,000 euros from Ikano-Bank costs 710.40 euros per month for a term of 36 months. For 72 months, the customer only pays 363.08 euros – assuming the best credit rating. After 36 months he would only have paid 13,071 euros and still owed 12,776 euros. However, not too many customers are likely to achieve the credit rating “very good”.

For this reason, the legislator has obliged the banks to also name interest, which two thirds of the customers receive. In this constellation, for example, the Bank of Scotland is at the forefront, while the Degussa Bank scores in the offers that are independent of creditworthiness.

Deutsche Bank, Postbank and HypoVereinsbank also received the rating “very good” for the nationwide offers. Sparda-Bank Südwest (only in the branch), Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf and PSD Bank West shine among the regional banks.

Anyone who is currently looking for their best car loans will find them in the ntv installment loan comparison

(This article was first published on Monday, November 21, 2022.)