1 in 5 turn to bank loans for car purchases

22 February 2008

New research by the Halifax has shown that when it comes to financing their next car, nearly one in five respondents (18%) said they would use a bank loan.

The study by Halifax Unsecured Personal Loans found that many have the cash saved up with 59% saying they would use funds from either their current or savings account.

Of those that said they would borrow money to fund their new car purchase, one in five (20%) said they would borrow more to help pay for other expenses such as tax and insurance.

Neil Chandler, Head of Halifax Unsecured Personal Loans, said: "Whatever your reason for taking an unsecured personal loan, with Halifax you'll have no monthly repayments for the first three months.

"If you're buying a car, this will allow you to pay for other things such as road tax, MOT or car insurance."

The research also showed that more than half of those surveyed (57%) said they would usually buy a used car compared with just 24% who said they tend to buy new - Halifax said this was probably due to the depreciation involved in buying a new car.