What's the news?
New research carried out by One Direct, a wholly owned subsidiary of An Post, reveals some interesting buying habits of Irish motorists. Some 765 Irish car owners were polled and of those, 94 per cent said they spend up to six months shopping for a car. However, when deciding on car finance options 42 per cent of respondents only spend a couple of hours or less considering the options.
The most important factors car buyers look for in car finance packages were payback terms (20 per cent) bank or credit union credibility (16 per cent) and dealer credibility (15 per cent).
The number one deciding factor, however, is interest rates yet 46 per cent of those surveyed admitted to having no idea how much interest they are paying on their current car finance package.
The One Direct research also revealed that 32 per cent of respondents drive a car aged 11 years or older and 48 per cent of respondents only consider changing their car every six years plus. A decision that One Direct says could have a long-term impact on the quality of cars on Irish roads.
The research was conducted out to coincide with the launch of the new One Direct Car Finance offering, available in over 1,100 An Post branches nationwide. David Egan, Managing Director at One Direct said: "At One Direct, our aim is to help motorists buy a new or pre-owned car in an accessible way, that is easy to understand and quick to apply for. We understand buying a car is a big decision so we want to make sure that our customers are getting a competitive car finance product, tailored to their needs but lending only to those that can afford the repayments, while also addressing some of the concerns highlighted in our research."
Anything else?
The One Direct Car Finance offering is a hire purchase finance product for cars or light commercial vehicles (LCV's), the details of which can be found at www.onedirect.ie.