Car Finance FAQs

The rate or APR you’re offered by lenders on a loan will be based on both your credit history and personal circumstances.

At Aro, we precisely assess all of your borrowing needs. Then, we use your data to match you with the best products for you and your finances. We also clearly indicate when a rate is real (guaranteed) or representative (advertised).

This means you’re clear on what rate you can expect before you proceed with a lender.

Not clear on the difference between real and representative rates? Our guide to real rates explains all.

No, our smart search won’t impact your credit score. At Aro, we only use a soft credit check to match you with accurate borrowing options. This means that when you look for a loan, credit card or car finance through us, the search on your credit file won’t be visible to anyone but you.

If you do choose to proceed with a lender, the lender may run a hard credit check to make their final decision.

As a credit broker, currently we have over 50+ UK lenders, credit card providers, mortgages and specialist car finance brokers that we can check your eligibility against.

Aro is a credit broker, not a lender. This means that when you check your loan, credit card or car finance options through us, we use smart decisioning to quickly check your details against our lenders’ eligibility criteria and find you suitable borrowing options.

There are a few key differences between personal car loans vs hire purchase (HP) agreements:

So here’s a point by point breakdown.

• You can borrow more with HP – up to £200,000;
• HP agreements place the burden of security against your car, whereas a personal loan is not;
• With a personal loan, you’ll always own your car from the point of purchase. But with HP agreement, you’ll own your car once you make the last payment;
• You might need a deposit with for HP, you won’t with a personal loan;
• You have more flexibility on where you can buy your car from with a personal loan;
• There may be mileage restrictions with HP while you pay off your finance.

Good question. Essentially, this all comes down to you and your situation. If you have a lower credit score or are already responsible for a number of credit repayments, you might find that the maximum amount you’re eligible to borrow is a bit less.

That said, typically personal loans range from £500 to £35,000 over terms of 1 to 7 years. If you’re a homeowner, you could also think about a homeowner loan. Homeowner loans tend to range from £5,000 to £500,000+ over terms of 1 to 30 years.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any other debt secured on it.

For credit cards, all cards come with a minimum and maximum credit limit. The credit limit you’re offered will depend on your personal circumstances. If you’re not offered the maximum credit limit straight away, your credit card provider could increase your credit limit in the future.

If you’re searching for car finance, Aro can help you compare both hire purchase (HP) and personal contract purchase (PCP) agreements. Our car finance options could help you borrow up to £200,000 over terms of 1 to 6 years.

With a hire purchase agreement (HP), the finance is secured against the value of the car. This means you won’t officially own the car until your last payment has been made. You’ll need to buy your car from a dealership that’s been approved by your chosen lender, then you’ll pay for your car in monthly instalments plus interest over the agreement term. Some lenders will need you to pay an initial deposit at the start of your agreement.

A personal car loan is an unsecured loan which you can use to purchase a new or used car. With a personal loan, you borrow a fixed amount off a lender, then pay it back in monthly instalments plus interest over the loan term.

Here at Aro, you can do a car finance eligibility check for both personal car loans and hire purchase agreements. If you’re eligible for both, you’ll see both options alongside each other in your search results. Moreover, checking your eligibility with us won’t harm your credit score.

This stands for Annual Percentage Rate – which is the cost of borrowing money over the course of a year. Having it as a percentage figure allows people to compare the cost they’ll face when taking out a loan or credit card. It is important to note that an APR is different from an APRC.

Lenders also use something called ‘Representative APR’. This is the APR that 51% or more of successful applicants will get. But that rate may not be available to the other 49% of applicants, who are likely to be offered a higher rate.

This is why it’s so important to pay attention to the APR% when checking your eligibility, as it gives you a good idea of just how much you will be paying each year for borrowing money from lenders. For more advice, take a look at our article on explaining Annual Percentage Rates. You might also like to know how your APR is decided or what is Representative APR %?