You don’t always need a deposit to get a car on finance. We work with lenders who’ll get you on the road, without needing to pay anything upfront.
Zuto is a credit broker, not a lender. Our rates start from 8.9% APR. The rate you are offered will depend on your individual circumstances. Representative Example: Borrowing £9,000 over 60 months with a representative APR of 20.9% the amount payable would be £234 a month, with a total cost of credit of £5,047 and a total amount payable of £14,047.
In a nutshell, it’s taking out finance for a car without putting down a lump sum at the start. If you don’t have any money to put down, then no deposit car finance is one of the best ways to spread the cost of buying a car. There may be numerous reasons why you can’t get a deposit together, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be in the market for a car. It’s especially useful if you need to replace a car quickly, and don’t have time to raise a deposit, or you have other big expenditures at the same time.
By taking out car finance with no deposit, you’ll just pay the value of the car, plus interest, over regular monthly payments, although your payments will be higher than they would be with a deposit as you’ll be borrowing more.
People sometimes pay a deposit when they get car finance; in some instances, it can help with getting an approval from a lender and helps reduce monthly repayments.
But we know it’s not always possible to save for that upfront cost. Fortunately, with Zuto, getting no-deposit car finance is as simple and straightforward as getting any other type of car finance.
Having bad credit and no deposit, doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t get car finance. Zuto works with a number of specialist lenders who consider all credit histories. It may be that you’ll pay a higher APR or interest rate as a result, but you may still be able to buy a car and we’ll happily search our lenders for you. If you’re able to put together even a low deposit, it will reduce the amount of borrowing required, and your monthly payments.
As a buyer with no deposit, you still have plenty of options available. As always, it’s worth considering what your budget is and what monthly payments you can afford, factoring in running costs. Nearly new cars may have fewer miles on the clock, but they’re usually more expensive and will require more borrowing and higher repayments. Used cars tend to be cheaper, and so will require less borrowing, and therefore repayments will be lower, also without any upfront cost.
If you’re concerned about negative equity in your car, then a deposit is a good way to protect against that. By paying a lump sum towards a car, the amount you’re borrowing will actually be less than the car is worth. Equally, even a small deposit may make a difference to what cars you can access, depending on what the lender is prepared to offer you. If a lender will only finance you for £9,000, but you want a £10,000 car, you’ll either have to find a £1,000 deposit, or settle for a £9,000 car instead.
Your main finance options will be Hire Purchase (HP) and Personal Contract Purchase (PCP). With HP, the car’s value is split into a number of equal chunks, depending on the length of the finance contract, ranging from 12 to 60 months. You pay for the cost of the car, plus the interest, and when you make the final payment, the car is yours.
PCP is different. Again, you make regular monthly payments, but instead of paying off the value of the car, you pay off its depreciation. The depreciation is the difference between what the car is worth at the time of purchase and at the end of the contract. Once the contract is up, you have several options. You can give the keys back, you can make what’s called a ‘balloon payment’ to own the car or, if the car is worth more than expected at the end of the contract, you can use the excess towards a deposit for another car.
Zuto works with a panel of lenders who can offer no- or low-deposit car finance. Whether you apply online or talk to our team, we’ll be able to discuss your options with you; together, we’ll find suitable car finance deals, no deposit required. We also work with lenders who specialise in bad credit car finance.
In theory, there’s no set limit to how much you can borrow without a deposit. Each application is considered on its own merits, which means we’ll run a tailored search, based on the amount you want to borrow and your credit history, to find lenders from our panel that can offer zero-deposit car finance.
A no-deposit car loan provides the flexibility you need to buy a new or used vehicle. Car finance options available include PCP, Hire Purchase (a type of finance where payments are based on the car's value), or a personal loan.
Advantages
Disadvantages
No deposit car finance deals are a popular choice for car buyers, with flexibility based on a few simple requirements:
No-deposit car finance is really simple. Just apply online or get in touch with our team, to get the ball rolling.
The length of your finance agreement depends on whatever’s right for you and your lender. A longer plan can mean smaller monthly payments, but you might spend more in the long run with the interest.
Whether you’re looking for a family SUV or a city run-around, we should be able to help find the right car for you. Some of our lenders have minimum requirements on a car such as age and mileage. We can help clarify these details when we speak, and help you find appropriate 0% finance on used cars (no-deposit) and new vehicles.
As no-deposit car finance agreements are loans, you must be 18 or over to apply.
Paying off your 0-deposit car finance early depends on the agreement you have with your lender. You can contact us for any support.
Whether you can keep a car after a finance period depends on your agreement:
A zero deposit car finance agreement will take the same time to process as any other type of loan.
We may still be able to help you find a no-deposit deal, even if you have a bad credit rating, so please get in touch. You can also find out more about getting car finance with bad credit.
Want to understand if you need to pay anything upfront to the dealer when buying your new car? Find out more in our guide.
Looking for a car finance deal but want to know if a deposit is required? Our guide explains all.
A guide to explain what a balloon payment is and how it could affect your car finance application