Trying to finance a car with the bank....ridiculous

I have saved up £12K this year in hopes of starting to buy a house but NOW my husband and I can't for whatever reason get a simple £8K loan to finance a car at our bank (Lloyds). So now I'm supposed to pay straight up cash? How the hell are we supposed to build any credit when they say "we don't know you well enough" even though my husband has been here for 3 years and has had a steady job?!?! I am so furious right now, it's absolutely ridiculous!!!! Having to put down that much in cash for something stupid like a car that depreciates in value is so stupid. Hubby's job insists he have a good working car for his work, they aren't providing him a company car. This all makes me sick. What to do?  

Try another bank?

Some ideas of the top of my head:

1) Try another bank, although they all use the same credit agencies the banks can interpret the results in different ways.

2) Have a look at dealer financing, you may get a slightly worse APR (although that's not always true nowadays) but it's in the dealers interest to get you the loan, he wants the sell.

3) This is not one for every one but depending on your limit you can whack it on a credit card.  Most places will charge a fee for this (1-3%) but if you have a cc with one of the 0% deals you can still come out ahead.  Plus you get all those lovely airmiles!

2) Have a look at dealer financing, you may get a slightly worse APR (although that's not always true nowadays) but it's in the dealers interest to get you the loan, he wants the sell.

This.   I dont know where you are located, but if you are anywhere near London, try CarGiant - they will finance pretty much anyone.

Try lowering your amount £8K for a car is quite a bit for the bank to lend you. Used cars are cheaper here than they are in the US, you could get a really reliable, nice car for around £2K (I'm looking at cars around £1K at the moment and they're great).

You could also just drive that around for a while and look to get a larger loan when you have a more established credit history.

Honestly, I agree with you all. I personally think 8K is a lot to be spending for a car. My husband insists on having something good for his job, I think he should reconsider his job if they're requiring him to have a good car, won't provide a company car and he's that worried about it. He is very skilled with computers and works in IT so it's not like he couldn't find work elsewhere.

He said he was considering cargiant as well. I just can't handle being totally gutted, no money for a rainy day and having to cancel a trip to see my family when i haven't seen them in almost 2 years.

Hubby's job insists he have a good working car for his work, they aren't providing him a company car. This all makes me sick. What to do? 

I think he should reconsider his job if they're requiring him to have a good car, won't provide a company car and he's that worried about it. He is very skilled with computers and works in IT so it's not like he couldn't find work elsewhere.

One thing that jumps out at me here is what you're defining as a good car.  Do work want him to have a 'fancy' car, which sounds unusual and a bit unreasonable?  Or do they just need him to have something reliable because his job involves travelling to work on site?

Job has to do with a reliable car going from point A to point B and won't break down. My husband has his own standards of what he thinks is acceptable and reliable. Personally I think you could find a decent car for under 8K, he whines that they're probably junk and having to fix them when they break down isn't worth the lower price. I think he's just worried about the car breaking down when he's having to go onsite for something, I think he's worrying somewhat excessively. Unfortunately his boss is gone this week and we're supposed to be going on holiday to visit DH's family... all this is pretty bad timing. Don't know how that's going to work out.  

Ha!  I suspected as much.

You can certainly get a reliable car for less than 8K.  I understand your hubby wanting a nicer car (who doesn't) but it's not fair on you for him to use work as an excuse to spend more than you want to.  You say in your first post that the whole things making you feel sick, have you told you husband how you feel?

Job has to do with a reliable car going from point A to point B and won't break down. My husband has his own standards of what he thinks is acceptable and reliable. Personally I think you could find a decent car for under 8K, he whines that they're probably junk and having to fix them when they break down isn't worth the lower price. I think he's just worried about the car breaking down when he's having to go onsite for something, I think he's worrying somewhat excessively. Unfortunately his boss is gone this week and we're supposed to be going on holiday to visit DH's family... all this is pretty bad timing. Don't know how that's going to work out.  

Sounds like the issue is with your husband, not the bank. I'd put my foot down tbh, to spend £8K on a car when you only have £12K saved up is madness to me. I don't really buy the reliability factor, he can get a good quality reliable hatchback, like a Polo for half that £8K and he can always get AA cover or whatever to come help him out if he breaks down.

Tough one really as I don't really see where he's coming from, if a car is that important than work should supply one, the fact that they're not gives him carte blanche to drive whatever he wants to drive. Cars aren't as much of a status symbol here really, many people drive odd or vintage or quirky cars, people tend to go for economy (because fuel is so blooming expensive!) rather than having the larger sedans etc.

No one will give him a second look if he drives a little hatchback *shrug*

Yeah, I've told him how I feel. It gets pretty argumentative at the moment. I think he's influenced by "car culture" more than me. He likes to talk about cars with his dad, his dad has a nice car, his boss drives race cars. I don't think he's meaning to be selfish but I think he has this Swedish mentality about reliability and safety or something. I am just not into cars, if it has four wheels and runs, I'm good. I just think it seems kind of stupid to pay a bunch of cash out for a car in those circumstances, you aren't even building credit on it.

Having to put down that much in cash for something stupid like a car that depreciates in value is so stupid.

Maybe this is not now how you meant it, but I'm not sure borrowing that much money for a car in today's economy is such a great idea either.  Unfortunately, IT is still an extremely unstable part of the job market.

Like the others have said, you can get a good, reliable second-hand car for far less than £8k.  IMO you'd be much better off to pay cash for a decent little run-around than finance an expensive car.

I agree. I think you could get a decent car for 4K. And if it breaks down when he's going on site, so what? Seems pretty ridiculous that they'd can him over something like that.   I just think if work-related car matters are that important, it should be the employer's responsibility to provide a car or support, or at least not hold him accountable if they can't.

I agree. I think you could get a decent car for 4K. And if it breaks down when he's going on site, so what? Seems pretty ridiculous that they'd can him over something like that.  

Obviously, I know nothing about how financially viable spending any amount of money on a car is for you & your husband; only the two of you can decide.

However, speaking as a guy who gets called in sometimes to come up with last-minute solutions to desperate problems created by other people, I'd feel personally responsible and disappointed in myself if I had to call in on the way to a job to report that I wasn't going to make it after all because my car broke down.  And maybe they wouldn't fire him for that happening once, but you also don't want to get the reputation of someone who cannot be counted on in a crisis.

Anyway, I'm sure y'all will come to some agreement; I just wanted to point out that your husband may have other motivations aside from just wanting a nice car.

{ducks}

If the problem really is making sure he gets to the job then a cheaper option is just springing for the fancy AA/RAC/whatever coverage that takes you to your destination and/or provides a courtesy car.