UK car buyers pay over £1bn a month for car finance

Over 4.7 million drivers are paying for car finance each month in the UK at the cost of £1.07 billion.

According to a study commissioned by Kwik-Fit, the average monthly payment across the country was £226.12.

Finance providers often highlight that one of the benefits of buying a car on finance is that motorists can drive a more expensive model than they might otherwise be able to afford.

Those drivers who bought their current car outright paid an average price of £10,511, while those using finance ‘bought’ a car costing 47% more, with an average price of £15,438.

The North West of England is the region with the biggest overall monthly bill, with 867,000 motorists paying a total of almost £200 million each month.

Individually, London drivers pay the most each month with an average payment of £269.01.  This is 43% more than motorists in Scotland, who have the lowest payments at £188.36 per month.

Kwik Fit’s research has also revealed that London drivers choose more expensive cars than the rest of the country.

On average, motorists in the capital have paid over £1,000 more than drivers from Yorkshire, the region with the second highest purchase price.

While the average purchase price paid by motorists across the country is £11,170 (including both new and used cars), drivers in London have paid 24% more than this at £13,814.

This is a whopping 44% more than South West, the region with the lowest average purchase price at £9,624.

Average purchase price of car by region