Car finance. Made simple.

Our free eligibility checker takes about 30 seconds and uses a soft credit check — so it won't affect your credit score. You'll need to provide your monthly budget, personal details (name, date of birth, contact info), address history for the last 3 years, and employment status. You'll then see your chance of approval, a personalised APR estimate, which finance types (HP or PCP) you may be eligible for, and an estimate of how much car you can afford based on your budget. These results are a guide to help you understand your options before you apply.

A guarantor is someone who agrees to be responsible for your car finance payments if you can't make them — essentially a safety net for the lender. They're typically a close friend or family member with a good credit history, usually over 21, and often a homeowner. Guarantor finance can help if you have a limited or poor credit history, as lenders feel more confident approving the loan with that extra security. However, guarantor car finance isn't that common these days — most finance providers don't offer it. If you're concerned about eligibility, we'd recommend trying our free soft credit check first (it won't affect your credit score), or considering a larger deposit to improve your chances.

Some of our lenders do offer finance for commercial or business use, but this may not be at the same rates shown on our website. Speak with our team and we can explore your options.

Here's how the finance process works once you've decided on a car:

1. Check your eligibility (optional) — Use our free eligibility tool at carsa.co.uk/car-finance to see your likely APR without affecting your credit score.
2. Reserve your car — When you reserve and collect, we'll do a soft credit check to confirm your likely APR. This rate is indicative and may change after the full application.
3. Complete your finance application — You'll either receive a text message with a link to complete your application, receive a call from one of our team to do it over the phone, or you can call us to complete it.
4. Wait for approval — The finance lender will review your application. They may request additional documents (like proof of income or address).
5. Book your collection — Once approved, our team will be in touch to arrange your collection date.
6. Sign at the branch — When you collect your car, you'll sign your finance paperwork in person.

If you have questions about your application status, you can call us on 0330 040 1031 or text us — our SMS service can look up your specific application details.

Yes, you're welcome to use finance arranged through your own bank or another lender instead of our in-house options.

If you use external finance, a separate admin fee applies. For full details on fees, please see our administration fees page.

Just let our team know during checkout or when you visit the branch that you'll be paying with your own finance, so we can structure the invoice correctly.

PCP usually offers lower monthly payments and greater flexibility if you like to change cars every few years. However, you’ll need to pay a balloon payment if you want to own the car outright. HP has higher monthly payments, but once the final payment is made, the car is automatically yours.

PCP is a more flexible type of finance where part of the cost is deferred into a final “balloon payment” (known as the Guaranteed Future Value). At the end of the agreement, you can choose to:

• Pay the balloon payment to own the car.
  
• Hand the car back, as long as it’s in good condition and within mileage limits.
  
• Trade it in for another car, using any value left over as your deposit.
  

To see how this looks in practice, find a car on our website and use the finance calculator — you can adjust the deposit, term, and mileage to see how payments change.

If you want to see if you might be eligible for PCP, you can check your eligibility with our finance eligibility checker.

HP is a simple and straightforward type of finance. You pay a deposit, then fixed monthly instalments over an agreed term. Once all payments (and any small option-to-purchase fee) have been made, the car is yours. HP is a good option if you know you want to own the car outright at the end of the agreement.

If you want to see if you might be eligible for HP, you can check your eligibility with our finance eligibility checker.

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