Most used car finance is done inside a week

What this covers

This is not one customer. It is what 39 completed car finance deals look like when you line them up — because “how long does it take” is the question we are asked most, and a real distribution answers it better than a promise.

The timings

Median time from first enquiry to the supplying dealer being paid was seven days. The fastest was one day. Nineteen of the thirty-seven deals with usable dates completed inside a week.

The spread matters more than the average. A week is normal; a day is possible when the paperwork is clean and the dealer is responsive; and the longer ones are almost always waiting on something outside the finance — a vehicle still being prepared, a part-exchange to settle, or a document the customer has to find.

What makes the difference

• Going to the right lender first — 28 of the 39 were placed with a single funder, chosen deliberately rather than shopped around. Every extra application is another credit search and another delay.
• Having the vehicle settled — a decision is quick; paying out needs an invoice from a supplier who exists and answers the phone.
• Answering the underwriter the same day — most deals that took longer than a week were waiting on a reply, not on a decision.

Key outcome

A week from first conversation to driving it is the normal case rather than the best case, and it is usually the customer’s own paperwork, not the lender, that decides whether it is faster or slower.

“People assume the finance is the slow part. It very rarely is. The delay is almost always the vehicle or a document, which is why we ask for both up front rather than when the lender asks.”

— Conor, CW Asset Finance

Every application is assessed on its own merits and all finance is subject to status and lender approval. This is one client’s outcome and is not a guide to what any other business will be offered.