2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
They usually attract with attractive offers. But which car banks are really recommended? The German Institute for Service Quality examined 15 banks.
Car banks often offer particularly affordable financing models for new vehicles. But interest rates and conditions are not always really good. And also when it comes to service, not everyone can convince. The German Institute for Service Quality has now examined a total of 15 automotive banks - both subsidiaries of German manufacturers and those of importers. Both the service and the credit terms were analyzed.
Fiat at the forefront
Fiat Bank performed best in the overall ranking, mainly due to its cheap financing offers. Both with the classic installment financing and with the three-way financing, a good credit level and zero percent financing convinced. Other car banks are not so reluctant there and collect up to 8.99 percent interest.
Not so, however, for the Opel subsidiary Financial Services, which also achieved second place in the overall ranking thanks to good conditions. Third place went to Renault Bank, which made the third best financing offers in the test.
In terms of service quality, all three providers landed in the upper half of the field of candidates, but could not dispute the victory for Mercedes-Benz Bank in this sub-category. The Stuttgart-based company was the only one to receive a “good” rating for service. In the overall ranking, however, it was only enough for fifth place due to the expensive financing offers.
Service could be improved
In general, the service at the car banks could be improved. In the case of Audi, Skoda and Toyota, for example, there was only one “sufficient”. Overall, the service via e-mail turned out to be the biggest shortcoming for almost all providers. Inquiries were partially not answered or only incompletely answered. The service on the phone was a bit better. And the websites were also reasonably convincing.
As always in financial matters, when buying a car, in addition to the offer from the manufacturer-bound car bank, it is also worthwhile to obtain that from another bank. Even if the car banks are often
particularly cheap, as the manufacturers and importers also use the financing offers as a marketing instrument and often grant special discounts. (SP-X)
