According to the popular price comparison service USwitch, the nation could be saving hundreds of millions of pounds on car finance . Basing their assumption on 2006 figures, when over two million cars were sold in the UK with 20 per cent sold in March, USwitch estimate that over 200 million pounds could be overpaid on car credit deals.

The wasted expenses will largely come from car buyers who walk straight into a dealership instead of taking out a personal loan . Numerous studies have recently found that over the life of a loan, extra interest on forecourt finance could be thousands of pounds.

USwitch were clear to warn car finance consumers that shopping around was the best decision, and a rushed deal was likely to be a bad one. According to a spokesman for the company, Nick White: Paying too much for car finance is really easy to avoid. People looking to buy a new car this year should first visit a price comparison website such as uSwitch.com to find the most competitive personal loan for their purchase – there are currently four available at less than 6 per cent APR. In fact, by organising the loan before visiting the car showroom, people will not feel pressurised to get the cash quickly to secure the car of their dreams.