Financing a motorcycle or car through our financing partner
Would you like to buy a motorcycle or car from us and pay in monthly instalments? Motodam does not provide credit itself: we put you in touch with a financing partner, and the offer and the assessment come from that partner.
What financial lease is
Financial lease is a business way of buying a vehicle without paying the full amount at once. You ride or drive the vehicle from day one and pay the purchase price to the financier in fixed monthly instalments. From day one you are the economic owner: you carry the costs, the value and the risk, and the vehicle sits on your company's balance sheet.
The financier remains the legal owner until the final instalment has been paid. After that the vehicle is fully in your name. There is no mileage limit and you decide yourself where the vehicle is serviced.
The vehicle itself is the collateral for the financing. That is why a financier usually asks for no additional security, and also why the vehicle matters in the assessment: year of registration, mileage and what it is expected to be worth at the end of the term.
What to take into account
Financial lease has downsides too. You are committed for the full term and the monthly instalment keeps running, including in a month when business is slow. Early repayment is usually possible, but it may come with a fee. And because the vehicle serves as collateral, you cannot sell it freely while the contract runs.
Business or private
Business: financial lease for entrepreneurs
If you are an entrepreneur or freelancer, or you are buying through a BV, the application runs as financial lease in your company's name. The financier assesses your business and the vehicle, and the vehicle has to be used for business purposes.
What you need: a registration with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK), an authorised signatory who can show ID, and a vehicle that fits your business.
When you buy through your business you can generally depreciate the vehicle, and on a VAT vehicle the VAT can be reclaimed. Whether that applies in your situation, and for what share, depends on your business and on how much you use the vehicle privately. Ask your accountant, we do not give tax advice.
Private buyers: we refer you on
If you are buying privately and want to spread the payments, that is consumer credit. Motodam holds no licence for it, does not advise on it and does not broker it. We put you in touch with a partner that does hold the licence. That partner assesses your application, makes the offer and explains the terms to you.
"Let op! Geld lenen kost geld." This is the mandatory Dutch credit warning: borrowing money costs money.
A consumer loan is registered with the Dutch credit register BKR in Tiel, and your existing credits are checked there as part of the application.
Three things decide your monthly amount
Every quote comes back to the same three dials. Here is what they mean, so you know them before a calculator asks you to fill them in.
Down payment (aanbetaling)
The amount you put in yourself at the start. That can be cash, but it can also be the value of a motorcycle or car you trade in with us.
The higher the down payment, the lower the amount you finance and therefore the lower your monthly instalment.
Term (looptijd)
The number of months over which you repay the borrowed amount. In practice this runs from 12 to 72 months, and the financier also looks at the age of the vehicle.
A longer term lowers the monthly instalment, but you pay interest over a longer period and therefore more in total.
Balloon payment (slottermijn)
A part of the purchase price that you do not repay monthly, but pay in one go at the end of the term. The amount is tied to what the vehicle is expected to be worth by then.
A balloon payment lowers your monthly instalment, but you pay interest on that amount for the whole term and an amount falls due in one go at the end. You can pay it, refinance it, or settle it by selling or trading in the vehicle.
Calculate an indicative monthly amount
Fill in the purchase value, your down payment, the term and any balloon payment, and you will see roughly what the monthly instalment becomes.
This calculation is indicative, comes from our financing partner and no rights can be derived from it. The final offer and the terms come from the financier, after your application has been assessed.
What you need for an application
For a business application the financier usually asks for the documents below. Having them ready saves a lot of back and forth.
- A copy of valid ID of the authorised signatory.
- A recent extract from the Chamber of Commerce (KvK).
- Bank statements from the last few months of your business account.
- The vehicle details: registration, version and price. We supply those.
- For an established business, possibly annual figures or your most recent tax returns.
- Your VAT number, and whether the vehicle is a margin vehicle or a VAT vehicle.
- How much you are putting down, and whether you are trading in a vehicle.
How quickly you get an answer is up to the financier and not up to us, but a complete application moves noticeably faster than one that is still missing documents. We reply to your message within 24 hours.
If the application is declined
It happens, for instance because of your payment history, the age of your business or the vehicle itself. The financier explains why, and sometimes the application still goes through with a higher down payment or a shorter term. If it does not work out, that changes nothing about the vehicle: you can still buy it another way, or we look together at a motorcycle or car that fits your budget better. An application that does not go ahead costs you nothing with us.
Financing on a vehicle from our own stock
This route applies to a motorcycle or car that is in our own stock. We pass the vehicle details to the financier so the application is tied to the right vehicle from the start. Have you found something elsewhere? Ask us: sometimes we can source the same motorcycle or car for you, and if we cannot, we will say so.
Who provides the financing
Motodam does not provide credit itself and holds no AFM licence. The application runs through a financing partner, and the offer comes from that partner. These are the parties we currently refer to.
financiallease.nl
Business financial lease for entrepreneurs and freelancers. Applications from private buyers are handled through ROS Finance, which holds its own licence for that.
DTC Lease
Financing for both business and private buyers, under its own licence. More about them at dtc-lease.nl.
Frequently asked questions about financing
Can I finance a used vehicle?
Yes. Almost everything we sell is used, and financing is perfectly possible for it. The financier does look at the year and the mileage, because those decide how long the term can be and what the vehicle will still be worth at the end. On an older motorcycle or car the term is therefore often shorter.
Can I finance as a private buyer?
You can, but not through us. A loan to a private individual is consumer credit, and Motodam holds no licence for that. We put you in touch with a partner that does hold the licence and that assesses the application and makes the offer. "Let op! Geld lenen kost geld." (borrowing money costs money).
What is the difference between financial lease and operational lease?
With financial lease you buy the vehicle and repay it in instalments. You are the economic owner from day one, the vehicle sits on your balance sheet, and after the last instalment it is fully yours. With operational lease you rent: the leasing company stays the owner, carries the residual value risk and usually includes maintenance, insurance and a mileage budget. For vehicles from our stock we refer you on for financial lease.
Do I become the owner of the vehicle?
From the first day you are the economic owner: you use it, you carry the costs and the change in value. You become the legal owner after the final instalment, and after any balloon payment. Until then the vehicle serves as collateral for the financier.
Can I include the VAT in the financing?
Usually not. On a VAT vehicle the amount is financed excluding VAT and you pay the VAT yourself before delivery, after which you can settle it in your next VAT return. On a margin vehicle this does not apply, because there is no VAT stated separately on the invoice. How it is arranged in your contract is up to the financier.
I am a starting entrepreneur, is that possible?
It is possible, and some financiers accept an application without annual figures. There is always an assessment, so a short track record more often means a higher down payment or a shorter term. Whether it works in your case is for the financier to say.
What happens at the end of the term?
If you agreed no balloon payment, the vehicle is yours after the final instalment and you are done. If there is a balloon payment, you pay that amount in one go. If you cannot or would rather not, the usual routes are to refinance the amount, sell the vehicle, or trade it in with us against your next motorcycle or car. What exactly is allowed is set out in the financier's contract.
Can I repay early during the term?
Most contracts allow it, but there can be a fee, because the financier misses out on interest. How much that is and on what conditions is set out in the agreement. If you expect to repay early, ask the financier about it before you sign.
Is this registered with BKR?
A consumer loan is registered with the Dutch credit register BKR in Tiel, and your existing credits are checked there during the application. For business financial lease in a company's name that is generally not the case, although a financier may still check the person behind the company. What exactly gets registered in your case is something the financier will tell you.
Do I have to make a down payment?
Not always. Some applications go through without one, but the financier can ask for it, for instance with a young business or an older vehicle. A down payment lowers your monthly instalment, and a motorcycle or car you trade in with us can serve as that down payment.
How long does an application take?
That is up to the financier. A complete application with all the documents attached moves faster than one where papers have to be sent in afterwards. We make sure the vehicle details go through correctly straight away, and we reply to your message within 24 hours.
Can I finance a motorcycle I have seen somewhere else?
The application we set in motion belongs to a vehicle that we supply. If you have seen something elsewhere, let us know: sometimes we can source the same motorcycle or car for you. If you buy from another seller, you can approach a financier directly.
Let's go through what is possible
Tell us which vehicle you have in mind and whether you are buying through your business or privately, and we will line your application up with the right partner.