When Andre Fuller brought home a test-drive ute he was thinking of buying from the motor vehicle dealership where he was working as an accessories fitter, his wife Leanne didn’t take him seriously.
After all, they still owed around $20,000 on their 2009 Ford Falcon XR8 and the repayments were high. Who’d be willing to give them a loan for a new ute?
Not easily dissuaded, and keen to back-trade the XR8 sedan for a less expensive ute, Andre approached a broker to track down a financier.
“I wouldn’t say I had a bad credit rating, but it could’ve been better,” Andre admits.
“Still, I had a steady job and although our broker got some initial knock-backs, Finance One were willing to give me a go.”
Andre took the loan out over five years and, with the lower repayments, easily managed to meet his obligations. Shortly before the five-year loan term was up, Andre was able to refinance and get another loan through Finance One.
“At the time, we were toying with the idea of going for another loan and getting another ute that would be able to tow Leanne’s horse float,” Andre says.
“I didn’t want a big loan, so we thought we’d just stick with a $5,000 limit and get a second-hand Falcon ute for that. Ultimately, we’d have liked a 4 x 4 but they were over $10,000.”
After looking around at the $5,000 mark, Andre and Leanne decided asking for an $8,000 limit, which would give them more buying options. So, it was back to Finance One to see what was possible.
“Sharna, our Finance One lending consultant, was so helpful. It was almost like speaking to your best friend,” Andrew says.
“Nothing was too much trouble for her and, before long, she was able to confirm that borrowing $8,000 was do-able based on our finances.”
A couple of false starts followed with the now Maryborough-based couple finding a ute on the Gold Coast that looked good… but it was snapped up before they decided to put a deposit on it. Then there was a seemingly attractive Holden Colorado 4 x 4 in a car yard, again down on the Gold Coast, but it didn’t live up to its photo. That’s when Andre just happened to look on carsales.com.au and see a 2006 Mitsubishi Triton GLX cab chassis close to their price range at $10,000.
“You could see by the way the ad was written it was placed by a professional dealership,” Andre says.
So, I rang our lending consultant again to see if we could nudge up the loan amount a bit more and, again, she checked our finances and couldn’t have been more helpful. She had it all dealt with really quickly and we were able to pick up the Triton a week later.
The new Mitsubishi was ideal for towing the horse float, which meant more opportunities for nature-loving Leanne to get outdoors and enjoy an active lifestyle.
“My wife does this thing called extreme cowboy racing, where the horses jump over water, or go around a pole or walk backwards in a line,” Andre enthuses.
“She also loves to go beach riding and has done the Great Kilkivan and Kin Kin horse rides as well as riding out in the forest — it’s a passion for her.”
So, a year after purchasing the Triton, when Leanne was getting a bit worried about the safety of her 14-year-old horse float, Andre had a bright idea…
“I knew she was thinking about getting a loan for a new horse float, but I wondered if I might be able to get another loan from Finance One myself and surprise her,” Andre says.
“I wanted to be a good husband and help her out, so I called Finance One again and got the ball rolling…”
As Andre was an existing Finance One customer with an excellent repayment record, and after checking the current status of his finances, it wasn’t long before he was able to say to his wife: ‘Honey, I’ve got a loan — pick a float!’
Needless to say, Leanne was blown away by Andre’s thoughtfulness and the horses were soon travelling in style in a fully enclosed horse float with bigger bays and fly-screen covered windows.
“Initially, I was just going to borrow $5,000 and we’d put in the rest, but we saw an extended horse float for $16,000 that was top-quality,” Andre says.
“So, it was back to our lending consultant to see if I could borrow $10,000 and, once that was approved, it was all systems go!
“It’s the dearest thing I’ve ever bought with no engine, but I’m happy knowing Leanne and the horses are safe and if you’re going to buy something like a horse float, you want to make sure it’s good quality.”
Disclaimer: All loan applications with Finance One are subject to approval and normal lending criteria, terms, conditions, fees and charges apply. The information above is of a general nature only and does not consider your personal objectives, financial situation or particular needs. You should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation or other advice to check how the information relates to your particular circumstances. We do not accept responsibility for any loss arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information.
