A roofer offering finance will lead with the monthly payment, because a smaller number is a more comfortable number. That is not dishonest on its own. It becomes dishonest when the total never appears beside it.
Cash price
13,598
What the job costs, today, in full.
Monthly
288.25
The figure the banner leads with.
Total repaid
17,295
288.25, sixty times.
Cost of borrowing
3,697
27.2 per cent on top of the job.
At nought per cent the total repaid equals the cash price EXACTLY, to the penny, because nothing is charged. The estimator returns a literal zero there rather than a figure recovered by multiplying a rounded monthly payment back out, which can land a penny away and would make an honest offer look like a small charge.
Paying cash and paying monthly are not the same job at two prices. They are the same job at one price, plus a second and entirely separate cost. Whether that second cost is worth paying is your decision and there are good reasons to pay it. It should be a decision made with the number in front of you.
The term, not the rate. Stretching five years to seven on the same 9.9 per cent adds far more than moving the rate a point in either direction, because interest accrues for two more years on a balance that is falling more slowly. Set the term to 84 months in the estimator and watch the cost of borrowing rather than the monthly figure.
We are not a lender and we take no commission on finance. If you want to spread the cost we will tell you what the credit costs and leave the arithmetic on the page. The figures here are illustrative and are not a credit offer.