MTF vs Turners Finance: a lender or a car retailer's finance desk

If you came here with “Turners Finance vs MTF” in the search box, the first thing to sort out is what each name actually is. MTF is a company that lends money. Turners is a business that sells cars, trucks and machinery, and that also helps customers find finance. The questions you ask change once you see that.

We are a guide, not a lender or broker, and we have no view on who would lend to you. Everything below comes from the two companies’ own websites, read in November 2026, or from official consumer sources.

Two different roles

Turners. Its company overview describes the group as the largest seller of cars and of trucks and machinery in New Zealand, with 30 branches, and says staff on site can help with finance or insurance. Its finance page says: “Turners organises car and personal finance through a range of lenders.” Finance is subject to each lender’s credit, suitability and affordability criteria, and rates and fees may vary between lenders.

MTF. Motor Trade Finance Limited lends in its own name. Its model started in 1970 with a group of car dealers, and today the public face is a network of local offices, with a separate network of approved dealers who can arrange loans for their own customers.

The practical effect: with MTF the lender and the person you speak to are the same brand. With Turners, the person you speak to is a seller’s finance manager and the lender may be someone else.

What each publishes

The Turners rate is a calculator setting and not a rate range, so do not read it as a range. The MTF figures come from its rates and fees page.

Fees on each side

MTF lists these for secured loans: an establishment fee of up to $380, an agent fee of up to $250 when one of its agents refers you, a $7.54 monthly admin fee, a $10.35 PPSR fee, and a $17.00 early repayment fee with a variable amount on top when market rates have moved.

Turners’ calculator includes an application fee of $153, a dealer introduction fee of $275, an account maintenance fee of $4 a month and direct costs of $16.34. It also asks you to add $495 on-road costs where they apply, plus buyer fees if you buy at auction. It says these are estimates and that fees may vary between lenders.

You will notice that Turners’ figures include a fee for the introduction itself. That is not unusual in dealer finance, and it can be fair for the work involved. It is simply a line you should ask about, along with who receives it.

Buying from the seller or from elsewhere

There is a difference between where the money comes from and where the car comes from. You can borrow from MTF and buy from Turners, or have Turners arrange a loan for a car bought somewhere else.

When the seller arranges the loan on a car it is selling you, you are making two decisions at once. If the loan is attractive but the car price is high, or the other way around, it is hard to see. Ask for the car’s cash price and the finance terms separately. Our guide on bank loan vs dealer finance goes through this trade-off, and Turners Finance vs bank looks at the same question against a bank.

The paperwork rule that matters

When a retailer arranges finance, there are two relationships: the sale contract with the seller, and the loan contract with the lender. They are separate documents. The rights and duties described below attach to the loan.

Under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act:

• the lender must give you a written disclosure statement before you are bound
• the disclosure names the lender, the interest rate, the fees and the total you pay
• the lender must make reasonable inquiries about your needs and your ability to repay
• you must have access to a dispute scheme for the loan

So the single most useful document when a retailer arranges your finance is the lender’s own disclosure. If you cannot find the lender’s name on it, ask. Consumer Protection has a plain-language page on what lenders must do, linked below.

An example with made-up numbers

This is an illustration. The figures are invented and no lender has offered them.

You choose an $18,000 car, put down $3,000 and borrow $15,000 over three years, repaid monthly.

• Offer A (arranged by the seller): 11% a year. A $428 combined set-up charge is added to the loan, plus $4 a month. The repayment is about $509 a month, and you repay about $18,327.
• Offer B (a direct loan): 12% a year, a $300 set-up fee, no monthly fee. The repayment is about $508 a month, and you repay about $18,294.

The monthly figures are a dollar apart and the totals are $33 apart, in favour of the offer with the higher headline rate. The lesson is not that either route wins. It is that the headline rate alone hides the fees.

Questions for the finance manager

Whoever sits across the desk at a car seller is paid in part for arranging the loan, which is fair, but it is worth knowing. Ask which lender or lenders the application will go to, and whether one application means one credit enquiry or several. Ask what the introduction fee is and who receives it. Ask whether the rate changes if you put down a larger deposit, and whether you can see the lender’s disclosure statement before you agree. Ask what happens to the loan if you sell the car early. A good answer is a specific one, written down, and a vague one is a reason to get the same questions answered by MTF or a bank.

How to choose

1. Find out who the lender would be. For Turners, ask which lender and whether you can see its disclosure first. For MTF, you are dealing with MTF.
2. Ask for the cash price and the finance terms separately.
3. Request the full fee list on the loan, including any introduction fee.
4. Compare totals using the same amount and term. Our comparison rate guide explains why.
5. Check early repayment. MTF lists $17.00 plus a variable fee. For a Turners-arranged loan, the lender’s terms apply.
6. Get a third quote. A bank or broker quote is a useful yardstick. See the car finance broker page.

What to do next

1. Set your budget and the repayment you can manage with a buffer.
2. Ask both for a written offer, including the lender’s name, rate, every fee and total repayable.
3. Look the lender up on the Financial Service Providers Register.
4. Ask for the dispute scheme in writing.
5. Read the disclosure at home, not at the desk.
6. If you would like a second set of eyes, the /check form passes your details to a broker partner, who compares lenders for you and calls you back.

Checklist

• You know which company is the lender in each offer.
• The car price and the loan terms are shown separately.
• Every fee is on the page, including introduction or agent fees.
• You have the total repayable.
• You know the early repayment cost.
• You know the complaints scheme.

Red flags

• The lender is not named until you sign.
• A single combined monthly figure with no price, rate or fee breakdown.
• Insurance or extras added to the loan without individual prices.
• Being told that finance is certain before the lender has assessed you.
• Pressure to decide before you have seen the disclosure.

If repayments become hard, contact the lender early. MoneyTalks offers free help on 0800 345 123.

Sources

• Turners: finance and insurance
• Turners: company overview
• MTF: interest rates and fees
• MTF: car loans
• MTF: contact and complaints
• Consumer Protection: what lenders must do
• Consumer Protection: loans and lenders