The Programme Car and the Payment Saver Plan: How the Car4Less Offer Works

The first question most people ask a consultant is whether they can buy a car and simply walk away. The honest answer is yes: every car shows its Car4Less price, below the manufacturer's retail price, as the drawcard, and you may buy at that price, financed through the Car4Less finance application (no cash, no private finance). But Car4Less is built around what it calls a Programme Car, and it explains the Payment Saver Plan to every buyer: the Programme Car is the Car4Less price plus the plan, set out in a separate offer to purchase for your approval, and its value is the plan's potential monthly cash-back.

That makes the real question whether the plan suits you, and the honest way to answer it is to understand exactly what it asks of you.

The Programme Car: finance through Car4Less, delivery through the dealer network

You pick any of the 1 318 new cars in the showroom and apply through the Car4Less online finance application, which Car4Less submits to the major banks: WesBank, Absa, MFC and Standard Bank. Finance is arranged exclusively this way. Cash purchases are not permitted and private finance is not accepted. You sign the finance agreement with the approving bank directly on its standard terms.

Once finance is approved and stock is available, delivery is arranged through the authorised national franchise dealer network. The car arrives registered, with the full warranty and service plan, exactly as it would for any dealer customer. Every car on Car4Less also shows its Car4Less price, below the manufacturer's retail price, as the drawcard. Both are financed only through the Car4Less finance application — cash purchases are not permitted and private finance is not accepted.

The Payment Saver Plan: the main focus

Every participating buyer signs a written Payment Saver Plan agreement. The Post & Share requirement is specific: three approved posts a day on each platform — Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn — every day of the week, using approved Car4Less content. Meet every qualifying requirement and you may receive an ex gratia cash-back of up to R3 000 a month, paid into a Mastercard rewards card, subject to the plan's terms and conditions and Car4Less's final determination. You do not have to produce, or be credited with, a vehicle sale to be considered.

The site's fixed example shows the effect: a R6 500 normal instalment less potential cash-back of up to R3 000* gives a R3 500 effective instalment (example only; *ex gratia, subject to the Payment Saver Plan terms and Car4Less's determination). Your finance agreement with the bank does not change and your instalment continues to be paid by debit order; any cash-back is paid separately. The plan's cost, which Car4Less determines deal by deal, is added to the Car4Less price and shown in your offer to purchase. The plan is most definitely not a policy: you buy no policy, hold no policy and pay no premium. Over a full finance term, what you could potentially receive back far exceeds the cost of the plan.

What the Payment Saver Plan asks of you

This is the part to be clear-eyed about. Posting alone earns nothing, and every post is submitted to Car4Less for approval before it is published, so that nothing defamatory, incorrect or misleading goes out under the Car4Less name; only approved, published posts count. The cash-back is only considered when every participation requirement has been fully met, including the prescribed posting, sharing and group activity and the Shop & Save verified-shopping requirement. Qualification is all-or-nothing: the prescribed participation must be completed in full, and incomplete or irregular participation does not qualify. Even then, payment is ex gratia and discretionary: it is subject to the plan's terms and Car4Less's final determination. What is guaranteed is the funding provision, through a performance guarantee Car4Less holds with its underwriters, according to its policy terms; guaranteed funding does not mean automatic cash-back. You pay no premium, hold no policy and have no claim under it. The programme never promises an income and should not be planned around as one.

The Terms and Conditions on the site set the rules and prevail over any summary, including this one.

• Programme Car: Car4Less price plus the plan, set out in a separate offer to purchase for your approval; finance exclusively through the Car4Less finance application, no cash purchases.
• Payment Saver Plan: meet the prescribed participation requirements in full, and you may receive an ex gratia cash-back of up to R3 000 a month.
• Delivery: once finance is approved and stock is available, through the franchise dealer network with the full warranty.

Who the plan suits

The plan suits people who already share online and who are disciplined enough to meet a daily posting requirement consistently. For them, the potential to bring the effective monthly cost down substantially is worth the effort. No social media accounts yet? The Car4Less call centre will help you open them and get posting.

It suits less well anyone who would post for a week and then forget. The requirement is all-or-nothing, and three approved posts a day on five platforms is a real daily commitment. If that is not realistic for you, it is better to know before you apply than to count on a cash-back you will not be considered for.

A note on Shop & Save

Shop & Save is the verified-shopping requirement of the Payment Saver Plan: verified till slips from the participating partners, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Dis-Chem and Shoprite, form one side of the plan's requirements, alongside Post & Share. They are two parts of one plan, and the plan's benefit is the single ex gratia payment of up to R3 000 a month, not a second amount on top. The Shop & Save page explains it in full.

• Post & Share: the Payment Saver Plan →
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