PCP, HP or owning your car outright

[Blobcat]

^ The original car wasn't Vauxhall's finest hour was it

If you jacked the front wheel up, the windscreen would pop out...

 

[AMGeed]

^ If you could find a jacking point that hadn't rusted away!

 

[A.J.]

I’m just surprised they brought the “Viva” name back...

I passed my driving test in a Viva !! My recollections of it were that the drivers seat was so low that it felt like I was sitting on the floor. Maybe it was just that one !!

 

[EmilysDad]

Vivas came in 3 flavours over the years HA HB & HC ..... they all shared the same rust gene

 

[sonic]

I passed my driving test in a Viva !! My recollections of it were that the drivers seat was so low that it felt like I was sitting on the floor. Maybe it was just that one !!

Took my test in this an Austin Champ 3Ltr in 1966. Passed first time, no indicators so all hand signals.

 

[flowrider]

Took my test in this an Austin Champ 3Ltr in 1966. Passed first time, no indicators so all hand signals.

View attachment 53982

Quite a lot of today's drivers seem to prefer using hand signals, not to indicate their direction of travel though!

 

[A.J.]

Took my test in this an Austin Champ 3Ltr in 1966. Passed first time, no indicators so all hand signals.

View attachment 53982

I remember them well, they did like a drop of petrol !!

 

[EmilysDad]

I passed my driving test in a Viva !! ...

I passed my in a MKI Escort YTC 144L ....... and I struggle to remember the reg of the cars on my drive!

 

[sonic]

I remember them well, they did like a drop of petrol !!

12 to 15 MPG on a good day. They were quick but a bit top heavy, so could catch you out. 5 forward gears, with a change lever which gave you 5 reverse gears.

 

[Adamki83]

To the OP, are you looking at a car that is tied in some way to your employment? ie you get a car allowance and a set of rules to comply with? Is that the pressure you feel you are being put under? That is where the PCP product has come from and makes it 'affordable' to meet the requirements of your employer, hence the rows and rows of the same car in the office car park. You may have little choice but to join the sheep. However will your employer guarantee employment for the term of the PCP, or leave you will a millstone at some point.

A new car has no guarantee to be reliable, any more than a well maintained and regularly used, used car.

Depreciation isn't truly an issue with a PCP on a new car. You are entering into a term at a rate that provides a car that you then hand back. It's basically a long term rental. With incentives offered, taking out the PCP at the right time you can have a highly specced car for a much lower 'price', see the recent list put up by JBell on the run out W222 S Klasse earlier. You are able to get a mega specced car at a known monthly cost that you know won't change. In a 'car allowance' scenario you will almost certainly p1ss off your peers and bosses if you rock up in a S Klasse due to you being more financially savvy than them. That scenario of a run out can work out as a good way to buy a car as a keeper. I did that on my 2nd W211, although it was paid for by travel expenses as was the 1st, and the W221 I had, also on a PCP. So not actual cost to me personally, but not everyone is in the position or takes the risk of going out on your own.

I'm unsure that putting cash into a car is the right thing to do in current times. None of my PCP cars has had any cash in them, do the right deal there is no cash needed. At a certain point you can hand it back and walk away if things change.

20-30 years ago, cash was king, not today. If you are intent of putting cash in and want a new car and to keep it, then take out a PCP, pay the 1st monthly payment then clear it as you will if done properly got a highly specced car at a 'lower' price with inducements to take the PCP that brings the overall 'price' down.

With the current uncertainty around fuel types, I'm probably going to pay off the PCP early on my current W166 that was a good low price with discount, dealer deposit contribution, matching carlow and with everything on it and use my killer diseasel to tow for a long time yet.

You may get lower finance ability, but the car industry is set for their product, PCP, so you may not get the incentives.

I don't get the comments about not able to afford a car, its down to individual circumstances. Lots of things in life are not affordable, apparently. Cars, houses, kids, but there are ways to do them.

Back in the day I bought cars for cash both new and second hand, also on manufacturers finance products when interest rates were 14% and finance was 3.4%, it was cheaper to use finance than use cash on deposit.

Its somthing i have considered, but i do look at the bigger picture and im very fortunate my current W211 has had nothing major go wrong and still do over 50mpg.
The pressure is more the fact the government are gonna try and push diesels off the road but i do believe this could work in our favour especially older disels.
I see both sides to the debate, for example my partners car is on a PCP, but we put £0 down, and £167 a month at 0% interest! On a Suzuki swift hybrid, but that works quite well for us.

I would prefer to own my cars outright to be honest!
Also what is more frustrating is that if someone dents your door or someone drives into you and writes the car off you basically have to rely on gap insurance! Which can be expensive! And then all the added rubbish they try and sell you.
One guy at a certain dealer said if we didnt buy this autoglym protection stuff at the price of £550 that the cars guaranteed future value would be less!
The whole experience isnt exactly great in my honest opinion! Although i must say Wycliffe Suzuki were perfect! No pressure for any extras!

I had a freind who bough a car on pcp car was £50k then traded it after 2 and a half years in a 4 year agreement, and the car had depreciated so badly the car was in £8k negative equity!

I understand peoples thinking by saying finance is saying you cant afford it because again i have known people blow over half there monthly wage on a car which in my opinion is bonkers!
But then i also look at it from the other side because people have such bad luck with used cars they want to just basically get in a car and go!

 

[Adamki83]

I've not financed a car for over 15 years.
MrsLK on the other hand has almost always had hers on finance (aside from w years ago when she bought the car at end of term then a year later used it to finance the deposit on the current one).
The only way I will have a vehicle on finance is through her 30% staff discount at her employer, sell it after 2 years and repeat. A Discovery Sport for c£200 a month is pretty tempting.

£200 a month!? Thats a deal too good to miss...
Although is that a lease or PCP??

 

[Adamki83]

I passed my driving test in a Viva !! My recollections of it were that the drivers seat was so low that it felt like I was sitting on the floor. Maybe it was just that one !!

I learned to drive in a ford ranger

 

[rorywquin]

^ The original car wasn't Vauxhall's finest hour was it

Viva GT was fun.......

 

[rorywquin]

.....I'd bet that the car has lost a lot more than the £4k she has spent so far renting it.
..................

So about half the price of the car (when it was new) sunk when she hands it back and nothing to show for the money. It is terrible how finance houses fleece us.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I've bought all my cars with cash and only financed one, some years ago.
Just bought a 5yr old E63 that wasn't cheap, but I don't like paying interest if its not necessary.

#2 daughter however wanted a newish reliable car, so went the PCP route on a brand new Vauxhall Viva.
It's been costing her £108 pm over the last 3 years and will hand it back when the deal expires next year.
I'd bet that the car has lost a lot more than the £4k she has spent so far renting it.
PCP and HP works for some, cash for others.

Obviously some good PCP deals around at the lower end of the market I suppose the idea is to build them and register them and not to have them hanging around but earn an instant return the margins are so thin with a healthy second hand market waiting for them after 3 years

 

[00slk]

I've just googles PCP and now I am a little wiser, though I just go to the 'Bank of the Missus'

 

[JBell]

Depreciation isn't truly an issue with a PCP on a new car. You are entering into a term at a rate that provides a car that you then hand back. It's basically a long term rental. With incentives offered, taking out the PCP at the right time you can have a highly specced car for a much lower 'price', see the recent list put up by JBell on the run out W222 S Klasse earlier. You are able to get a mega specced car at a known monthly cost that you know won't change. In a 'car allowance' scenario you will almost certainly p1ss off your peers and bosses if you rock up in a S Klasse due to you being more financially savvy than them. That scenario of a run out can work out as a good way to buy a car as a keeper. I did that on my 2nd W211, although it was paid for by travel expenses as was the 1st, and the W221 I had, also on a PCP. So not actual cost to me personally, but not everyone is in the position or takes the risk of going out on your own.

That deal is back - £31k off list

https://www.drivethedeal.com/specialoffer/6282/boo?SO_ID=6282&SO_ID=6282&SO_ID=6282

 

[MalcQV]

between the two of we have 4 cars ... ML350, Smart Roadster, Smart Fortwo & a C3 all owned outright

what's a mortgage?

Top Trumps now then

Ferrari 360 Modena (outright, and has so far made a healthy profit )
BMW Z3 (outright cheapy )
PCP on my CLA of course.
I do however have a mortgage because I divorced and had to half start again.

My PCP allows me to buy the car at the end of the term if I wish. However the earliest I could realistically do it is in another two years (three years in total). If MB do an affordable float or hybrid I meant be tempted in two years to [up]grade. otherwise I'm getting nearly new and looking to get a secondhand Tesla.

However I've had 27 cars in my lifetime so far and many of them (bar about 5) were either lease cars or part financed. I'm not sure how that differs from my PCP other than maybe a little longer to pay for the item.

 

[John Laidlaw]

PCP is good for those who have a low boredom threshold and are less concerned about ownership/residual so much as knowing and budgeting a monthly cost.
My overall feeling is that we are all very individual in our approach to cars- if it was purely financially driven I’d be getting a decent 10 year old car then driving it into the ground.
Personally I prefer not to think of what my cars cost me, otherwise I’d probably take the bus/train/taxi/Uber, as undoubtedly that would be the ‘best’ option for transport (ignoring the unreliability and inconvenience)...

 

[EmilysDad]

Top Trumps now then

Ferrari 360 Modena (outright, and has so far made a healthy profit ) .....

show off

However I've had 27 cars in my lifetime so far and .....

I've only had a dozen or so