Car financing: PCP

Tarambor wrote: »

True you are not wrong about depreciation but with PCP you cannot do what you want with the car. You have a limited mileage you can do, some as low as 6,000 miles a year, and you are penalised for every mile you go above that. Got some scratches? More money you're forking out. Would like to make a modification? Kerching, more money you'll be forking out at the end of the deal. And the only way to avoid that is to pay the balloon payment at the end which the vast majority of people who get a car on PCP don't do because they don't have the money to.

The vast majority of those on a PCP deal are left with nothing to show at the end, no car, no money to buy another car, because they either paid out everything they had as a deposit or couldn't save due to the higher monthly repayments, and only the option of signing up to yet another PCP deal so they have a set of wheels and don't have to get a bus home.

At least if you buy a new car on finance you aren't limited to mileage, you aren't penalised for damage, you can do what you want with it and at the end of the agreement you have a car.

PCP works for hundreds of thousands of people. YOU set the mileage at the beginning, i set mine at 12k and have never had to pay any mileage fees on the 5 cars i've had on PCP. I've had minor wear and tear bumps etc and never been charged. I suppose i've been lucky but if i did get any i would have had them repaired rather than wait to be charged at the end of my contract. Why would anyone with a car on PCP want to modify it ? Most people understand that the car has to go back in the same condition as it was picked up, ie, with no modifications.

Where do you get your "vast majority" information from ? I think the "vast majority" of people who use PCP to get a car understand full well that they don't own the car and that they need to take out an agreement that they can afford and also that the car will never be theirs unless they pay the balloon payment. I'm not interested in owning my car, i need a reliable car for school runs and work, one i know i won't have any major repair costs for. The most i've paid out for on my PCP cars is about £150 for a couple of services plus the odd punctured tyre. Do you think "the vast majority of people" who use PCP are stupid ? You seem to have a very low opinion of them.