PCP / Car Loan Conumdrum

staggy

OK... here's my conumdrum and I'd appreciate any advice you may be able to offer...

In March 2008 I entered a 4 year PCP deal to avail myself of a fancy new car. I've changed my car every three/four years for the past 10 years using similar deals. This finance deal comes to an end in March 2012. I'm aware of the various options available at the end of a PCP but in the past I have always used the equity in my cars to pay off the outstanding amount and leave me a smallish deposit on a new one always timing the deal to coincide (by part exing into a dealership)....but this time my position is this.....

I'd like to purchase another "new" car and have enquired with my dealer with a view to placing an order. As the vehicle is VERY popular the dealer has advised that they cannot guarantee delivery before June 2012. This puts me somewhere I've never been before when next March comes around so I'm looking at other options.

1. I could hand the car back in March and walk away. I'm a little concerned that I may run up excess mileage charges as my PCP was based on 15000 miles p.a. and I've already done over 56k

This and option 2 below would leave me without a car (which is essential for my job .... so please don't suggest that I should use public transport or do without for a while... I would if it were practical but it isn't)

2. I could sell the car privately and pay off the balloon (hopefully)

For 1. and 2. above I could then buy a runabout to last me the three months or alternatively get a long hire/short lease vehicle for the same as I'm paying on my current monthly installments.

3. I could refinance the balloon payment with a personal loan. This allows me to keep the car (it's then "mine") but this is where I could do with some help. If I take out a loan for say £10k to pay off the PCP I'd have to take this over a reasonable period (2 years +) in order to make the monthly repayments affordable. But then in 3 months time I could sell the car (when I get my new one which will be on a different finance deal) and pay it off in full. If I did this would I get hit with early repayment issues and extortionate interest charges.

I suppose in short I'd be looking at a kind of "bridging loan" though I've only really come accross these in relation to property/house purchases

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated

27col

Or, of course, you could just buy a different car that does not have such a long waiting list.

lawrie28

The longer you wait till you sell it, the less it will be worth.
Sell it, then rent/buy a cheap runaround.

Taking out the loan for three months is not a good plan.
You could buy the car, run it till you paid off the £10k loan, save the monthly payment for 1 year, and use that and the car to put towards another vehicle, when the super desirable car you want is available used/new for less, or one you like more has been built.

What car is it you want/ordered?

It may be possible nearer the time to get a used one, or you may find an alternative that is not so in demand.

You could also look at a nearly new car to take advantage of savings that way.

staggy

lawrie28 wrote: »

What car is it you want/ordered?

It may be possible nearer the time to get a used one, or you may find an alternative that is not so in demand.

You could also look at a nearly new car to take advantage of savings that way.

The car is the new Range Rover Evoque.... it's built in the UK .... hence why they can't make them fast enough :rotfl:

The car was only launched last week and even though I've been interested in it for a while there was no way I could bring myself to order one without actually seeing/driving one (which I've now done and it is superb).

Used cars (i.e. those bought by someone who ordered at the beginning of this year and took delivery on launch date - 8th September) are already cropping up for sale in places but they are going for list price PLUS around 15% (so brand new car from dealer costs £40k - to by a secondhand one costs £46k).

Of course there are alternatives available but once you set your heart on something like this it's difficult to accept second best ... despite the inconvenience you may suffer as a result