Getting out of PCP

aeroblade

silverwhistle wrote: »

Seems like an expensive lesson, but cannot the partner cut costs in other ways or increase income with a part-time job? At least with the latter they'd have the motivation that each (let's say) bar shift was paying directly for the motor. When back on his feet he can come along here and read the bangernomics thread..;-)

Reminds me of a couple that use to live next to me and went to my secondary school and college. The boy left school at 16 and the girl at 18. Both worked low wage retail/bar staff jobs (and still do) yet wanted to live beyond their means- designer clothes, car on PCP and so forth. They were not very nice people too when they were younger. I remember an occasion when the guy always scoffed at me when I was back home from the summer from university and was driving my first banger car and them a brand new car. The girl took one look at my student type cloths and said 'I remember that guy from school, he looks like a tramp!"

Fast forward 10 years and they're struggling like anything, credit cards are all maxed out, 2 kids and no property and the same car on PCP (hopefully they would have paid that off).

Feels like sweet revenge every time they see me drive by when I visit my parents.

burlington6

aeroblade wrote: »

OP can fight for their rights as the dealer may not have followed the Sales of Goods Act. The OPs partner was only 18 when signing the PCP and was pressurised by the salesman. They have a case

This clown could turn out to be more clueless than Darkmatter

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

The fundamental is that a young person made the mistake of looking at PCP payments and believing that they could afford a brand new car, without first thinking "I am taking on a £12,000 piece of property." how the hell can I really afford that? While they have a PCP agreement, fundamentally they have committed to buying £12,000 worth of goods which has to be paid for somehow and it is very difficult to walk away from a commitment like that without doing serious damage to your future financial credibility.

It is unfortunate that young people are given the impression that life can be given to them on a plate - and I know lot of younger people who have got thoroughly screwed over poor financial decisions which hang over them for years, where we smug old people, put up with cycling to work for a year or so, then bought a banger, and then slowly worked our way up, together with the good fortune of hefty inflation writing off some of our poorer financial choices.

It is easy to be smug when you are comfortably off, never had more than £70k in mortgage yet live in a large house in a nice area, only had a few thousand in loans short term because of cash back deals or cash flow, bit of inheritance thrown in. Today's generation have got some really hard work ahead without the windfalls those of us who were working in the 80s had.

I guess that translates to "I blame his parents" !!!

aeroblade

The younger generation believe everything should be handed to them on a plate. More often than not, they also come out of secondary school with appalling numerical and English language skills. The ones who go on to University seldom study hard/technical subjects as such Maths/Physics/Engineering. Too many go to polytechnic universities reading useless 'mickymouse' degrees that will get them no where in life and they're lumbered with £9/year student debt!


The amount of youngers I see on the road with brand new cars is mind boggling. I'm pretty sure most are on PCP deals. How can they sustain such a lifestyle? House prices are not what they were 30 years ago. They have increased at a rate more than the average salary has. These youngsters need to buckle up because they will be working till the age of 75 until they can retire!


OP I hope this is a lesson well learnt for you and your partner.

cal123321

:pThank you for some helpful ( and some not so helpful) replies.

He pays about £180 per month to the finance comapny for the car. It's a Fiat 500 btw.

He took out the PCP plan as he had sold a Fiesta with a very high insurance premium and then bought a HYundai Accent which conked out after a week. He simply had no money left to buy a car outright and wasn't getting accepted for any loans. He got a car as he worked a 50 hour week as an apprentice electrician and was fed up setting off at 6 am every morning and getting back about 7pm. He could afford the paymentswhen he took out the finance but was then told he was no longer needed as his boss was winding down his work. He moved straight into a care job which is unfortunately only paying half his usual salary as it is a zero hours contract and for now isn't giving him many hours and he needs the car for this.

I'm deeply offended by the unfounded accusation that we are layabout drug addicts. Naive, yes, but frankly how a particular poster got all that from my post is bizarre. Surely the whole point of this forum is to get advice on money matters. Why would someone join a forum on financial issues if they react so poorly to people asking for advice on financial issues .... very strange.

Thanks again for the helpful replies

jaydeeuk1

aeroblade wrote: »

I didn't buy my first car till I was 21 and even then it was a 10 year old plus banger!!

Was it an M3, a tarted up a3 or a yaris with no rear brakes?

aeroblade

I don't care if others have nice things, that's all well and good for them as long as they can afford it and aren't being a burden on anyone else. I see youngsters (18-21 year olds) in brand new cars, one of them being my next door neighbours daughter. I have nothing to be jealous of a small eco-box but I cannot comprehend how one can pay monthly payments on a PCP plan and go out clubbing every other week whilst working in a low wage job like retail assistant/bar tender

motorguy

Maybe their parents are paying for it?

OR, her monthly payments on PCP could be £129 or less.

OR, she could have saved up

OR, she could have got inheritance

OR, she could be good with money

OR, she could be on more money than you think.

OR, her parents could be paying for it / part of it

OR, her parents might have bought the car

If shes on say £6 an hour, 40 hours a week, theres £240, * 4.3 weeks in a month, theres near £1100 and shes probably below the tax threshold.

£1100 - a PCP payment = £950 left, and living at home and probably contributing very little to the house.

So why not have a nice car? Would you rather she drank like a fish, smoked like a train and took drugs like a... hippie?

Really - who cares? Why do you feel the need to judge others?