PCP the new PPI Scandal?

fred246

I am a reasonably highly paid person who works with people on more average wages so I have to be careful what I say. Last week I was saying how my 12 year old car with 135000 miles on the clock was worrying me because it was so reliable. I was saying that surely one day a car must break down. They told me I needed a new car. I said you aren't on those monthly payment plans are you? Of course we are, weren't not rich like you. I always shut my mouth when that starts. So here I am trying to work out why the poor people can only afford new cars and the rich can have what they want. I suppose I can afford any repair and I can afford to buy a brand new car anytime with cash.

prowla

fred246 wrote: »

I am a reasonably highly paid person who works with people on more average wages so I have to be careful what I say. Last week I was saying how my 12 year old car with 135000 miles on the clock was worrying me because it was so reliable. I was saying that surely one day a car must break down. They told me I needed a new car. I said you aren't on those monthly payment plans are you? Of course we are, weren't not rich like you. I always shut my mouth when that starts. So here I am trying to work out why the poor people can only afford new cars and the rich can have what they want. I suppose I can afford any repair and I can afford to buy a brand new car anytime with cash.

I had an older car which started playing up a bit (only 117k miles); I really liked it, but I was starting to have to spend money on it.
I checked out the options and figured out that I would likely spend almost as much on my old one as a year's PCP on a new one, which would have none of the faults.
So, I'm now driving a new car; I'm treating the PCP as a rental, in all honesty: 10k miles/year for just under £300 a month.
It was the right deal for me.
(The only downside is that I have some rubbish to take to the tip and no car to take it in!)

takman

prowla wrote: »

I had an older car which started playing up a bit (only 117k miles); I really liked it, but I was starting to have to spend money on it.
I checked out the options and figured out that I would likely spend almost as much on my old one as a year's PCP on a new one, which would have none of the faults.
So, I'm now driving a new car; I'm treating the PCP as a rental, in all honesty: 10k miles/year for just under £300 a month.
It was the right deal for me.
(The only downside is that I have some rubbish to take to the tip and no car to take it in!)

Your saying you had a card that needed £3600 a year in repairs?. That is an astronomical amount and you were definitely right to get rid of it. But you could have just as easily bought a good second hand card and it would have cost alot less!.
My car has done almost 190,000 miles and this year so far it has only cost me £597.16 and that includes 4 new tyres plus 4 wheel alignment and a full service plus new brake pads. Plus a new caliper which i had to replace because it was sticking.

So well maintained older cars really don't have many extra costs compared to brand new cars.

prowla

takman wrote: »

Your saying you had a card that needed £3600 a year in repairs?. That is an astronomical amount and you were definitely right to get rid of it. But you could have just as easily bought a good second hand card and it would have cost alot less!.
My car has done almost 190,000 miles and this year so far it has only cost me £597.16 and that includes 4 new tyres plus 4 wheel alignment and a full service plus new brake pads. Plus a new caliper which i had to replace because it was sticking.

So well maintained older cars really don't have many extra costs compared to brand new cars.

It was going to be over £2k (OK, not £3600 though!): brakes, head gasket, tyres all were coming up, along with its MOT, and I'd just done the water pump and fan belt. It also had a big dent in one wing thanks to some git in a car park. The total was considerably more than the car was worth.

I weighed up the options and looked at a better used car too, but loans and interest were higher and I got some decent discounts with the new one so it was cheaper than a recent used(!).

All-in-all it works for me.