PCP: what should I do?

RagingPolo

Hi all,

I have a PCP agreement with FCA Automotive Services (through Fiat Financial Services) on a Fiat 500. I started in June 2014 on a 4 year contract, giving me 1.5 years left to pay. My partner and I are now expecting (yay!) and need to get a bigger car and get shot of this one.

I have seen that I can do a Voluntary Termination, and I was wondering how I can kick it off.

As a breakdown, I have these figures on the agreement:
Cash Price: £13,638.80
Amount of Credit: £12,134.91
Total Charge for Credit: £1,660.99
HP Charges/Interest: £1,375.99
Total Amount Payable: £15,299.79

The last settlement figure that I got (in October 2016) was for £8490.79, with the outstanding balance at £8960.30.

Termination says that I will have to have paid off £7,649.90

So, as the total amount payable is £15,299.79 and the last settlement figure was £8,490.79 so I have paid £6,809 so far, or will it be done on the outstanding balance, therefore £6,339.49. One way or the other, I will need to pay another £840.90 or £1310.41 in order to hand it back at 50%.

So, is there a way with PCP that I can hand it back, paying the outstanding part (£840.90 or £1310.41) or do I have to continue the agreement until I get to £7,649.90?

Also, the agreement says that I will have to pay, in certain situations, an excess mileage charge of £0.06 per mile in excess of the maximum annual mileage and pro-rata. Will that be included in this as well?

Many thanks in advance. If I need to provide any more info, let me know.

chanz4

why not just trade it in?

RagingPolo

The garage have offered £5,000 and no more. So, in order to reduce my monthly outgoings, I'd have to pay the difference (or near that) in order for them to even consider a trade-in.

daveyjp

I would wait until baby arrives and then decide whether you need a bigger car.

molerat

You can make a one off payment to bring you up to the 50%. Any breach / damage charges are not included in this and do not have to be paid prior to VTing, they will be charged separately.

missile

You are expecting when?
A Fiat 500 is big enough for two plus a baby.
Your bank balance might not?

bazzyb

Unless you already have a couple of kids, I would suggest that the car is actually big enough.

The main challenge will be making sure that you find a pushchair / travel system that fits easily in the boot. Mothercare were very helpful with us, they let us try fitting different ones in our car to see what worked best - I'm sure other retailers will offer a similar service.

Speaking from experience, the last thing you will want right now is the extra expense of changing cars. See how you get on for now and consider changing at a later date if necessary.

NOVAMET21

Do you have Fiat 500 with 3 doors or 5 doors? If you have a 3 door Fiat then I can understand why you want to upgrade to bigger size car but if you have 5 door Fiat then for just 1 child should be fine. Also good point is to check if the buggy fits in the boot.


We had a family car Renault Megane Scenic and it had a huge space in the boot. Our Graco Quattro pram fitted with no problem. We got rid of the Renault as it had some problem and needed £2,000 to fix it and the car was only worth £1,000. Then I bought smallish car in 2014 (Honda Jazz). The Graco pram was nightmare to fit in. We bought Silver Cross pram and they fitted in our Honda perfectly. Even though it is a smallish car it is doing fine with 2 kids. Yes, there is less space for other stuff but we are managing it fine. I would love to buy SUV in 2017 when I can trade in but don't want to pay more monthly lol.

RagingPolo

So currently my repayments are £172ish a month. And the car is the 3 door version so not overly practical. My partner hasn't passed her driving test just yet so it's all up in the air and a little bit stressful.

My thoughts was to hand the car back and get a bigger car.

aphill24

The problem with changing car's today is that the Dealers trade in values are really taking the p@ss. If your partner is learning to drive.it might be a good idea to keep the fiat as it would be a good choice of car for a new insured driver. You could then buy a 2nd hand larger car using any savings as there are plenty of large family cars around for £2k or less. This way you will not be paying off any negative equity just to be in a position to change the fiat.

RagingPolo

Yeah, so looking at it, getting a small loan to pay off the rest and then buy a bigger car will still be cheaper in the long run, even though it's paying off negative equity. Unfortunately, I think it was a bad idea to get a car on finance, for me. And now I'm going to be (literally) paying for it.