Can someone be kind enough to explain to me as if to a child a specific scenario at the end of a car PCP.

[Laiste]

So - i have a car on PCP, lets say it's a Mazda from a Mazda dealership, coming to the end of the 4 years contract. (car itself is now 6 years old).

I've heard that you don't have to go back to the original dealer with the car at the end of a PCP. That if, for eg, i wanted a Range Rover next, i could take my Mazda to a Range Rover dealer and ..... do what?!

?? how does this work ??

TIA

No, you take it back to the dealer you have the contract with them go to the next dealer and arrange a contract for your next vehicle

Thank you, that's what i always thought. But - someone's told me if i wanted to carry any financial gain over (i don't know what you call it) but didn't want a Mazda again i could go to another dealer with the mazda.

At the mazda dealer i got mine from there were other makes there, BMWs ect. ... are these not cars which have been traded in for mazdas?

Normally with PCP at the end of the contract period you the option to buy the car outright with one final payment, hand the car back and start again or use any equity in the car as a down payment on a new car/contract. If you opt for the final choice it normally has to be with the same dealer as the original contract was with.

Hope the link works, but you may find this helpful.

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/buying-and-running-a-car/financing-buying-car-personal-contract-purchase-pcp

You can do one of three things at the end of the contract:

Hand the car back, and walk away (rarely the best plan).

Pay off the "balloon value" (the residual amount of the original contract - if they did their sums right upfront this should not be more than the value of the car). Then the car is yours to drive/sell/part-exchange as you wish.

Go to any dealer and ask that they transfer the residual value into a new car, with a brand new PCP. You often get good deals doing this, and you avoid the faff of selling your car. The value of the car (minus the balloon value) becomes your down payment for this PCP. It doesn't have to be the same dealer, although I imagine you might get a better deal selling a Mazda back to a Mazda dealer.

I have done both the second and third options (DH and I have done 6 PCPs to date).

Go to any dealer and ask that they transfer the residual value into a new car, with a brand new PCP. You often get good deals doing this, and you avoid the faff of selling your car. The value of the car (minus the balloon value) becomes your down payment for this PCP. It doesn't have to be the same dealer, although I imagine you might get a better deal selling a Mazda back to a Mazda dealer.

Aha!
So, @CointreauVersial , when you say down payment do you mean that's the deposit? Or can it be as well as a deposit, if it gets the monthly payments down ?

Thank you to @@Snoozvwert as well. I will read the link.

I've just taken my Nissan Qashqai to an Audi dealership. I was coming to the end of the Qashqai PCP. I wanted an Audi. There was around £2500 equity in the Qashqai (dealership's offer for car, less the settlement sum). So I've traded it in for a new(ish) Audi on PCP.

Take it to we buy any car, get the cheque, pay off the balloon payment on the car. Hopefully you'll have money left over .....but this depends on the make /model. Put the excess money down as a deposit on a new car.

@DappledOliveGroves that sounds good.

You just turned up to Audi with your Qashqai and your PCP paperwork ?

You can take it to any dealer and part exchange it for a new PCP or whichever deal you want. They will give you a part ex value for your car and will settle your finance from that and give you the change (if there is any) to use towards the deposit of your new car. You can also go to the likes of we buy any car or motorway etc and get a price from them as it may be more than the dealer will give you (but bear in mind they might try and knock it down when they see the wear and tear on your vehicle). If you choose this route they will also settle your finance and give you any change due.

Well, I found the Audi I wanted to buy first. I asked them how much they'd give me for the Qashai. I called Nissan finance to find out how much the settlement sum was. And then took out a new PCP with Audi, with the equity in the Qashqai as the deposit. And left the Qashqai at the Audi showroom and drove home in the Audi.

Check out Motorway before selling to Webuyanycar. I got more than £3k more for mine than offered by WBAC, and it was really easy.

I didn't want a new car though, if I had I would check with the new car retailer first as pp have suggested

lol thank you.
This is what i need. An blow by blow guide to what you did 😂

I've got as far as finding the car i want. So i'll speak to them. And i need to ring and find out the settlement sum for the Mazda. It's in really good nick and spotless. I've only used it for local runs.

Thanks everyone. Any more thoughts still welcome.

@Laiste - I'd suggest getting an indicative value from Motorway. They seem to offer the highest trade-in prices. Then use this to try and get the best part exchange price from the dealership.

We could probably have got more for our Qashqai if we'd sold it privately or via the Motorway, but I couldn't be doing with the hassle factor. Additionally, the Audi I bought was from a dealership over 100 miles away, so I didn't want to have to get trains and taxis to get the new car, if I'd sold the old car elsewhere.

Absolute rubbish. You can trade it in at any dealer at any point (or WBAC etc), you don’t even have to wait for the end of the agreement. They’ll settle the finance and either you make up any shortfall or they’ll put any equity towards your next car. You can even sell it privately and have the buyer settle the finance direct although there’s more risk in that but it’s feasible.

Yeah the thought of selling the car 'separately' does worry me tbh. But i could certainly use them to get an idea of value definitely. Good advice.

I feel a lot more clued up now.

Don't do this unless you want to throw away thousands of pounds. WBAC are notorious for offering low prices for the cars they buy.

Thank you.

I’ve taken a Qashqai to Skoda, a Skoda to Mazda and a Mazda to Toyota.

Bluevelvetsofa - 😍

I'm going to show all this to DH who, although he didn't say it, thought i was nuts thinking i could do this!

I'll show DD1 as well. She's been going back to our local Ford each time (3rd time next year) and i'm sure they're being less than helpful.

Do NOT go to We Buy Any Car. Unless your car is a wreck you can't offload anywhere else.

Yes, OP, I mean the equity in your current car can be used as the deposit/down payment on your new one. There's always a deal to be had, so shop around. Quite a few 0% deals around at the moment, but generally on new cars, or models the dealers want to offload.

Don't agree with WBAC negativity upthread. Obviously do your homework with valuations etc OP but don't discount this method as being too faffy.

I agree with ignoring the WBAC negativity. We are a motor trader, their prices go up and down day to day. Sometimes our part exchange prices are way better, sometimes we can't touch WBAC. But do expect to be knocked down price on every tiny stone chip. They work on about 15% average reduction overall.

Motorway is an auction site so the estimated figures are inflated a lot of the time, it's not guaranteed. We've had a few customers recently say 'motorway have offered me £1000 - £2000 more' then they're back a week later part exchanging.

Don't forget if you're at the end of a PCP you have a valuable commodity, another retail car for the purchasing dealer to make more profit on. If you're part exchanging a fantastic car they can retail themselves you have a bit more bargaining power overall on the deal. They may really really want your old car, good quality older cars are far harder to buy than newer used vehicles.

And yes as mentioned above, you just need to get your settlement figure, find the car you want and then get a part exchange price and take it from there.

There are lots of awful motor dealers around so I would also check out the dealer reviews before you do much else.

Thank you so much everyone for all this advice.

I'm glad i asked I think i wont be the only one this thread is going to help.

I'll make some phone calls later today and get on it. PCP ends in Nov this year so it's time.

We sold our PCP car to Motorway partway through the contract. They paid off the excess left on the car loan to VW and gave us the extra cash.

So you can essentially do the same with other car dealers. They value the car and either give you the cash to pay the ballon payment yourself or do it on your behalf, then the rest of the value of the car is the deposit towards your new PCP deal with them.