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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think car payments and pcp’s will be the next crisis to hit the U.K. and the world

256 replies

Lardlizard · 04/01/2020 23:51

Yes or no

OP posts:
buckeejit · 04/01/2020 23:51

Oh yes

frazzledtofook · 04/01/2020 23:52

Oh yes.

SusanneLinder · 04/01/2020 23:53

Yes. PCPs are the work of the devil.

titchy · 04/01/2020 23:53

Hmmm let me think....

US war on Iran/Iraq
Climate change
Antibiotic resistance
Homelessness
Famine
Car buying.....

No.

Horehound · 04/01/2020 23:53

Mmm no

Horehound · 04/01/2020 23:54

I don't know why it would be a crisis :/

PaperbackBlighter · 04/01/2020 23:56

It’s a ticking timebomb.

titchy · 04/01/2020 23:58

FFS it's not a global crisis - financial mis-selling scandal yes, crisis no. What lovely closeted lives you must live to think paying over the odds to own a car is a crisis Hmm

FruityWidow · 04/01/2020 23:58

Fuck no.

highupoverthere · 05/01/2020 00:03

I think its a scandal that there is not way more car pooling.

zasknbg · 05/01/2020 00:03

Could you explain a bit?

Softskin88 · 05/01/2020 00:36

Once upon a time...

You saved up and bought a car you could afford, outright. It might not be fancy, but it would get you from A to B.

Then came finance. You found a car that you could afford the monthly payments on. When you made the final payment, the car became yours.

Then came PCP... You find a very fancy car that you like the look of and pay a whopping great deposit for it. Then you pay a monthly instalment for it for a set period. You must keep to a set mileage or you will be charged excess payments. Ditto for wear and tear. At the end of the period you hand back the car and own...nothing.

Or, you pay another whacking great payment and the car is yours.

Bluedogyellowcat · 05/01/2020 00:38

No. If you can afford the monthly repayments it’s not a problem.

BiarritzCrackers · 05/01/2020 00:49

If you stop being able to afford the payments, do you not just have to return the car - you don't have any other ongoing debt? So while not ideal, you'll have to buy a £500 car to keep you going for a while. I've only bought cheap cars and done so outright, so all this is not something I know much about, but I thought the obligation ends if you can't keep paying.

Original poster
Lardlizard · 05/01/2020 00:52

Sub prime mortgages part two !

OP posts:
pinkdelight · 05/01/2020 00:54

But you can still do the finance option, right? Most people don't have really fancy cars so won't be doing pcp?

HeddaGarbled · 05/01/2020 00:59

I’m reading the news today - apocalyptic scenes in Australia and the escalating situation between the US and Iran - and I think that how you paid for your car doesn’t warrant the language you are using.

Redyoyo · 05/01/2020 01:01

I've had a few cars on pcp I've never paid anymore than £500 deposit and despite being 10k over on miles on one car I've never paid for excess miles.

letsghostdance · 05/01/2020 01:06

@Redyoyo just curious, when you've given back your PCP car have you always taken out a new contract with the same company or have you closed contacts entirely and moved on?

Redyoyo · 05/01/2020 01:11

A bit of both really, a couple of times we've handed them back but mostly traded in car against a new one.

Pixxie7 · 05/01/2020 01:12

Definitely did this years ago only a fiesta nothing fancy, kept it for 3 years and because I wasn’t interested in buying an upgrade ended up paying a fortune to keep it. It’s a complete con unless you intend to renew every 3 years.

Nikhedonia · 05/01/2020 01:15

Should just be HP or lease. No need for PCP.

schoolcats · 05/01/2020 01:17

People should buy what they can afford not what they want.

MaJoady · 05/01/2020 01:18

The problem with pcps and the wider availability of car finance is that it has had the effect of increasing car prices. So many "normal" brand cars are now so much more expensive (taking inflation into account) than they used to be. So more people need finance and so on. Car manufacturers also love it as it's effectively helping to prop up the new car industry. So not the worst crisis ever, but it's not great either.

However it could also have serious environmental implications. Look at the aircraft industry where over the last decade airplane leasing has become the norm. Rather than companies buying their planes (and maintaining them) as they used to, they often now lease them from subsidiaries for a few years. The subsidiary keeps them until they have made a profit and they aircraft requires maintenance over a certain cost level. Then they scrap them. This has resulted in A380 aircraft already being broken up. Yes we can recycle, but this is energy intensive (especially with aircraft grade alloys) and often still degrades the alloy to a degree that it can no longer be considered aircraft grade. So we mine more materials for the next generation (sometimes of the same model!) aircraft. All the leftover PCP cars have to go somewhere, and the second hand market is only so big...

surlycurly · 05/01/2020 01:21

I had a nightmare with a lease car- cost me a fortune! I'll never do that again. But was it a catastrophe? No. Just a bit shit. This thread is way OTT