https://www.ft.com/content/f0422a76-3004-11e7-9555-23ef563ecf9a
It is difficult to explain quite how PCPs work, but easy to see the problem. Graham Hill, of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers, told the FT recently that using a PCP, drivers could pay less for a new BMW or Mercedes than for a second-hand Ford Focus. Or, as Bob the Dinosaur might put it, “they just make you sign papers!”This miraculous effect is achieved by endlessly rolling over one quasi hire-purchase into another one, never quite buying a car. They are flattered by a buoyant used car market that is likely to sag before long. Yet manufacturers like them because they encourage people to buy new cars more often; car dealers like them because they generate more commission; and customers like them because the monthly payments are low. If you’re not worried yet, I have a car to sell you.Some PCPs may be good value. The problem is that it is hard to tell. The closest analogy to a PCP — and it is not particularly close — is buying and selling a series of homes using interest-only mortgages. PCPs are a hybrid of several different financial products, part lease, part hire-purchase, and part option to choose between the two. Variables include contract length, the guaranteed value of the returned car, the deposit, purchase price of the car itself, maintenance contract tie-ins, mileage
allowances, and (of course) the interest rate.There is no reason to think customers can navigate these complexities. Suzanne Shu, an economist at UCLA, has shown that picking the cheapest mortgage deals is a problem that will fox even MBA students. PCPs are harder.
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