PCP Car Finance: A Smart Deal or a Costly Commitment?
An increasingly popular way to finance a new car is under a Personal Contract Plans (PCP). But what exactly is a PCP and who is it best suited to asks Geraldine Herbert What is a PCP? PCP (Personal Contract Plan) is a type of car finance that offers lower monthly repayments compared to traditional HP or bank loans. This is because, instead of paying off the full cost of the car, you are only covering its depreciation over the contract...
The risks of buying a car privately
It’s a tricky business and if something goes wrong, you have little legal protection, writes Geraldine Herbert A former Olympic athlete has highlighted the perils of buying a used car privately. Shane Healy told Claire Byrne Live last week that he had been scammed out of €2,000 in a terrifying ordeal at Tyrrelstown, Dublin when buying a second-hand car. Healy, who reached the semi-finals of the 1996 Olympic Games, revealed how...
Seven Reasons to go Electric
If you’re in the market for a car, there has never been a better time to go electric writes Geraldine Herbert 1) Reduced Tolls – From Sunday 1st July 2018, electric car owners can avail of 50% off tolls nationwide. 2) Cheaper to Run – According to the CSO the average driver does 318 kms per week. Driving that distance a week in an electric car (eg. Nissan Leaf) will cost you just €4.04 a week to charge as opposed to...
Nine things to know about Personal Contract Plans (PCP)
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) recently released their report into the use of Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) finance writes Geraldine Herbert 1) On average consumers spent almost 4½ times longer selecting the car in comparison to considering how to pay for it.An average of 9.7 hours is spent by most car buyers researching cars at home and 7.2 hours physically viewing cars. By contrast an average of only...
Is a PCP the best way to finance your next car?
Personal Contract Plans (PCPs) are not suited to everyone writes Geraldine Herbert With more than 30 per cent of new cars sold on Personal Contract Plans, PCP deals are one of the reasons why car sales have steadily recovered since the market crash of 2009. The idea is simple: buyers put down a deposit or trade in their old car, followed by monthly payments made over three years and are given a “guaranteed minimum future...
Definitive guide to PCP deals
Personal Contract Plans (PCP) are a popular way to stretch a budget but there are some things to bear in mind, writes Geraldine Herbert Car sales are booming with almost 125,000 new registrations in 2015, up more than 30 per cent on 2014, according to figures from the SIMI. Sales so far for this year show similar increases and 2016 is set to be the third consecutive year of growth. The depressed car market of the past few years has...