Buying on PCP

[Duke Dickson]

Depends what you define as "nearly new". For people who'll keep a car for 7 years, 2.5 years old is "nearly new", for others it'll be a pre-registered car with no more than a few thousand miles on the clock.

Most people on this forum buy new and are ready to ditch about 2.5 to 3 years old and get on another PCP.


My experience with performance VWs (i'm on my 9th VAG car) is that 13-15% discount without generous deposit contributions (a very recent VW incentive, never before seen it on performance models until about 3.5 years ago), and maybe 20% with deposit contributions. Compare that to a year old model that VW have up for 85% of RRP on their used forecourt with few or no incentives, 50% higher APR rates than new cars get and many will struggle to see any plus points in getting the used one.

Go for a 2.5 year old GTI/GTD/R for 60-75% of RRP, shortly needing some new brake pads, discs or tyres, a short warranty and about to need the annual MOT for the same monthlies or only a little less - i'd rather be getting new.


The way performance VWs hold their value it doesn't make much sense in most circumstances to get a nearly new one, but for other marques with horrific depreciation, it makes little sense to buy new, when an 18 month old example will still have a big wedge of warranty remaining for half the RRP.....................

Great post as usual MH

For balance, one of those year old, low mileage (at the time) cars & I effectively paid somewhere between 65-70% of list price, approximately. Not too bad for a first effort.

There's a lot to be said for the right car at the right time for the right reasons, even as a first attempt  .

[P6GTD]

If you take new car on PCP to get the VW contribution and cancel within the cooling off period is it simply a case of paying the balance in cash whilst keeping the contribution? In other words, is your own PCP deposit treated as part cash payment?
And if you get a discounted servicing deal is this also preserved? Can VW claw anything back out of the deal on immediate cancellation?
I know this has been covered before but wanted to check current practice.

[mcmaddy]

No, you keep everything.

[Talk-torque]

Yes, still the same. We went through the loop with my wife’s Skoda Fabia Estate a couple of months ago and saved £2K. You just pay the settlement figure and keep the savings.

To link two sayings, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” but “It’s the exception that proves the rule!”

Our salesman was almost embarrassed when I asked him about it! 😊

[Mark V GTD]

Remember you can get out of a PCP deal at any point - just ask the finance company for a settlement figure and pay it off. So if anyone is a bit nervous about 'cancelling' it - just make the repayments for a month or two and then settle it. You will pay a bit of interest of course, but still keep the offer benefits.