30yearsacustomer

I made the mistake of getting off the merry go round - it cost me 10k of my inheritance - and now I will have to start from scratch if I want another car. So, my car goes to dealership as p/x, I don't want to pay any cash at all if I can help it - negotiating skill required. they are keen to sell (make up their quota) and PCP is available on promotion. take new car and keep it as long as you want - I always try to get rid before having to pay next year's road fund tax, certainly before any new tyres, and before any servicing required, and definitely before MOT. The car is YOURS not anybody else, finance company or anything. Yours. when you get too close to having to pay for e.g. service, tyres, battery or whatever, go back to dealer and say "I want a new one, and I don't want to put any more cash into it than I absolutely have to". If you have kept on the merry go round, then this continues until you've gone all the way through your final PCP agreement you used to buy your very final car. That is the one where you will pay the 10 ukp option to buy along with the 10000 ukp balloon payment. There's your depreciation. Perhaps it's getting away from the fixation on p/x value mindset that's difficult. I don't care what value they put on it, it is immaterial until the very final car I buy.

apart from my 22my car, all have been factory ordered by me - needed because I always specify factory fit towbar (waiting time for delivery not a problem, it comes when it comes). my 2022 MY is from stock (new), me first owner, not pre reg, newly reg'd, etc etc All my Skodas for the 30 years have been brand new factory orders, with the exception of 2022MY which is new, unregitered from stock - "shown as immediately available" Suggestion:- go to dealer, ask what deal is poss which meets your budgetary requirements in terms of monthly repayment covering all your motoring needs. ask hypothetical question "if within (say) two years I come back to p/x this one for the next one on PCP, do I have to pay the optional final plus optional purchase, or do you clear it all off as part of the new deal?" "if I repeat this every year or two, when do I get caught for the optional final payment and option to buy payment?" My experience is his reply should be something like "when you want to p/x or sell the last ever car you bought on PCP and you're no longer looking to buy another on PCP" I still hold the view that I don't want to own anything which is showing its age to the point that its value is visibly disappearing, or is rusting on my driveway. Also, do have a look at any of your previous vehicle's MOT histories, and note how many failures/advisories you would have had to rectify at your expense. I have found this an interesting exercise, and thank all those who've responded. I've yet to find anyone convinced of my logic, but I think I have put just as much out here as I can be bothered with, maybe too much. Cheers everybody

You've got it. thank you. Road fund tax - paid in PCP (therefore not extra that you would notice) servicing - get rid of car before any servicing required (i.e. before stipulated service interval) rac/aa (or whatever recovery company they use) - three years membership included in PCP (therefore not noticed) service parts (i.e. tyres, batteries etc) are good for the time you own the car - therefore not applicable I pay (say) 12 months at 316 ukp, and the car is mine, lock, stock, and barrel I own it for the duration, albeit with a large PCP debt to VWFS, for which I am liable in the event of default. BUT, my total cost of owning that brand new reliable car with all its add-ons is less than 4000 ukp for that one year. The dealership totally clears any outstanding debt as part of each new deal, so the Balloon Payment/ lump sum (10989 ukp) never arises until the very last car you ever buy on PCP. That is when you buy your e.g. citigo so that the final total of depreciation over all the years is e.g.10989 ukp plus the few hundred ukp top ups each deal BTW, I see from your example that PCP is chargeable at 7.85%, and you pay that within the 316 every month over 48 monthst, BUT because you have that particular PCP agreement with VWFS and use it for only 12 months of the term, they calculate the element of your monthly payment covering 36/48ths which was interest and in the past they have refunded me the corrected interest balance because of the 36/48ths you're not using. (this does not apply if the PCP is at 0% promotion). It has been a very useable refund, too. My original interest in my first post was the "internal tailgate release button on the drivers door panel" and the fact that despite the advertising representing the car as having this across the entire oct. estate range, excluding the vrs, mine does not, and I see that it is advertised again, as before, it is STANDARD EQUIPMENT. Has anybody any information on truth of the statement.

Quite a few questions from you all, and that's good, because I'd rather it is clear to everybody interested enough that it works for me, but you have to suit yourself as to whether I'm talking through my neck, or not. All PCP on basis of max term, min miles, the payment level you can afford and is reasonable in your mind as reflecting acceptable cost of motoring, but always change for the next car after (preferably) a year or so, thus 1st year tax is within the PCP agreement i.e. you don't "pay" it, recovery service is always present within the PCP, no MOT is ever reached, all service parts are within their usual lifespan 2011 - put couple or three hundred plus fab estate in p/x for octavia. Cash outlay around 2-300 ukp Octavia WL11FU* 2012 - WL11FU* in p/x with c.500 ukp for octavia BV62YX* 2013 - BV62 in p/x with c.3 - 500 ukp for yeti BD63WD* 2015 - BD 63 in p/x with c.500 ukp for yeti BD15*** 2016 - BD15 in p/x with ?c. 750 - 1000? (can't remember) for yeti BD16UU* 2018 - BD16 in p/x with ?c. 750 for octavia BU18GH* 2019 - BU18 in p/x with, say, c.750 for octavia BV69VY* Rounding it all upwards I reckon I've paid cash somewhere between ukp 4 - 5K over 7 cars by way of depreciation. Then I made the mistake of jumping off the PCP into outright ownership by p/x BV69 and paying cash 10K ukp and bought 2022 ym in Oct 2022, The car which should have had the internal electric boot lid release according to the brochures, and as also accepted in emails with Skoda UK, and for the lack of which Skoda UK made me a payment of 1690 ukp Hope this explanation makes sense, even if the logic is flawed.

My experience all started in 2012 when I went on holiday to Cornwall in my Fabia estate and trailer, rainy day, looked at Skoda in Carrs, Indian Queens, saw Octavia estate 1.6 mpi and they agreed to prep, complete with tow bar, before my journey home. True to their word, it was done, but for the first time as a customer, I used PCP, and moved away from the mindset that I must own my car outright and let it rust on my drive, and be responsible for batteries, tyres, MOTs, road fund tax, RAC/AA, servicing, etc, all at my own expense. Plus, of course, the 25% “folklore” immediate depreciation factor when you drive the car off the dealer's forecourt. How much have they cost me? Since 2012 I've bought five octavia estates and three yetis, always stipulated to the dealer “I don't want to put any more of my own money into the purchase than I absolutely have to” and, apart from the last two Octavias, I have kept it down to P/X plus (so far as I can recall) about £500 – 750 each time. In 2012 I think I was paying about £140 – 150 per month, and finally just over £300 per month. My big mistake – inheritance, leading to paying off my balance and getting off the PCP roundabout. Stay on the PCP until the year before you're going to stop driving, the “balloon” payment scheduled to VWFS is a guaranteed minimum value, and set that against your last car, e.g. Citigo. That there is your depreciation for all the cars you've had when you add on the few hundred each time you change. BEWARE. I've yet to meet anybody who agrees with my logic, let alone my wife, who buys her own cars with her own money, outright, but asks me to negotiate her a deal!, and I then end up being accused by her dealer as the owner of her vauxhall any time they phone to arrange a service. Damned cheek, haven't they heard about emancipation and equal rights! You are party to two totally separate contracts here, one with the dealer to supply a new car, and one with the (VWFS) finance company to lend you the money for a period of time, while paying them interest. My understanding is that neither contracting party is interested in the other's contract, insofar as the dealer's contract was fulfilled when you took possession of the car, it is yours, registered in your name, whereas the finance company are interested only in that you repay the sum on the due dates, at the agreed amount, with the agreed interest until the contract is completed, as firstly agreed in the contract, or by agreement before the end of the firstly agreed date. If you wish to complete your side of the contract ahead of time – e.g. because you're buying your next Skoda on a PCP – my experience is that they find it most acceptable in that they will be entering a new contract with you for a more pricey model where they lend you more money payable with the interest current at that time, and there has never been any suggestion of any penalty due. You must have performed your side of the previous contract properly, of course. Best to confirm all of that with your dealer, of course. I'm not a qualified financial advisor/solicitor or whatever, I'm only a customer, albeit for the last thirty years. Apart from Capital outlay, now the revenue expenses. Let's say 12 month ownership on a 48 month PCP agreement. Tax - included in PCP RAC/AA - included in PCP Towbar extra on PCP 20ukp per month (960ukp divided by 48 months). Servicing – zero, not met the intervals. Tyres – zero, still well legal. MoT – zero. Battery – zero. add on any other extras you may lust after and pay only 12 months of their cost Original octavia mpi 1.6 claimed mpg 42 achieved 38, but current ocvtavia claimed mpg 53 regularly achieves 59 means I get half as far again on each gallon today as I did in 2012. I look at the gov.uk web site for MoT on each of the cars I have owned since 2007 and see the amount of failure/advisory notes, and think to myself, it could have been me paying for those items and for preventive servicing, but it's not. I can put my socks on in the morning and think – I'll go to John o' Groats tonight, Lands End tomorrow night, and home in the west mids for lunch the next day (hypothetically, of course), and know it's achievable. What set me on this course? A neighbour with his immaculate 2002 merc 220 kompressor asking me in 2012 “why do you keep changing your car”, and then telling me that his 10 year old car had been valued at only 5000ukp. 2000 ukp per annum depreciation, plus having to buy all and sundry, while I was paying 1800 ukp all in. The real question should have been from me, “how can anyone afford to run a good used car?” Please read this extremely critically, I won't be held responsible if it doesn't work for other people.

Been buying (solely) skoda since 1993, about twenty new cars in that time. and currently with my 5th octavia estate technology 25/10/2022. I can't afford to buy pre-used, it is cheaper to have new on pcp and change every 12-18months, but never get off that merry-go-round. The brochures for those models 2021 onwards ALL show internal electric boot lid release button as standard fitment to the driver's door panel, but I have never found any in this country with that button. I phoned dealers all over the uk but none had the button. A bit of to and fro with skoda uk and eventually a refund to me of 1690UKP was made. Looking at the current car configurator on the website, I have see Tailgate/trunk lid release shows as standard equipment, is this the same as the button that never was? I think we should be told. If you are counting on it in the delivery of your new car then be prepared for a battle if it doesn't have it. Reminds me of 2012 when I wanted to order my second octavia estate, but always with a factrory fit tow bar, only to be told it was not an available option that year, so I had to have the new model yeti instead. Funny thing was, Caravan Club (I think it was) declared it towing car of the year. Perhaps it was strong string on the bumper🙂