Hi all,

I fancy moving into the Skoda world, in particular the Octavia world, due to the big old boot. This question is applicable to all cars though.

 

I'm scratching my head about PCP versus cash though and it's mainly because I worry that in 4/5 years time I'll want to move to an electric car but it'll be difficult to shift the petrol one.

I'm looking at a 2020 model, roughly 13k.

 

Options are

1. Scraping together the cash but potentially being left with a car that's difficult to sell in 4/5 years.

2. Going PCP and paying about 2k extra in interest over the term but having the option to hand the car back at the end of the term rather than make the balloon payment and then trying to sell it in a shrinking market.

 

If electric cars weren't looming then I'd definitely favour option 1.

 

Anyone else having this dilemma, or am I wrong thinking petrol cars are going to start depreciating faster as the electric infrastructure gets put in place?

 

Its possible in my opinion, that by banning the supply of new petrol cars that the depreciation of the ones on the road already will be slower. Its only the sale of new cars that is planned to be banned in 2030.

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Thanks gkr47 - the more opinions the better.

I agree that scarcity of petrol cars (as manufacturers shift production to electric) might make them more valuable!

But the changing infrastructure, environmental effects, government incentives etc might negate all that?

I know I'm trying to see the future :-) but it's helpful to know other people have thought about this and there might be some sort of consensus?

Personal loans from banks/building societies certainly have lower interest rates than many finance deals from dealers. All depends what you want from your car really. Mines all paid off via personal loan, cars giving me no issues, (touch wood), and plan to keep for another two years at least.

 

I cant see the demand for petrol/diesel cars diminishing at a rapid rate, most cars where we live are 5+ years old and 95% of properties have no off road parking for home charging. I’d go to electric in the future, but have nowhere to charge it. At the moment. 

Edited 8 April, 20215 yr by threadbear

Yes the attraction of PCP was being able to hand the car back in 3/4 years, (especially if prices  of petrol/diesel cars are depreciating faster due to electric cars) rather than the interest rate which would be better from a personal loan.

It's hard to see home charging being viable for quite a few years, especially when you don't have your own driveway. Presumably before that happens commercial garages will have plugin points that can juice up a battery almost as fast as filling a tank?

 

Given I keep my cars for a long time (eg typically 13 years or more) depreciation doesn't really bother me as much as the upfront cost.  However, my understanding is similar to others in that there is a large core of people who don't have access to charging points or driveways and will always want and need ICE powered vehicles, meaning demand is unlikely to tail off and is actually more likely to increase second hand residuals for smaller efficient cars.  That's certainly been the case for some vehicles that have been withdrawn from sale as manufacturers start to move across to hybrid and lower emissions versions as they strive to meet fleet emissions targets (eg I understand that the 1.0 boosterjet Suzukis are now in high demand second hand since being withdrawn from sale a few months ago, with dealers chasing current owners to trade them in as they have buyers waiting for them to become available).