Hi chaps,

I'm on the look out for a Fiat 500. Even the basic model will do. Ideally I would like it to come in at around £150 per month on PCP, which I know is pushing it a bit! I've found these so far. Do they look like decent enough offers?

1.2 Sport

PCP
Total Cash Price: £10,312.61
Deposit: £1,000.00
Amount To Finance: £9,312.61
Term: 48 Months
Admin Fee: £175.00
Option Fee: £149.00
Interest Charges: £2,382.13
Annual Mileage: 10,000
Excess Mileage Charge: 3ppm
TOTAL REPAYABLE: £13,018.74
Regular Payment: £163.42
Residual Value: £4,014.00
APR: 10.40%
PAYABLE by:
First Payment of: £338.42
46 Payments of: £163.42
Final Payment of: £4,163.00

1.2 Pop

Cash Price £9,358.19
Deposit £1,000.00
Initial Monthly Payment £158.20
Monthly Payments 46 @ £158.20
Final Payment £158.20
Optional Final Purchase £3,298.50
Total interest £2,533.73
Total charge for credit £2,533.73
Total amount payable £11,892.10
APR (typical) 10.4% APR
Additional Mileage fees £0.10

Thanks all! Any site recommendations welcome!

The sport price looks very good especially as its nearly £400 less than list

Thanks for that! Yes it does seem reasonably good. I can't remember where I got that price now so I guess I'll have to start searching again!

I think it's good because I'm pretty sure the car will be worth well more than the £4k fee at the end of the 4 years.

You have to remember that you will be paying £13k for your 1.2 Sport, and not £10.5k.

30% interest over the term of the loan

Make sure you check the mileage that you can do is enough, I noticed an advert where you could only do 27k in 3 yrs without penalty and my car is up to 20k after about 20 months

Why PCP? Is a bank loan not better value?
I'm stretching myself to clear my car in 2.5 years to keep the interest to a minimum.

I see what you are saying about the total cost, but it's about trying to keep the monthly payments down. I could maybe pay off a £2,000 deposit so I would be looking to finance around £8,000. I'll see what kind of quote I get for that amount.

Regarding the mileage, it is highly unlikely that there would be more than 20,000 miles done in 3 years as it will mainly be used to get around locally. I'm not too concerned about this part, but thanks for pointing it out

Ned Flanders said:

I see what you are saying about the total cost, but it's about trying to keep the monthly payments down. I could maybe pay off a £2,000 deposit so I would be looking to finance around £8,000. I'll see what kind of quote I get for that amount.

Regarding the mileage, it is highly unlikely that there would be more than 20,000 miles done in 3 years as it will mainly be used to get around locally. I'm not too concerned about this part, but thanks for pointing it out

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I know you're trying to keep the payments down but in the end isn't that a bit silly to spend all that money just for 4 years of motoring just to end up giving the car back to the dealer? We're paying something like 270 over 36 months for our car and at the end of that we own the thing.

A quick check on Moneysupermarket.com on their car loans section says you can get a loan for 8k over 4 years for just under 200 a month. So for an extra £50 a month or £2400 over the term of the loan you end up owning the car which according to their possibly slightly pessimistic predictions will be worth £4k after 48 months.

PCP only makes sense if you absolutely need to own a new car every 3 or 4 years and have to keep the monthly payments down even if it ends up costing you in the long run. Why rent when you can buy? Who would rent a house when they could afford to pay it off?

306maxi said:

Why rent when you can buy? Who would rent a house when they could afford to pay it off?

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People like us who can't get a deposit

Yeah mine is £310 a month and cleared in 2 1/2 years. Full owned before the warranty expires (so I have the cash if it lives up to its F.I.A.T reputation)

MissR said:

People like us who can't get a deposit

Yeah mine is £310 a month and cleared in 2 1/2 years. Full owned before the warranty expires (so I have the cash if it lives up to its F.I.A.T reputation)

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I know what you mean, but what people doing PCP are doing is essentially renting when they can afford the deposit and payments.

I used to do PCPs, but now would never consider buying that way. I always felt I spent a fortune and usually got bored with the car long before the plan finished. You then have to start all over again having nothing to show for all the thousands spent.
Why not consider a nearly new 500 and a personal loan. Could save you a fortune. To spend a total of 13 grand on a 1.2 500 just sounds too much.

I agree with a lot of these comments. I did this with my Stilo. I got a 0% finance deal at the time and paid a few grand deposit. Cost me £235 a month and I paid it off nearly exactly 4 years ago. I'll be selling my 7 year old Stilo and looking to get a 500. This will be for the wife and even though I don't like the idea myself of PCP, she believes that she will want a replacement car after the 4 year period.

I didn't realise I could get an £8k loan for near £200 a month. For me, it is definitely worth the extra cash because we would then own the care outright, even though we would obviously prefer a cheaper monthly payment. I suppose we just have to find out what is available!

Thanks everyone for the great feedback!

Each different method of car ownership has its own pro's and con's (pcp, loan, comp. car, or cold hard cash) - however you have to remember that not everyone has a perfect credit record, and can get the headline APR rates.

Car ownership is one big money-losing excerise - and you have to be really careful not to end up paying too much for a car you may not want beyond 4 years.

Personally, my ownership record is 1 year x5, and 4 year x1 .. so its anyone guess whether the 500 will fall into the former or later - but I would hate to still be paying for a car I don't want