Q. I am driving the proverbial gas guzzler. It is a big car ( 3.3 litre bought in 2008 ) and apart from the tax ( € 1200 ) the petrol consumption is heavy on the pocket – 18 miles per gallon ( 16 litres per 100 kms) Is it worth my while going for a PCP scheme and buying a new car ? I have nt worked out what I would be saving but I am sure it could be justified. Can you help ? Paul – Portlaoise Co Laois
A. Thanks for the question Paul. The car is possibly the worst depreciating asset you could buy. 2008 was also such a bad year as the following year, car tax was cheaper and the actual cars were cheaper again than the previous year’s model. The question therefore is by swapping to a 2 litre car, you could not only find the car tax up to € 1,000 a year cheaper but the petrol/diesel consumption could be a quarter of you currently are achieving. Personal Contract Plans ( PCPs) are an innovative way of buying a new car with up to 30% deposit required, then repaying relatively small repayments over a three year period at the end of which you can either pay a lump sum to buy out the contract ( up to 30% of the original value ) or roll it over and take possession of a new model – the never-ending loan. You could of course simply hand the car back ! Your car is getting older, nearer the scrapheap while you also have annual NCT examinations to do…it might be worth popping into the garage at least to run through the figures. Make sure it’s part of your budget, you can afford it and does not put you over that 35% financial commitments threshold of net monthly income… if you are over this threshold ( includes mortgage / rent, personal loans, visa card payments etc`) save instead and keep driving the guzzler.