Finance repo's

[Lacquer Peel]

I saw an episode of "Motorway Cops" or whatever it's called last week where a guy in an older but modern to us (early 2000s) Fiesta broke down in the middle lane of the motorway with his young daughter, there's an excerpt of the 999 phone call where he's explaining the situation then you hear a massive bang, he's unresponsive and the daughter's screaming her head off, the Fiesta was annihilated and they were lucky to survied.

 

Driving a car that might break down on a motorway is really dangerous, and I can appreciate people buying new or nearly new cars for peace of mind, even if it's no guarantee of reliability to people like us who know that badly maintained 3 year old cars can be less reliable than well maintained 30 year old cars.

[Tayne]

I saw an episode of "Motorway Cops" or whatever it's called last week where a guy in an older but modern to us (early 2000s) Fiesta broke down in the middle lane of the motorway with his young daughter, there's an excerpt of the 999 phone call where he's explaining the situation then you hear a massive bang, he's unresponsive and the daughter's screaming her head off, the Fiesta was annihilated and they were lucky to survied.

 

 

I am the only one thinking about why he didn't pull over when the car showed signs of not running right?

I lost a wheel in lane 2 and still came to a halt on the hard shoulder.

[Lacquer Peel]

I thought that too, but if it lost all power in the middle lane in heavy traffic it'd be hard to manoeuvre out of..

[Pillock]

That's why I drive everywhere at 95mph, it gives me 25mph extra to play with to make it to the hard shoulder.

[JohnK]

Therefore you is obviously safer innit!

[New POD]

Back in 2006, I took on a promotion where I got to manage 25 factory workers in Runcorn, whose Pay ranged from £6:50 to £8:50 per hour.

 

Every single one of them took the piss out of my 21 year old £40 mk2 cavalier sri.

 

Not least the father of a bloke I shall call Danny, whose previous included drugs, abh, gbh, and homelessness. Now Danny was getting his life together, was renting a house with his girlfriend, who he had yet to beat up, and her 2 kids.

 

We were going through a time of rapid expansion, as we were building stock for our now late Indian sister plant, which was due on stream in 2007. So lots of overtime.

 

Danny's dad, came to me one day, and was bragging to me about Danny's "new" car, an A3 S-line. To this day I have no idea if it had a petrol or derv engine, but It was pointed out to me that it had 18 inch alloys, leather, and that it was top of the range. It was about 18 months old. I also have no idea how much it cost, but I do know that it cost £285 a month.

 

A couple of months later we cut the overtime, and guess what? Yes Danny, thought I could change his fortunes by giving him all the overtime, that we had left.

 

I actually had some sympathy, but if I followed the rules, he'd be offered 1/25th of the overtime hours available.

 

Still he only lost his car. Another bloke ended up having his house repossessed. Mind you he bought it with a 110% mortgage from Northern Rock.

[HH-R]

Going back to the lass with the Adam and mega expensive tyres, being tight I was beside myself with joy to find that my car is a decent size but uses 175/70/14 tyres. I check things like that out, but many people won't - heard many a person complain about the price of their 19" or whatever behemoths but then do exactly the same next time.

[Bren]

Do you not class a loan as finance then? Jeez.....

Yes I do - still somebody's else's money.

[cobblers]

Tyres aren't expensive if you don't buy them from fuckin Kwik Fit. I've had motors with 17", 18", 19" MEGA SPORT low profile tyres and I don't think I've ever had to spend more than £70 a corner to get something somewhat alright.

[sierraman]

I am the only one thinking about why he didn't pull over when the car showed signs of not running right?

I lost a wheel in lane 2 and still came to a halt on the hard shoulder.

I've read that and I've decided to sell my car tomorrow, go down the Kia dealer and get a huge finance deal, finance myself up to the bollocks on this Kia as it will not break down for 3 years. You've convinced me new cars never go wrong, are so safe I could drive it, wilfully into a wall at 60mph. Then in 3 years do it all again before the car explodes, like they do at 3 years old.

[drum]

There was a bod on radio a couple of weeks ago (some kind of spokesman for the car industry) part of his justification for needing a new car every three years was the cost of fixing modern technology!

 

Doesn't sound like a good selling point to me.

 

I once took out a 5 year loan at £200 per month to buy a four year old Volvo 480. The following year I wrote it off while on honeymoon in France and got my £5k back. That's the only good finance deal I've been involved with.

[lincolndanny]

Yes I do - still somebody's else's money.

So you took out finance then Bren to buy the car. Therefore the car was bought on finance? UR COMMENTZ DONT STAK UP MAN

[lincolndanny]

I've read that and I've decided to sell my car tomorrow, go down the Kia dealer and get a huge finance deal, finance myself up to the bollocks on this Kia as it will not break down for 3 years. You've convinced me new cars never go wrong, are so safe I could drive it, wilfully into a wall at 60mph. Then in 3 years do it all again before the car explodes, like they do at 3 years old.

I'd sooner be in a 2015 car that gets hit up the arse at 70mph than a Ford Sierra... I can't talk though as my daily is a 106 GTI!!! Still, at least it would be over quickly.......

[Tamworthbay]

Some people are just genuinely clueless. I guy who used to work at our place who I shall call 'Chris' (because he was called Chris) had a Nissan Almera on tick and had had it for a couple of years, one day he came with a brand new one. I asked him why and he said because it cost the same as the old one so why not. He genuinely could not get the concept that the same amount per month but over a longer period cost more. To him it was the same amount going out per month so was the same.

[MarvinsMom]

i saw that bloke who was on police interceptors stop thing on the telly who nearly got killed on the M62 in his ford fiesta. as i understood it he had been going along all fine and dandy and a warning lamp had come on on the dash board.

 

so he stopped in i think the middle lane with his kid in the passenger seat and called 999, just as they got wiped out by another car.

 

fortunately he and the kid were ok.

 

some people......

[Alexg]

I spend £90 per month on storage for my (usually broken) shite. That's arguably a more ridiculous way of blowing cash than paying monthly for a new one with a warranty I can keep outside the house.

[dave21478]

Tyres aren't expensive if you don't buy them from fuckin Kwik Fit. I've had motors with 17", 18", 19" MEGA SPORT low profile tyres and I don't think I've ever had to spend more than £70 a corner to get something somewhat alright.

 

101% true.

I remember sitting in the waiting room at a fast fit place getting tracking done when some wannabe rolled up in his black ML merc. He and his orange wife strutted into the reception and asked about 4 new tyres. I cant remember what size they were but the dude was quoting £200+ per tyre for a set of LongDongs. His harpie wife went FUCKING MENTAL at him! Kinda spoiled his "hardcore" image as he walked out with his tail between his legs and the harpie screeching on about affording food.

[lincolndanny]

i saw that bloke who was on police interceptors stop thing on the telly who nearly got killed on the M62 in his ford fiesta. as i understood it he had been going along all fine and dandy and a warning lamp had come on on the dash board.

 

so he stopped in i think the middle lane with his kid in the passenger seat and called 999, just as they got wiped out by another car.

 

fortunately he and the kid were ok.

 

some people......

If that's the case then words do fail me.... And for the third time I've said it in this thread, natural selection....

[dave21478]

Some people are just genuinely clueless. I guy who used to work at our place who I shall call 'Chris' (because he was called Chris) had a Nissan Almera on tick and had had it for a couple of years, one day he came with a brand new one. I asked him why and he said because it cost the same as the old one so why not. He genuinely could not get the concept that the same amount per month but over a longer period cost more. To him it was the same amount going out per month so was the same.

See also BrightHouse or whatever they call themselves this month - enabling the professionally unemployed to "afford" 52 inch tellys and an xbox for each kid.

They concentrate on the small weekly payment and gloss over the length of contract and total repayable simply because people dont think that far ahead.

[Lacquer Peel]

i saw that bloke who was on police interceptors stop thing on the telly who nearly got killed on the M62 in his ford fiesta. as i understood it he had been going along all fine and dandy and a warning lamp had come on on the dash board.

 

so he stopped in i think the middle lane with his kid in the passenger seat and called 999, just as they got wiped out by another car.

 

fortunately he and the kid were ok.

 

some people......

 

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, really hope that wasn't the case.

[garbaldy]

i saw that bloke who was on police interceptors stop thing on the telly who nearly got killed on the M62 in his ford fiesta. as i understood it he had been going along all fine and dandy and a warning lamp had come on on the dash board.

 

so he stopped in i think the middle lane with his kid in the passenger seat and called 999, just as they got wiped out by another car.

 

fortunately he and the kid were ok.

 

some people......

Yes we got that bit but what where the alloy wheels sitting at the side of the road taken from the remains of his fiesta?

[Bear]

There was a bod on radio a couple of weeks ago (some kind of spokesman for the car industry) part of his justification for needing a new car every three years was the cost of fixing modern technology!

 

Doesn't sound like a good selling point to me.

 

I once took out a 5 year loan at £200 per month to buy a four year old Volvo 480. The following year I wrote it off while on honeymoon in France and got my £5k back. That's the only good finance deal I've been involved with.

 

Damnit, you got all my good 480 luck!

[Bear]

See also BrightHouse or whatever they call themselves this month - enabling the professionally unemployed to "afford" 52 inch tellys and an xbox for each kid.

They concentrate on the small weekly payment and gloss over the length of contract and total repayable simply because people dont think that far ahead.

 

I worked for a professional association that essentially supports photographers in the social/studio marketplace (i.e. selling to families and so forth) and naturally tries to protect the value of this service. Any Fule No the concept of the "Veblen Good" - that is, a product that has an objectively low value in utility or even material costs, but commands a high price simply because the purchaser can 'enjoy' the status of a high-priced item. The archetypal demo of this was an iPhone application that was priced at the maximum figure (IIRC $499), and simply put an app icon on your phone that said "I'm Rich".

 

It was pulled. But not before 7 or 8 (I forget exactly) people had bought it.

 

The more car-relevant end of that might be choosing between a Dacia Duster, a Qashqai or an Infiniti. There's little between the concepts - they're made by the same company and perform the same task - but people would pay more for the badge prestige of the Infiniti if they can afford to; the argument of stronger residuals only applies because the secondhand buyer has the same status motivation as the first.

 

ANYWAY. To get back to the point. At a conference discussing some marketing co-operations, someone announced a partnership with BrightHouse. I stood up at the back and pretty much slaughtered the idea, then took the person aside and said "What the FUCK are you doing? That firm is as revolting as payday loans. They price up £399 tellies at four-figure sums and then charge insane interest whilst presenting themselves as doing a favour for people who are too desperate or ill informed to make a rational decision. They will devalue your brand AND attract the wrong profile of customer".

 

I was called a snob for that attitude, as if the reason I objected was that the profile of BrightHouse customers was that they're "poor" and poor people don't want professional photography (Venture studios prove otherwise as they sign people up to financed, four figure sessions resulting in prints I can fire out of my printer for under £100 including canvas & frame). Still, to the best of my knowledge the partnership did not materialise, as many of the people were of the same opinion.

[Matt]

It really boggles my mind why people buy new cars this way, the short sightedness is amazing. I sometimes read the great* deals in the local paper The numbers they put in big font are quite appealing but as soon as you look at the small print the numbers become shocking. I don't know why anyone enters these things. By hire purchase you end up paying £1500-£2000 more if you buy the car at the end versus buying it outright. If you pay the final purchase fee you have to be ready for it ahead of time as that's a several thousand quid hit. On top of that you can only do silly miles a year before they charge per mile... Most of the time it's Fiat 500's and Pandas so people are basically paying through the nose or a car they won't be able to afford to keep that they can barely use.

 

Looking at the numbers for my Swift last year I effectively paid £134 a month for everything. It's never let me down, averages 54 MPG and if it passes it's MOT this month it'll be it's tenth pass running. Why are new cars so great again? I forget. Needless to say I won't be buying anything on finance if I can avoid it, not really sure what I'm going to do about housing though.

[robinmasters]

That's the problem. The plethora of knackered old shit for sale drags down the price of the decent ones. According to that piece I posted from Glass's earlier, the average price for a 10 year old car is £875. Maybe I should tell the guy down the road who has his 54 plate Mini Cooper out for sale on his drive for £3750 that it's about £3000 overpriced.

What you're overlooking there is that this is an average. For every £3,750 Mini there are two £200 Astra F's, a £150 Fiesta that's only held together by the powered by fairy dust stickers, and a £75 Laguna 2 diesel that's shat itself in a million ways all at once. Something for everyone.

[Bear]

The real issue is that used cars are readily available for £1500 that will do a great job, safely and economically, but garages cost £70-£110/hour yet can only really function by paying low wages to technicians/apprentices. I am hideously against garages, I don't trust them anymore, but realistically I'm sure plenty of people do get good service. When you need discs & pads on your £1500 car, and the cost (plus sorting manky calipers) runs to £800, you baulk. And then you get the idea old cars are expensive and unreliable, so they're worthless.

 

Jen's Saab 9-3 was £350 or thereabouts. Just over 100,000 miles, auto, aircon, comfortable, very presentable, good tyres, brakes and suspension. It is insane. For the utility of this car it should be £3000 and worth replacing consumables on. In other countries used car prices are more sensible, and people do keep cars longer - USA and Canada, 7 years is not uncommon, vs. 3 years here. The car park snobbery against old cars is truly horrific. I mean, seriously, a Mercedes should last 30 years - my E320 needs what I would call consumables but they're still 1/2 of what I paid for the car if I add them all up. We even see evidence of it as knackered old Mercs that are deemed worthless by buyers here are worth buying and shipping to another country for North Africans. And you have to assume they have considerably less disposable income per capita, too.

[Bear]

Hell, even I'm guilty of that mindset - that Astra G (I think) that was being asked if it was overpriced - I had an Astra G 1.7 Envoy estate which I nabbed in 2006 for £650 because the dealer was worried about the odometer not displaying and thinking it might be clocked. I made a bet about the mileage based on the condition of the car - I said 80,000, he said 120,000. When I reset the instruments (no, he didn't know about that trick ) it came up 79,000.

 

It was a very agreeable car. Practical with decent enough seats, it would do the legal limit anywhere in the UK and get there without being miserably slow (to the extent that one passenger exclaimed "Oh. It's your driving. I thought it was just that the RX8 felt fast."). The diesel pump failed at 99,999 miles (I swear, it may really have been 99500 or something but it was hilariously close to 100,000) and the bloody thing was a paperweight because of the coded pump.

 

So when I saw the Astra being asked about my first thought was "No, it's not worth it they're sodding vile" - really, of course it is. It's £500. It's a week's wages roughly for the average income used for most stats. It's less than a month's rent on a smallish house, or a broom cupboard in Zone 6, or  a drawer in someone's bedroom in The City.

 

If anything Autoshite proves the sheer variety and quality of cars that cost in real terms, fuck all for a machine of such utility and complexity; the market for new cars being so buoyant is completely illogical.

[CHRIS1980]

The tracker box is on a timed code lockout, once my payment day has arrived I get a code that's imputed which then starts another timed sequence.

If I miss a payment I get a sound warning a few days after then have upto 14 days to make the payment.

If, after 14days I don't make a payment then the next time I start the car another warning tone sounds then next time the cars turned off its immobilised.

When you ring up to pay they give you a code for the remainder of the month.

They can't track my movements either.

Sounds complicated but it's as simple as pay, get code, drive, don't pay, no code, no drive. Simple.

It's enabled me, with shit credit history to get a car I wouldn't be able to afford if I'd have to save up for it.

Also, after the finance ends I can have the box removed or pay a fee and keep it as an extra immobiliser.

Sorry, I don't get the bit where you say you wouldn't be able to afford it. But have the money to pay the finance. In my head if you took that money for the finance and saved it instead you would be able to buy the car,no?

[SamR380]

Do you think somewhere in the internet there's a forum full of Audi and Fiat 500 owners leasers discussing why on earth anyone would want a 15 year old Rover?

[sierraman]

Do you think somewhere in the internet there's a forum full of Audi and Fiat 500 owners leasers discussing why on earth anyone would want a 15 year old Rover?

Yes it's called Pistonheads.