This is our specialist 
CHEAP PRIUS.CO.UK website

Finance may be obtained either through the supplying dealer, or we can provide you with a finance quote at DealDrivers, through our finance partner. To apply you must be 18 and a resident. A guarantor may be required.

PCP Finance in a nutshell!
With “HP” (hire purchase) you are paying off the whole loan and the car is yours at the end of the term. Although monthly PCP payments are lower than HP, your overall cost will be lower with HP if you can afford to pay it each month. 

PCP offers lower monthly payments as you are only paying off the amount between the purchase price (less any deposit you pay) and the final balloon figure, you are not paying off the whole amount and get the choice of keeping the car at the end or not. You need to decide what is best for you and your own risk ‘comfort zone’!:

A PCP quote will include a monthly payment and a final balloon payment or “guaranteed final purchase price”..or “GFV” (guaranteed final value). This is the amount you’ll have to pay at the end if you want to keep the car and is the value the funder has forecast for it if your mileage forecast has been accurate.

If you decide to hand the car back at the end of the term instead, you have nothing further to pay but if its subsequent re-sale then realises a greater amount than the GFV figure in your agreement, you’ll get that surplus which you can then use towards your next car. However, funders will have varying methodologies so please check your small print to check how your own deal will work.

So, what am I paying off with PCP?
With PCP you are only paying off the amount which is the difference between the purchase price (less any deposit you’ve put down) and the GFV offered by the funder, so you are only paying interest on that difference figure, not the whole price of the car.

Surely I just need to look for a low APR rate?
Not always. Everyone is APR-sensitive but with PCP you need to look at all elements of the deal, not just the APR.
You can have a low APR but those deals usually come with a low GFV figure too, so the difference (the gap between the purchase price and GFV) is large and that is the figure you are paying off. Get quotes with reasonable APR’s and then check the GFV figures...they will vary, so you need a balance between decent APR and the lowest difference between the price for the car and GFV figure.

The optimum PCP deal is a low APR and small gap between purchase price and GFV! Look for the monthly payment and the ‘total amount payable’ figure to help you make your decision, never just look at the APR.

Also watch out for any additional fees i.e credit arrangement fees (at the start and/or at the end of the term), ‘option to purchase’ fees, and excess mileage charges (always be realistic with your mileage estimates at the beginning and build in a little leeway in case you change jobs or move house and need to do more mileage).

Clearly, the more deposit you can put down, the less you’ll be needing to fund, but most PCP funders will stipulate maximum deposits, often a max’ of somewhere between 30-40% of the purchase price.

What about car manufacturer finance deals?
Yes...a good source of short term PCP offers so look out for them..but again don’t be sold on a deposit contribution offer or just a low APR...look at the overall deal and ALWAYS get an independent quote and compare the overall finance payable figures right to the end of the term, including any fees before making a decision.

Personal Contract Hire
This is a relatively new product, liked by some, disliked by others as there’s usually no option to purchase at the end! The vehicle has to go back to its owner. 

Essentially developed for people coming out of company car schemes and taking a cash option instead, it is basically contract hire for private individuals so has VAT added in (whereas companies using standard contract hire can claim all or part of the VAT elements back)


General Good Advice!  
Always estimate your annual mileage as accurately as you can and build in some leeway. Better to do that than pay high excess mileage charges at the end. Your job could change or you could move house….many things could affect your mileage within 3-4 years.

Ask if re-contracting is possible during the term…this may assist you if you do suddenly change lifestyle and need at adjust the mileage in the agreement halfway through. Some deals allow it, others don’t.

If you think you’ll do more than 17,000 - 20,000 miles per annum ask about a maintenance agreement – as building that in could be cheaper over the term than paying for mileage-initiated servicing yourself.

Watch out for hidden charges – ask if there are any credit arrangement fees and at what points they become payable? Also ask about any additional Option to Purchase fees at the end of the term.

When looking at a manufacturer/dealer finance offer ALWAYS get a third party comparative quote. No matter how good an APR offer looks, the other elements of the deal may not be so good and give you a poor overall end total amount payable. Don’t get hung up JUST on the APR, you need to balance all elements of the deal. You can get very low APR’s but the total payable over, say 3yrs, will still be more than if you’d taken a slightly higher APR with a better balance in the balloon payment etc.