PCP Agreements Can Cost A Lot More Than HSSCU Car Loans

Personal Contract Plans (PCPs) have certainly garnered a lot of attention in recent years and it’s very easy to see why – affordable deposits, low monthly repayments and the option to trade in the car after a few years sound like a pretty good combination, but what about the hidden costs, inflexibility and lack of certainty? Car purchases have continued to be strong into 2019, but what is changing is that 2019 consumers are now more aware. Read below to see why Health Services Staffs Credit Union car loans are the better option for you.

6 Reasons Health Services Staffs Credit Union Car Loans Are Better Than PCP Agreements

1) Ownership

Straight off the bat, once you purchase your car with a HSSCU car loan, you own it. With PCP agreements, you are merely renting the car until the final payment, meaning you cannot change cars or sell the car at any point until the contract is up unless you get agreement from the finance house/dealer.

2) Flexible Repayments

As with all HSSCU loans, our car loans offer you flexible repayments. This means that if you manage to come across some extra cash, or your salary increases, etc. you can increase your payments on your loan and finish your car loan faster. As our interest is charged on the declining balance, this makes the loan repayments cheaper for you! Also, we have no fees or charges for early repayments. The same cannot be said for PCPs. PCPs are fixed-term contracts. By the very nature of the wording, this means that you cannot increase your payments or pay off your PCP early without facing a fee, which could potentially be very hefty!

3) Balloon Payments (or lack thereof)

These can be one of the worst parts of a PCP agreement. PCPs are broken into deposit, fixed repayments and a balloon payment (large, final payment). Balloon payments can cost up to as much as 50% of the value of the car itself, which is a lot of money. With HSSCU, we never have any nasty hidden fees or charges – we pride ourselves on our transparency with our loans.

4) Mileage

Again, you own the car from day 1 with a HSSCU car loan. With PCPs, there are generally mileage restrictions on your car. This means that if you go over a certain mileage amount, your car value changes and you can be charged even more!

5) Car Maintenance

PCP agreements often state that you have to get your car serviced on strict schedules and specifically from someone in the specific dealer network. This alone can cost a lot of money, but what’s worse is that if you miss a service or go elsewhere for one then it can cost you a substantial additional amount. With HSSCU car loans – you own the car your car from day 1 and we simply hope that you and your car are always in the best shape!

6) Interest Rebate

Not only do we offer a car loan at a very good rate (6.99%) with flexible repayments and no fees or charges, but HSSCU’s car loan also brings interest rebate with it. At the end of each financial year, HSSCU gives money back to members on interest that they paid during the year. Of course, this depends on the performance of the credit union during the specific financial year, but HSSCU has given interest rebate the last 2 years running!

For more tips on how HSSCU loans are better than PCPs, read the following Irish Examiner article here.

Looking for a HSSCU Car Loan?

If you’re looking for one of our car loans then you can easily apply today by calling 01 677 8648 or 1890 677 864 (from outside of Dublin) and we will take your application over the phone – and no, you do not need to call into the office, you can do everything from home! 🙂

You can calculate loan repayments before calling by using the loan calculator on our Car Loans page.