I got a Skoda Yeti on PCP Apr 2016. I fully intended keeping the car as it ticked all the boxes and couldn’t see my circumstances changing much. As such I also put down the maximum deposit at £4k.

I’ve never had a new car before so had a few extras (paint, towball, wheels, off-road button etc.).

Anyway, in the last 12 mths my circumstances have changed significantly – I now work only 2 miles from home & both my parents have passed away, meaning that we could now make do with just 1 car in the household.

In the past we’ve had 2 cars and a motorhome, but due to work our use of the motorhome was sporadic at best. We sold that and tried a caravan – this was one reason to get a new Yeti – I’m a firm banganomics kinda guy but didn’t trust my ageing CRV to pull a caravan without some catastrophic failure. I hated the caravan and the whole shebang that goes with it, so sold that to fund our new garage.

Having just returned from a package holiday we’ve realised that the hols were liked the most (by a long way) were our motorhome/camper hols. Plus we loved that it encouraged us to get away at weekends whenever we could.

So, to cut to the chase, my thoughts are that for not a lot more money we could have a camper, which I could use as my occasional use car. What’s bugging me is just handing back the Yeti and having nothing to show for it, having paid the best part of £11k for 2.5 years of motoring.

Does anyone have a similar experience? What was your reasoning/rationale for changing? Tell me about your experience please. My heads spinning a bit.

That’s what you pay for isn’t it ? A new car for a period of time, then px it for a new one or hand it back.

Are there some dealers of motor homes that would take the car in px ?

Obvz you’d have to settle any finance o/s if there is any..

Have you got a settlement figure and a valuation on the car? That’s the first place to start to see what the difference is. Having paid 4k up front and being over 50% through the term you ‘might’ find that it’s worth a bit more than you owe.

I’ve changed early when on PCP. Some times it’s worth doing, some times not. We currently have a BMW 1 Series on a 4 yr deal with 18 months to run. We want to change it soon but when we asked it was going to cost 2k. If we wait to the new year it should cost nothing. If we get a decent deal on another car we might change earlier. Horses for courses and all that.

Get a price for the Yeti from the Camper Van people. You might find they will cut you a deal that makes the whole package add up.

I always change early on PCP when the finances make sense to do so.

The starting point is a settlement figure and then a valuation to see if it is a realistic thing to do or if you would just be throwing money away.

No we haven’t got a settlement figure yet – very much in the early days of our musings. Having never had a PCP before, or even HPI for that matter, so trying to draw up a plan of action. So settlement figure is 1st, with the aim of finding whether there is any equity in the car. If there’s no equity or conceivably negative equity then I’m guessing handing back is best option?

how often will you use the motor home? If its only 2-3 times a year have you thought about renting one?

One thing to bear in mind is although you are over 50% through the PCP in time, you haven’t necessarily paid off 50% of the finance if you include the balloon payment at the end (not sure if you have a 3 year or 4 year deal?). I’m in a similar position where I would happily get rid of my car at the moment but I would have to pay a hefty penalty as I haven’t paid off 50% of the total finance so I’m stuck with it for the time being.

Were you going to keep the Yeti when the PCP was up? If so keep the Yeti. You’ve paid most of the depreciation on it now, you might as well benefit from keeping a car you know rather than paying the depreciation on another new car.

Get rid of your other car, I’m assuming you still have two cars?

Buy a camper / motorhome.

@mildred

Sadly, you’re in one of the positions where PCP isn’t great.

What term did you take it over in April 2016? That could have a big bearing on things. You’re 28 months in at the moment.

As you’ve not doubt already worked out, you’ve got a couple of options, if you’re more than half way through the term (which you probably are) you can just give it back, but given your deposit, it might not be worth it.

If you had a 3 year team, it could be tempting to live with it till the end, after all we’ll be into autumn in a moment and whilst I’m sure you fancy getting away between now and April, it’s not usual holiday season. Come April you’ll know what’s owed and have a decent guess of what you can sell it for.

Also you’ll need to know the settlement figure to make an informed decision, but don’t be surprised if it’s roughly the sum of the remaining payments plus the GFV payment.

In short though, unless you expressly ask them to reduce the final payment thanks to your chunky deposit, it won’t make much difference to how much value you have in your Yeti now, what it did was reduce the size of the rentals (well, hopefully, I’ve seen some daft agreements people have signed before now)

Also, now I think about it, you may now be able to walk away / VT it yet depending on how the agreement was written – increasingly the final payment is written in such a way to make it part of the rental agreement, even if you don’t have to pay it, meaning you’ll be lucky to walk 6 months before the end.

Have you honestly been paying nearly £400 a month for a Yeti ?? Never put big deposit down on a hire car.

which ever point you get rid of it you will have no cash left. The finance is designed to keep you in their brand of car.  It works well if you go in to it with eyes open and minimising your total cost.

I guess now the only option is voluntary termination…. if far enough through

+ as above camper vans/homes are not cheap to buy and a pain to use day in day out

Looking on Autotrader £11k gets you some pretty tidy 2-3 year old late model low mileage Yetis, Id consider buying used next time unless you really like the new car smell.. would certainly give you more flexibility should circumstances change

If for occasional use then motorhomes a grand stand in. Mine gets used for motorhoming at least once a month and maybe twice a month for other things (only vehicle I have with a towbar and occasionally I use it for going to office for what ever reason)

I’m guessing as the op has had one in the past he knows this to be the case if he is considering it.

Yes I’m over half way & I’m assured by the dealer I can hand it back any time – as mentioned above it’s the thought of handing it back when I’ve paid a larger deposit than is usual that is bugging me, and wondering whether I should bother, or whether there are other options.

To explain, I paid this deposit because I intended keeping the car at the end of the term – i.e. paying the balloon payment.

My circumstances have  changed in a way I couldn’t foresee when I took the car. We’ve had six motorhomes & campers previously so know how much we’ll use it, but we can’t afford both a camper and a car; lack of a real pay rise in 10 years does that..!

FunkyDunc, no I don’t pay £400 monthly for the Yeti – the big deposit kept the monthly payments down & was intended to ease the size of the balloon payment at the end. Given it’s now sat idol for 7 out of 10 days (my shift pattern influences this) I think it’s hard to justify – I actually love the car & would like to keep it but a tight budget means that we can’t afford both a camper & car.

Thanks for the help everyone.

how often will you use the motor home? If its only 2-3 times a year have you thought about renting one?

I’m not sure that is quite as useful a solution as it seems on paper.  Presumably the attractions of owning one include: 1. Its set up how you like it, ready to go with your stuff in it; 2. you can decide when to use it based on the weather / life commitments at relatively short notice (or to return home/cancel guilt free if things change)

Rental brings neither of those advantages – requires advance booking, has none of the convenience of spontaneity and requires loaded/unloaded before/after each use.

Cheap Trailer tent. Use that for a year or two and see how it pans out.

“Cheap Trailer tent. Use that for a year or two and see how it pans out.”

what so like caravaning but with more faff ( which the OP stated he hated and sold pretty quick) pretty sure hes not going to like a trailer tent any more than a caravan.

What’s bugging me is just handing back the Yeti and having nothing to show for it, having paid the best part of £11k for 2.5 years of motoring.

You have paid for 2.5 years of motoring, so you do (did?) have something to show for it.  How much would have it depreciated in that time?  However, what you have done isn’t the most economical by a long way.  This is one of those situations where PCP becomes a bad choice :-(.

I think the OP knows what he wants quite clearly based on previous experience of camper ownership.

The issue isn’t the replacement it’s the return of the Yeti.

Odd with all the global warming I’d have thought Yetis would be in decline anyway.

If finances allow I would have a look at P/Xing the Yeti against a (nearly) new VW California or similar. A new Loan/PCP might not be for you though and depends on your financial needs & wants.

Most VW main dealers sell Skoda and probably share financial services – VW FIN Services UK or whatever they are called. The devaluation on a California is minimal so a PCP can work well or fund it with a loan/cash. The dealer will do you a deal as a returning customer.

You now realise you prefer camper van holidays, so you can buy knowing that you will keep the vehicle for years and years. And use it regularly for holidays. And the size of the VW California is suitable for general duties too. Warranty and servicing every 20k miles.

N.B – I’m a spender not a saver!

A California ? He will be wishing he had his caravan back in no time 😉

Yes that’s my thoughts.

Trailer tent???? No.

We’ve rented previously and also rented one of our vans out. Doesn’t work for us; kills spontaneity and when we added up how much it would be for our normal 3 weeks in summer and numerous weekend trips through the year it amounts to pretty much the cost of owning one.

A California

Have you considered hiring a camper rather than buying outright?

Do they have clubs where you can pay an annual fee for X amount of use per year?

like they do for super cars / classics

if you throw the shit at a wall enough times it will stick … but i think

“We’ve rented previously and also rented one of our vans out. Doesn’t work for us; kills spontaneity and when we added up how much it would be for our normal 3 weeks in summer and numerous weekend trips through the year it amounts to pretty much the cost of owning one.”

suggests he probably has considered it a pretty non starter of an idea.

a 3 week hire with continental cover and milage allowance is 3000 pound in peak season and its only usable in those 3 weeks ! i use mine at least 6 weeks a year + various weekend trips and bike events  through out the year i cant see the draw to rental at all .

We took out a 4yr PCP on a Focus, two & a half years ago. Put min (£500) deposit down, £180/month for 4 years.

At the point now where we need a bigger car. Low deposit means we are only just now at 50% paid off, so could VT. Having checked values, it looks like we would have about £500 equity after settling.

The way I look at it, running a new car cost us £180/month. Happy with that. We knew exactly what we were taking on. My old Galaxy does me, but Wife needs a reliable car (Community Nurse),

if a VW California would do, but too costly, what about trade in for a Kombi through a VW dealer & have it converted ? Probably a good deal cheaper.