Car payments are ruining our lives - BBC

[Jono8]

Wrong.

So if I go and buy myself something expensive and then realise I have no money left for anything else, it is someone else fault?

If I go and max all my credit cards and buy tens of thousands of pounds worth of stuff without having the means to pay it back, again, is it someone else's fault?

 

[Diddums]

So if I go and buy myself something expensive and then realise I have no money left for anything else, it is someone else fault?

If I go and max all my credit cards and buy tens of thousands of pounds worth of stuff without having the means to pay it back, again, is it someone else's fault?

Let me just carefully step over all the conclusions you’ve jumped to based on a one word post...

You said “nobody buy themselves to blame” thereby absolving the lenders from all responsibility. Do you maintain this stance?

 

[[TW]Fox]

It’s always nice to see the perfect people putting all the blame on the people and none on the predatory practices of lenders.

These people walk into Audi dealers themselves and it isn't because Audi dealers have a range of £2995 used car bargains.

 

[Jono8]

Let me just carefully step over all the conclusions you’ve jumped to based on a one word post...

You said “nobody buy themselves to blame” thereby absolving the lenders from all responsibility. Do you maintain this stance?

Fundamentally , I don't believe her daughters story at all. I don't believe an Audi sales person could have processed a credit application with no credit check/application and affordability procedure. It will clearly be policy and computerised etc so I very much doubt she just said "yes I can pay 300 a month" and they gave her the keys.

But even if what she says is true, she did agree to pay 300 pounds a month. There are predatory sales tactics employed by every company out there to try and convince people to do this, that and the other to part with their cash.

So my point is , what is the difference between a salesman convincing me to buy ,say, an expensive watch or graphics card that I cant afford and will eventually leave me in debt and this?

Is Gibbo to blame if I go broke and cant pay my Bill's after spending thousands on a new system that he pushes the hard sell on, on this forum?

 

[robj20]

My first car cost me £200 because that's all I could afford I didn't go into an Audi garage and think what I could afford a month and forget to factor in insurance and running costs.
These people have only themselves to blame for wanting to impress people with shiny new things.

 

[ultralaser]

So firstly we're talking about a *23 year old*, I.e. an *adult* - she knew what commitment she was making - so the question is, is it the responsibility of a sales team to ensure that someone can afford a product. In my view - hell no. If you follow the logic that we should enforce an income / affordability checks before a purchase - where does that end? We pay things like car insurance (optionally) or even phone contracts via credit - do we really think that we should have an affordability survey before taking out a phone contract (if they made me do that I'd walk about of the place lol)? What about non finance purchases - do I want the check out person at Sainsburys asking me if I can afford the 'Taste the difference' pie in my trolley - "sorry sir I need to see your p60 before you can munch on my pie!"?!

Too many times at the moment do I see ignorance being used as an excuse for making a stupid decision. As others have said the route of so much of this is because lots of us want to have a standard of living we can't afford so we lean on credit - then at some point that house made of straw falls down and a personal is left complaining to the BBC.. :/

What frustrates me even know is people trying to act like credit is the most confusing thing ever. It's not. I'm sure this young lady got a VERY clear document we needed so sign saying that she'd need to pay £300 for the next 5 years. No ifs, no buts, the only questions she had to answer is 'Can I afford £300 a month for the next 5 years'?....


EDIT: I did want to say though, I think that credit is useful thing, and this forum seems to have a mindset from the 70's in terms of credit use.... CREDIT CAN BE A GOOD THING!

 

[ScoobyDoo69]

It's so easy to buy what you want and can't really afford, with phones and cars being the most obvious ones. As much as I believe the lenders have a responsibility, I can't help but think that it's all too easy to try and blame someone else when it doesn't all work out.

It seems to be getting rarer and rarer to see a "young person" in an older car or with a phone model more than a year old. Why is it that and who should really be to blame? The people desperate to own the latest and greatest, the people educating them, or the finance companies? I know where I'd place my blame, but I appreciate not everyone engages the thing between their ears when the "I want it naow" desire kicks in...

 

[Azza]

James07, and it was a Clio from Carcraft.

That's the one, well remembered.

 

[shauncr91]

That's the one, well remembered.

I'm sure he returned not too long ago and admitted how wrong he was and thanked everyone for their input at the time.

 

[tom_nieto]

People paying ridiculous money to finance nothing special seems to be pretty common.

This is the main issue I have. Why would you ever spend £20,000 financing a nearly new A1 as a first car over 5 years? The only remotely special thing about it is the badge... and even then it’s pushing it.

 

[adam cool dude]

It's so easy to buy what you want and can't really afford, with phones and cars being the most obvious ones. As much as I believe the lenders have a responsibility, I can't help but think that it's all too easy to try and blame someone else when it doesn't all work out.

It seems to be getting rarer and rarer to see a "young person" in an older car or with a phone model more than a year old. Why is it that and who should really be to blame? The people desperate to own the latest and greatest, the people educating them, or the finance companies? I know where I'd place my blame, but I appreciate not everyone engages the thing between their ears when the "I want it naow" desire kicks in...

It is the culture and parents (I include myself in this) is as much to blame. When I was a kid I would have a console game bought at things like christmas, birthday etc. If my daughter doesn't have the latest releases she is a social outcast! It is a difficult thing to balance because you want the world for your kids. At least with mine she has to do chores so at least gets a little value of money.

 

[chris.tarry85]

Whats really scary is how in a lot of cases, dealers will actively encourage you not to put down a large deposit.

We recently looked at a deal where the salesman encouraged us to just use £1k of the part exchange valuation as the deposit and to take the rest as cashback! So essentially you could walk into a garage, come out with a new car and a wedge of cash in your pocket!!

 

[MartinPrince]

This is the main issue I have. Why would you ever spend £20,000 financing a nearly new A1 as a first car over 5 years? The only remotely special thing about it is the badge... and even then it’s pushing it.

Yep, add me to that list of trying to get my head around the reason for doing it in this way. I suppose some people just want a particular thing so badly that they take little time in considering the fall out.

 

[AiiR]

You just know that she was all over Facebook/Instagram the minute she got the keys. Social media is largely to blame for the current 'poser' culture.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Yes the girl is an idiot but it still doesn't excuse the finance companies for giving loans that people can barely afford and one finical miss-hap away from defaulting. I don't understand these people though, they are financed up to their eyeballs with the car, house, phone, credit cards etc. Just to shown off to people.

 

[Vita]

You just know that she was all over Facebook/Instagram the minute she got the keys. Social media is largely to blame for the current 'poser' culture.

For the majority of the young people. Yes.

"Social influencers" or whatever they call themselves these days are somewhat a cause of this.

Times have changed, people seen to want things now rather than later.

 

[Vexr]

I'm certainly glad I didn't buy either of my last two cars on finance. The first one lasted six months before it was written off by an uninsured driver. The second one then lasted 18 months before it was written off by a senile elder, though this one I was able to buy back as Cat N and fix up.

Presumably if I'd bought both on finance I would now be paying monthly for two cars while having zero cars, with the insurance valuation and total cost of the finance package of each car no doubt being poles apart.

 

[tom_nieto]

I'm certainly glad I didn't buy either of my last two cars on finance. The first one lasted six months before it was written off by an uninsured driver. The second one then lasted 18 months before it was written off by a senile elder, though this one I was able to buy back as Cat N and fix up.

Presumably if I'd bought both on finance I would now be paying monthly for two cars while having zero cars, with the insurance valuation and total cost of the finance package of each car no doubt being poles apart.

You’d hopefully have paid for gap insurance...

 

[Maccy]

I'm certainly glad I didn't buy either of my last two cars on finance. The first one lasted six months before it was written off by an uninsured driver. The second one then lasted 18 months before it was written off by a senile elder, though this one I was able to buy back as Cat N and fix up.

Presumably if I'd bought both on finance I would now be paying monthly for two cars while having zero cars, with the insurance valuation and total cost of the finance package of each car no doubt being poles apart.

GAP insurance (if the car isn't too old) would cover any shortfall between what your insurance pays out and what the total remaining balance is to the finance company.

 

[Vexr]

Ah sounds like a must have that I wasn't aware of. Certainly couldn't complain if it covered the entire balance needed to settle the finance.

I suppose in the case of the woman and her family in the article, assuming the car is gap insured they're probably praying for a 'lucky' car crash to take that financial burden off their hands.