Modifying a car on PCP

[Chisbo]

Hi, this might have been asked a few times before, but if I have a car on pcp and have no intention to give it back at the end and intend to keep paying the car off, can I modify it how I want?
Thanks in advance

[justanother5tar]

I would. But I imagine you probably shouldn't.

[jkh112]

Who owns the car at the moment?

[Butter Face]

jkh112 said:

Who owns the car at the moment?

The finance company own it.

[SooperDan]

Short answer I believe is yes. Providing it is a PCP and not a Lease.

[Sheepshanks]

What sort of mods?

I've seen on SEAT forums (I used to have one) a report of SEAT (actually VAG) Finance calling in a loan after engine mods.

How new is the car? Watch you don't mess up the warranty.

[Chisbo]

Yeah the finance company own it at the moment and it is definitely PCP

[SooperDan]

I think it may be wise to check your agreement paperwork though.

[Chisbo]

Sheepshanks said:

What sort of mods?

I've seen on SEAT forums (I used to have one) a report of SEAT (actually VAG) Finance calling in a loan after engine mods.

How new is the car? Watch you don't mess up the warranty.

Well I know a remap will void warranty so probably not that, mainly just style mods as opposed to performance mods with the exception of a new exhaust potentially.
The car is 6 months old, I've got 18 months left on the contract

[Chisbo]

SooperDan said:

I think it may be wise to check your agreement paperwork though.

Ok cheers for the help

[TooMany2cvs]

Chisbo said:

I've got 18 months left on the contract

You _plan_ to keep it at the end of the contract. But that's a year and a half away. A lot of things can happen in a year and a half, and plans can change. If you decide not to keep it at the end, you might need to pay the balloon and sell it yourself. If you decide you want to terminate the PCP, you might well have to return it to standard.

So - if you're going to do anything, make sure that it's easily and totally removable. Vinyl, bolt-on and keep the original stuff, that sort of mod.

[Chisbo]

TooMany2cvs said:

You _plan_ to keep it at the end of the contract. But that's a year and a half away. A lot of things can happen in a year and a half, and plans can change. If you decide not to keep it at the end, you might need to pay the balloon and sell it yourself. If you decide you want to terminate the PCP, you might well have to return it to standard.

So - if you're going to do anything, make sure that it's easily and totally removable. Vinyl, bolt-on and keep the original stuff, that sort of mod.

Yeah it's them kind of mods, cheers for the help

[Trailhead]

If you're not going to hand it back then it's fine. If you ever want rid then just sell or px to clear the finance. This is what I did when I went massively over the mileage allowance.

[jkh112]

Butter Face said:

jkh112 said:

Who owns the car at the moment?

The finance company own it.

Is the right answer.

[Trailhead]

jkh112 said:

Butter Face said:

jkh112 said:

Who owns the car at the moment?

The finance company own it.

Is the right answer.

And completely irrelevant if it never goes back to the finance house.

[AudiSport]

Chisbo said:

Hi, this might have been asked a few times before, but if I have a car on pcp and have no intention to give it back at the end and intend to keep paying the car off, can I modify it how I want?
Thanks in advance

I would certainly look to keep the original parts to hand and have a exit plan in place should you need to put it back to original spec in a hurry.

Imagine if you had a major engine / gearbox issue that put you off owning the car for a long period of time. It's amazing how ones opinion can change overnight sometimes.

[Piginapoke]

Trailhead said:

And completely irrelevant if it never goes back to the finance house.

But not if you have an unforeseen change of circumstances/plan

[Warnie]

fk it! Carry on and 'barry' it up...

[Trailhead]

Piginapoke said:

Trailhead said:

And completely irrelevant if it never goes back to the finance house.

But not if you have an unforeseen change of circumstances/plan

You could sell it privately or trade it in though and probably more favourably than at the end under the PCP.

I would be very interested to know how many cars actually go back under the agreement and whether it is at the natural end of the agreement.

I was £2k better off paying the balloon then selling on the car privately.

[Ali_T]

If it's ever found out, you may find they call in all the rest of the deal that remains outstanding and give you 14-28 days to pay! You'd be better to wait until the end of the deal for safety's sake.