The government recently proposed that schoolchildren be given lessons in personal finance. Can I ask that, alongside the Lower Fourth, room be made in the classes for the AA spokesman who recently said this: ‘People wanting to get high-aspiration vehicles at an affordable price will have been hit by the crash in [the cars’] value.’
Yes, this remark really is as stupid as it seems, but first a little context. He was talking about a form of hire purchase called ‘Personal Contract Purchase’, whereby a motorist pays a deposit, followed by two years of monthly payments. At the end of this period, the buyer has two options: he can either pay a lump sum to purchase the car outright, or he can return it to the finance company which organised the deal. The size of the final lump sum demanded by the finance company is fixed when the buyer takes out the deal, based on what the vehicle is expected to be worth in two years’ time.
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