Well, at least it made me snigger. We get avalanches of press releases every day and most can be digitally binned without a second thought. But I liked this Admiral Insurance one because it concerned car-buying jargon, something I know a bit about.
I’m sure they didn’t make up the answers. The highlights are MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) is a food additive (32%), GFV (Guaranteed Future Value) – gluten free vegans (23%), PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) – a sexually transmitted disease (11%) and APR (Annual Percentage Rate) – a London-based football club (6%).
The truth is that most car buyers really don’t need to know any of that. Indeed, the last thing they should do is borrow anything, or bother their heads with what a PCP is. I would argue that understanding APR is a pretty important life skill, but otherwise the car buying public, as I have argued for decades, should simply stick to buying a car they can afford.
OK, then let’s buy a car with a GFV. You know, one that will either maintain or go up in value. The easiest type of car to buy is a runabout with a long MOT which will be worth exactly the same six months later, usually when winter is over. A 2001 Honda Accord 2.3i V-Type automatic: easy to own and drive, spacious, practical and despite 150,000 miles worth £500 all day long. I also saw a Volkswagen Lupo, a 2002 with a full history at £599, which is probably the most re-saleable car and soon it will have to start bobbing up in value. A guaranteed return is always a classic and I had the opportunity to buy a Renault 4 van the other day for £1000 and didn’t, for logistical reasons. I’m still an idiot though.
An APR for me is something which is going to last for years, a hardy annual which will go on and on. With my coupé or at least interesting three-door hatch head on, that would lead me over and again to the rather wonderful Volvo C30. There are some real cheapies about now, but spend a solid £3500 and suddenly a 2007 1.8 SE Lux is within reach. It has a full service history and a very reasonable 60,000 miles.
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acronyms and initialisms
James - What you’re talking about in this article is initialisms - they’re just abbreviations, the examples you’ve listed are not acronyms.
Acronyms take initials to spell a word. This whole article is actually about initialisms - PCP for example
Hopefullly we can see a follow up article about initialisms.
Acronyms - I agree with Musk
Ashlee Vance's biography of Elon Musk confirmed that I have little in common with him, for both the worse and occasionally the better.
One anecdote that I loved, however, described Musk's loathing of acronyms. He has banned them (or tried to) from all correspondence and communications within and from Tesla.
Complicate and confuse
I agree with the sentiment and PCPs are just another way to complicate and confuse car buying such that most buyers can't evaluate whether they are getting a good deal or not. However if buyers look beyond the meaningless monthly payments, the GFV figure at least confirms what we al know. Simply express this as a fraction of the car's outright purchase price and it will tell you that your car will have lost around 70% of its value in the short three year (usually limited mileage) "ownership" term - and that has to be paid for.
I'm not denying there are some good deals available, but for me they are a lazy and expensive way of aquiring car ownership.
LP in Brighton wrote:
Meaningless?...not if being able to afford them gets you mobile in a new car with a warranty, that could well be needed for family medical reasons, for those living well away from public transport, etc. Lazy?...you are an uninformed, judgemental, selfish fool. Clearly those buyers are below your standards, as you have oodles of free cash to buy and run whatever you like.