car lease with kids good idea ?

mcdermott_c

Hi having always taken out a loan and bought a 2nd hand car of approx 5 yrs old I have now wondered about leasing a car to take away the worries of car owndership.

I wondered if someone could answer a few questions

1. Is it a good idea with young kids which are likely to scuff the car with mucky fingers everywhere etc.. - what happens if there is damage when i come to hand it back

2. Can you make alterations such as tow bar roof racks etc...

3. Can anyone recommend a company which they have used

4. Is there problems getting insurance for lease cars or will all companies insure them

5. Are you told where you must get them serviced and how often

6. Is it really the case that at the end of the lease you just hand them back

If you anyone can answer these and give me some general advice about whether its a good way of getting hassle free motoring

thanks

chris

Networkguy

mcdermott_c wrote: »

Hi having always taken out a loan and bought a 2nd hand car of approx 5 yrs old I have now wondered about leasing a car to take away the worries of car owndership.

I wondered if someone could answer a few questions

1. Is it a good idea with young kids which are likely to scuff the car with mucky fingers everywhere etc.. - what happens if there is damage when i come to hand it back

A couple of hundred pounds with those chips away/ dent master people can fix just about anything kids (and supermarket car parks) can do.

2. Can you make alterations such as tow bar roof racks etc...

Most modern cars are built to allow these things to be added (and taken away) easily.

3. Can anyone recommend a company which they have used

www.broker4cars.co.uk (I must find out if they do a referal as I have been recomending tem a lot recently)

4. Is there problems getting insurance for lease cars or will all companies insure them

No problems.

5. Are you told where you must get them serviced and how often

In line with the manufacturers recomendations. When you are setting up the lease however see if a service package is on offer. On mine the service package added £50 a month to the cost (so £1200 over the 24 months) but did include tyres and brakes and for my car I am only going to need to see 1 service and one set of tyres for that to be value for money (the first set of back tyres lasted 6 months so it looks like in the 2 years I will own the car I will go through 8 tyres and 3 services which would cost me £2k minimum).

6. Is it really the case that at the end of the lease you just hand them back

Not all lease/ PCP packages allow for this but many do in which case yes you can walk away but check the contract for terms.

albionrovers

"
In line with the manufacturers recomendations.
"

Need a bit of advice here. My 318i is due to go back this September and I have had no service done yet on my 2-year lease. Reason being, the service indicator states that I still have 9K to go before a service is required?
1 - Where do I stand with this?
2 - What are the manufacturers recommendations for a 318i or can I find this out on the internet?

Thanks in advance.

Networkguy

albionrovers wrote: »

"
In line with the manufacturers recomendations.
"

Need a bit of advice here. My 318i is due to go back this September and I have had no service done yet on my 2-year lease. Reason being, the service indicator states that I still have 9K to go before a service is required?
1 - Where do I stand with this?
2 - What are the manufacturers recommendations for a 318i or can I find this out on the internet?

Thanks in advance.

Well the BMW has condition based servicing not mileage based so the car will tell you when it needs a service. If it is telling you it does not need one then it doesn't need one.

albionrovers

Thanks.

I wonder...

Is the lease company likely to kick off about the book not being stamped?

Networkguy

albionrovers wrote: »

Thanks.

I wonder...

Is the lease company likely to kick off about the book not being stamped?

I can't see how they can but watch out because I seem to recall that there is a fluid change (might be brakes) that is required 24 months after the car is built but the car should still tell you.

AdrianHi

albionrovers wrote: »

Thanks.

I wonder...

Is the lease company likely to kick off about the book not being stamped?

I have had the 320d version of your car since new, now 32 months and 37,000 miles old.
The "condition based" service indicator is telling you 9,000 miles to go for first oil service which will fall due after something like 19,000 to 22,000 miles depending on driving conditions OR 2 years which ever comes first. At 2 years a brake fluid change falls due.
After that it's inspection 1 at about 37,000 miles (mines booked in for Monday for this) and another oil change at around 40,000 miles which I'm getting done early to avoid going back in again in 2 months time.

Stamp in the book is not that important regardless as BMW keep service records done at dealers on a computer database, so you can get proof of servicing this way.

Conclusion: you've nothing to be concerned about, the service indicator goes to red text and negative numbers then you need to call in and book the service. The dealer sticks your key fob which holds a record of the cars servicing requirements and some types of fault codes into their computer to see what needs doing.
Easy.