Is leasing a car a good idea?

martinthebandit

Then buy something like this and save up whatever is left over of your £250 a month to repair your main car


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-PEUGEOT-405-STYLE-DIESEL-GREY-/170687823098?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item27bdc97cfa b

Kilty_2

martinthebandit wrote: »

Then buy something like this and save up whatever is left over of your £250 a month to repair your main car


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-PEUGEOT-405-STYLE-DIESEL-GREY-/170687823098?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item27bdc97cfa b

Must not bid on this in the last remaining minutes of the auction.... must not..... must not....

jtr2803

Interesting discussion.

I am probably going to get a lease car next year and have been weighing up the pros and cons for the last few months. My car is now 10 years old and needs more work than the car is worth, I intend to basically run it into the ground and expect to get nothing back for it.

I based all of my research on a brand new Ford Fiesta Zetec S diesel and the lease worked out cheaper by quite a substantial amount unless I put a massive deposit down when buying (which I can't do). You can usually choose to purchase the car at the end of the lease if you want to and I would be tied in if I bought from a dealer/got a loan anyway. The chances are with a newer car that any major fault would be covered under warranty, they usually have free breakdown assistance and include road tax as well.

I added up all my repair bills over the past three years and I am spending roughly £800 a year on just replacing items that are worn out due to the cars age, add on a saving of ~£230 for car tax and around £60 a month on fuel due to switching for a diesel and I've suddenly covered 8/9 months of the lease cost and I would have a much more reliable and comfortable car (oh and the MOT cost). I agree it isn't for everyone but I think it also has the potential to work for a lot of people. I don't want to get a loan of £10,000 to buy a 2 year old one second hand, it would cost more in finance than the lease would be and by the time the loan ends it would be 6/7 years old and worth very little but I would have undoubtedly had increased repair bills in the last few years too.

It's food for thought.....

gazfocus

Thanks for your input guys. Jtr2803, can I ask where, if anywher, you've been thinking of getting a lease car from?

I'm still not sure what to do. On one hand I can think of many things I'd rather spend £250 per month on (like saving to buy a house) but I need to be able to get to work at the end of the day.

mikey72

We tend to run a newish car, and an old one as the main two. We have got a few others, but not for normal use. It does remove any pressure if one packs up though. (Hasn't happened yet)
The newish ones have been bought at about a year old, I've put a tow bar on it, then kept it for about ten years, so far with no great expenses. Currently in year 7, and still going well.
The older ones are £500 runabouts, but get kept for about 3 or 4 years, and usually sold on as runners. We've never spent alot on them either, just normal wear and tear. Last one we've put 70,000 miles on in just over 4 years, it was ten years old when we bought it, and it's beginning to feel tired now.

jtr2803

gazfocus wrote: »

Thanks for your input guys. Jtr2803, can I ask where, if anywher, you've been thinking of getting a lease car from?

I'm still not sure what to do. On one hand I can think of many things I'd rather spend £250 per month on (like saving to buy a house) but I need to be able to get to work at the end of the day.

I have used Nationwide Vehicle Contracts as my benchmark for price comparison but would be tempted to try some of the smaller companies to see if they can match the price. My boyfriend has a work van that cannot be used for personal use and is fitted with a tracker so if my car dies then we have no transportation. I also work in the middle of nowhere and you cannot get there without a car (unless you take a train to the town and get a taxi at a cost of £10 each way) so it is important to me that I have something fairly reliable.

gazfocus

jtr2803 wrote: »

I have used Nationwide Vehicle Contracts as my benchmark for price comparison but would be tempted to try some of the smaller companies to see if they can match the price. My boyfriend has a work van that cannot be used for personal use and is fitted with a tracker so if my car dies then we have no transportation. I also work in the middle of nowhere and you cannot get there without a car (unless you take a train to the town and get a taxi at a cost of £10 each way) so it is important to me that I have something fairly reliable.

Thanks, I just looked on their site and the prices are extremely reasonable. Even going for a 2011 5 door Fiesta Zetec with metallic paint, rear parking camera and parking sensors, etc, it only came to £234 per month...not bad at all

I do still think Leasing is the way for us. Like your situation, if the car breaks, we don't have any other transport and working 33 miles from home makes it extremely difficult (and expensive) to use public transport to get to work. The last 2 cars (current one include) have both ended up with serious issues (the first car ended up with a seized oil pump which knackered the engine). I can't afford to keep apologizing to work for not being able to get there due to unreliable cars.

Chances are, if we leased a car, we could get the car fixed and sell it on, then with the money we get from selling it, we could keep it in the bank to pay for about 9 months worth of lease payments should I lose both of my jobs.

rodenal

Check contracthireandleasing too, we were going to lease a ds3 report hdi which came in at 215 per month including the vat, there tends to be certain cars that are on offer for a while. Typically those due a facelift etc. I only ever price on 2years as I know I would be fed up of the car after then.

Must admit the thought of over 200 a month on a fiesta zetec worries me, you sure that wasn't the zetect s? Even so I reckon there are better cars, drove a fiesta zetec s diesel and it was slow slow slowslow

gazfocus

rodenal wrote: »

Check contracthireandleasing too, we were going to lease a ds3 report hdi which came in at 215 per month including the vat, there tends to be certain cars that are on offer for a while. Typically those due a facelift etc. I only ever price on 2years as I know I would be fed up of the car after then.

Must admit the thought of over 200 a month on a fiesta zetec worries me, you sure that wasn't the zetect s? Even so I reckon there are better cars, drove a fiesta zetec s diesel and it was slow slow slowslow

Thanks, I'll have look there.

The possible reason for £200+ per month is the car I'm looking at is an Automatic. There are loads of manual cars far cheaper but I can't drive them

rodenal

Looks like you could get a fabia 1.2 tsi on a 3 year deal (10k pa) 6 months upfront for around £200 a month

Also found polos with the dsg but they are all the na 1.4 engine, I wouldn't touch that with a bargepole if I'm honest

Also found some auto DS3s, corsas, mazda 2 and picantos in auto form for your budget.