Considering leasing a car next time

Maximillion

Anybody do/done this - good idea or bad?

read some of the blurb but would like a review or two, seems like a good idea, like not being at the mercy of depreciation, what about repair costs etc.

Hintza

I have just taken delivery of a Chrysler 300 CRD Touring and the payments are OK. A few points to note.

Make sure you are accurate in your mileage the standard deal is 10,000 miles per year, needless to say after it arrived I have had a couple of long distance emergencies and will probably fly past the 10,000 miles and at 20p per mile there will be a big ouch again. So be realistic about mileage.

Second point I would make is smaller cars do not look great on these deals more expensive cars seem to work out cheaper (relatively speaking) you will probably need to be flexible in the car you buy to get the best deal. It seems to me manufacturers might have a special (ie wanting to shift a slow seller) and that is where it might become attractive.

Remember on most quotes if you are buying privately you need to add VAT.

Watch out for "admin fees" these can be quite expensive and personally I would haggle on these.

If you are not sure why not try a short term lease 12 months or less and see if it suits you.

If you go for one don't let them mess you around on delivery dates I waited 4 months only for my first choice order being cancelled..arghh. Nail that one on the head and in writing.

Try not to put down a deposit too early unless they are firm on delivery.

I have now built up a database of companies if you would like any further advice why not PM me and I can give you 4 months of wisdom....:D

Have a look here to get you started:-

http://www.contracthireandleasing.com/

Maximillion

excellent and helpful reply thank you.

nickmack

firstcrowcounter wrote:

read some of the blurb but would like a review or two, seems like a good idea, like not being at the mercy of depreciation, what about repair costs etc.

Hintza's advice is good.

To answer your questions, it's a good idea if you like a fixed payment each month.

You can add maintenance to avoid servicing charges, but this is not always worthwhile. Check the service interval and your lease length and work out how many services you'll require and how much they'll be (call your local dealer). Remember major issues should be covered under warranty if it's a new car.

The best deals are usually available towards the end of each quarter. Often slow sellers/high stock vehicles can be had on decent deals.

The shorter the lease, the more you will pay each month. Not all vehicles will be available on 12 month and if they are, the cost may be high.

peterg1965

I like Hintza's advice. Also look at https://www.lexfreechoice.co.uk it is a PCP as opposed to leasing but it offers all the same advantages, maintenance contracts, if required, tax also included in the deal. Deposits from nil to whatever you want to pay, Interest rates are competitive too. There is also the backing of Lex which is a big vehicle leasing/finance company. They also offer certain deals on run out models etc.

Skint_Catt

Whats the easiest way to work out if this is financially better?

I'm sick of buying a used car and paying out all the gumpf every time something goes wrong, but I don't get a company car.

Catt xx

Hintza

Skint_Catt wrote:

Whats the easiest way to work out if this is financially better?

I'm sick of buying a used car and paying out all the gumpf every time something goes wrong, but I don't get a company car.

Catt xx

To be honest I think the best deals are on pre-registered cars or ones that are about a year old hunt around the car supermarkets.

The thing is your you make two contradictory points (to a certain extent)
1. Finacially better
and 2 the implication that you could do without the hassle of second hand cars.

I think the older you get the more important the lack of hassle is over the financial cost.

My last car was a 1990 Mercedes 230E and to be honest I still love it but i am tired of replacing break pads etc in the driveway without the proper tools and more importantly a hoist!

The biggest problem in working out which is best is trying to calculate what your car will be worth on 2-3 years time when you want to sell it.

DavidHM

Leasing is almost never financially better than buying. I say almost, because there will be times when manufacturers (BMW particularly but they're not the only one) will offer bigger discounts to lease customers than they will through their dealers so as not to hurt list prices and thus resale values.

Unfortunately with leasing you have an additional finance company to deal with, and the fact that you get the car and the finance from the same place means that you have fewer options to get the best deal on both. Added to that is the fact that you effectively have to fund more of the transaction at any given time - after three years a lease car will still owe its second hand value, whereas a car bought on a three-year loan will be paid outright and that means more cost of capital (not strictly interest of course).

I would only consider leasing if it worked out significantly less per month than buying a comparable one-year-old car outright, and only then if I was confident that the payments would not just continue to be affordable but would actually become more affordable so that I would have the flexibility to consider buying the car outright at the end of the lease.