Personal car lease, too good to be true?

fRAiLtY-

Hi everyone,

My Clio is due for renewal/purchase/hand-back in November this year. I've owned Renaults since 2005 when I had my first PCP and this one is the third in a long-line of disappointments.

Anyway, after speaking to my boss I've recently been introduced to the concept of PCH or private leasing. Now before I ask the question and provide details, the idea of renting a car with no end gain doesn't particularly bother me, hell who get's a PCP deal with the intention of paying the balloon anyway? I bet not many! So it's what I've been doing for the past 7 years.

After scanning the web for jargon busters etc it seems that PCH means basically you can rent/hire a better quality car for less money than on PCP, the difference being there's no end option to purchase, fine! So after looking around at deals, on a personal purchase I can get the following:

Mercedes C-Class C250 CDI Sport = £287.59 pcm (2yrs - 10k p/a) with ~£1700 up front... wow?

My current "deal" is as follows:

Renault Clio GT 1.5 DCI = £316.32 pcm (3yrs - 10k p/a) £1000 up front.

This isn't a dealer-bashing thread as I chose the deal, it's my own fault that it's crap. Now I have no intention of buying this Clio at the end of it's term, never have had, but I'd like someone somewhere to rationalise the fact that I can get a £35,120 car for less per month than a £16,375 car.

I have checked the insurance, whether it's because it's not the sort of car a 25yr old conventionally has I don't know, but it's £559 upwards a year for insurance, my Clio at renewal last year through price comparison sites was at it's cheapest £638 a year. Handily, my boss owns the exact car above (Merc) and he averages 50mpg, my Clio averages 46mpg.

Someone please rain on my parade and point out a logical and sensible reason for this? At the moment I'm feeling quite annoyed I didn't do this research back then! I'd like to stress this is a personal lease, not through a business and the prices above include VAT.

Cheers.

neilmcl

Can you give us a link to the deal or the company who it's through. More details and the fine print will allow th rest of us tell if it's a good deal or not.

fRAiLtY-

No, it won't let me post links, but if you go to swiftlease.co.uk the deal ID is 360668.

Notmyrealname

No good for me as I do 17k a year...

bob_a_builder

with ~£1700 up front... wow?

thats odd, from their own "car leasing explained"

"For example, there is no lump sum payment to be made up front with car leasing as opposed to buying a car where there is usually at least a third to be paid in advance with the remainder on finance."

zappahey

I'd rather have this
http://www.lingscars.com/Mercedes/SLK_Roadster/1768897-2.1_CDi_BlueEFFICIENCY_16v_%28201bhp%29_250_Convertible_2dr_2143cc-personal.html

mermaidscry1

if you visit contracthireandleasing.com and search for Mercedes C-Class Saloon under personal car leasing, you'll find better offers than above.

neilmcl

mermaidscry1 wrote: »

if you visit contracthireandleasing.com and search for Mercedes C-Class Saloon under personal car leasing, you'll find better offers than above.

Really? I only found one better for that particular model and that WAS swiftlease.

flashg67

These brokers often source thro major leasing companies who are getting huge volume discounts & bonuses, and often working to quite tight margins - take advantage of it!

Don't overlook maintenance costs though - Mercs can be expensive but you should be ok over 2 years tho.

fRAiLtY-

Wonderful as it is to hear of what other people would have and how many miles they do, in my situation it would appear that this IS a good deal, no?

Cheers.

david69_2

blimey £8,600 for 2 years and you still don't own it and more than likely get charged an arm and a leg for any damage.
If i couldn't afford to buy a car outright then the next best option surely has to be hp at least at the end you have a vehicle that still has a value maybe its me being a bit old school here and yes i have looked into leasing many times in the past but it always comes back to the same questioni don't have an asset at the end .
By the way its a nice car your looking at and good luck