To Lease a car or not?

Hoof_Hearted

Spot on. Also, if you want a big-engined prestige car, there are some fantastic bargains to be had if you are happy to get one a few years old.

Indout96

I'm not throwing any assumptions around, I am just stating what Martin says the site is about.
If you need something then money saving is about the cheapest way of providing the item / service
IF that is leasing then so be it.

jimjames

Indout96 wrote: »

I'm not throwing any assumptions around, I am just stating what Martin says the site is about.
If you need something then money saving is about the cheapest way of providing the item / service
IF that is leasing then so be it.

Guess it's also about the wider picture where some people are paying £14k for leasing a car yet have no savings or pension to fall back on.

In the context of money saving, you also need to look at priorities. For me having sufficient savings cushion is worth it even if it means driving an older car.

forgotmyname

£14,000 for 3 years lease.. + servicing and tyres etc? Thats mad.

Why did the older car cost £4000 in repairs?

£4000 is more than i paid for my car and includes all MOTs and repairs in the last 5 years.

sharp910sh

lostinheaven wrote: »

The lease was £359 (inc vat) per month (3 + 35 = Total sum of £13,642) and it was based on 20,000 miles per year.

The servicing plan was £26.00 per month (36 x £26 = £936).

I had to replace two front tyres at a combined total cost of £280.

However 20 months in, the car has been written off. Motor insurer's payout will go directly to the finance house and I don't have to pay any of the 15 outstanding monthly rentals. I may have a small balance to pay if the Motor Insurer's payout is lower than what the finance house believe the car to be worth and of course, there's my £100 excess to pay.

Currently, it appears both the MI and finance house are in agreement over the value of the vehicle.

In real terms, the use of that £25k car for the past 20 months has cost me £7,980. I'm more than comfortable with that.



It's a 10yr old Volvo XC90 and it's got "issues" :-)

I don't have all the cost/repair details to hand, but off the top of my head:

• Two of the alloy wheels were corroded to such an extent that they were letting air escape from the tyres. They tried to repair them, but it failed. 4 x alloy wheels required.
• Suspension issues
• ABS & Traction Control issues
• Faulty Alarm
• Faulty headlight
• Engine cooling issues
• Rear Screens / entertainment system malfunctioning.
• Annual Service highlighted various individually minor issues that needed to be dealt with
• Other stuff that I can't recall

Individually each issue wasn't too hefty on the pocket, but just recently (what with me looking at leasing another car) we looked back at what we'd spent on the XC90 and the total for this year despite using reconditioned parts when possible, was just north of £3800.


It's been an excellent work-horse for us previously... we're clearly too attached to it though and should have got rid sooner.

Which car were you leasing?

nash1977

Leasing is a bit like renting, you spend hundreds of pounds a month on an asset which will never be yours.

gingerdad

nash1977 wrote: »

Leasing is a bit like renting, you spend hundreds of pounds a month on an asset which will never be yours.

Yes but unlike a house your car deceases in value. If you lease wisely you can get some storming deals.

bigjl

lostinheaven wrote: »

The lease was £359 (inc vat) per month (3 + 35 = Total sum of £13,642) and it was based on 20,000 miles per year.

The servicing plan was £26.00 per month (36 x £26 = £936).

I had to replace two front tyres at a combined total cost of £280.

However 20 months in, the car has been written off. Motor insurer's payout will go directly to the finance house and I don't have to pay any of the 15 outstanding monthly rentals. I may have a small balance to pay if the Motor Insurer's payout is lower than what the finance house believe the car to be worth and of course, there's my £100 excess to pay.

Currently, it appears both the MI and finance house are in agreement over the value of the vehicle.

In real terms, the use of that £25k car for the past 20 months has cost me £7,980. I'm more than comfortable with that.



It's a 10yr old Volvo XC90 and it's got "issues" :-)

I don't have all the cost/repair details to hand, but off the top of my head:

• Two of the alloy wheels were corroded to such an extent that they were letting air escape from the tyres. They tried to repair them, but it failed. 4 x alloy wheels required.
• Suspension issues
• ABS & Traction Control issues
• Faulty Alarm
• Faulty headlight
• Engine cooling issues
• Rear Screens / entertainment system malfunctioning.
• Annual Service highlighted various individually minor issues that needed to be dealt with
• Other stuff that I can't recall

Individually each issue wasn't too hefty on the pocket, but just recently (what with me looking at leasing another car) we looked back at what we'd spent on the XC90 and the total for this year despite using reconditioned parts when possible, was just north of £3800.


It's been an excellent work-horse for us previously... we're clearly too attached to it though and should have got rid sooner.

Though I would mention it would be a lot cheaper to have had your old wheels refurbed rather than buy new wheels.

4 new OE Alloys could easily cost £250/500 each.

Companies like Lepson or Wicked Wheels could acid dip and powdercoat them for £200/300 a set depending on finish required.

They would be as good as new.

Powdercoating would likely even prevent pressure loss when the Alloy itself as gone porous

gzoom

I looked at leasing recently when looking at replacement cars for my wife.

If you are going to buy a brand new car ever 2-3 years leasing works out much cheaper than buying with cash, because you don't need to put down any equity. But over 6-9 years, ie: x3-4 cycles of leasing compared to buying out right first time and keeping the car, leasing is much much more expensive.

Older cars can cost money to repair but usually deprecation costs on a new car is much higher than repair costs of a old car. We have just ordered a brand new Lexus, we got 15% off the RRP, but despite that in the first year it will depreciate by at least £7k, and over 3 years about £15k. But my wife will be keeping the car 10 years+ so deprecation doesn't really matter.

Hintza

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

In my book, spending 3-4K a year and owning nothing as a result isn't moneysaving no matter how shiny the car on your drive.

You just need to do the maths for each car.

For example:-

If you buy a car for £24k and run it for 3 years and it is worth £12k then a lease works if it costs less than £12k over the same term.

If you chose unfashionable cars, run out models etc then you can get a good deal.