Car leasing for high milage user?

Nynaeve

We seem to be having bad luck with our car. Quick history:

- Bought outright in 2011 for £7k ish
- Just over a year ago replaced gearbox (reconditioned) and clutch at cost of £1k
- Passed MOT without issue last Tuesday, then yesterday develops very sudden fault with gearbox

We've not had the estimate for gearbox yet, but husband is understandably cross. We are outside the warranty period, both in time and mileage.

Anyway, we are weighing up our options. We've had the car about four years and don't feel like we've had our money's worth! I'm not anticipating we can sell the car for much given the gearbox problems.

We have heard about leasing cars but don't know much about it. So...

- How would I go about finding a good deal?
- How do I find out if it's even suitable for our situation?
- Any ideas about what we can do to get maximum value for our current (damaged) car?

I don't use the forums very much (esp the motoring section!) so if more info is needed for you to give better advice let me know

Thanks in advance,
Nynaeve

Hintza

High mileage is normally the killer on lease cars.

You need to keep an open mind and start a spreadsheet and work out all your options carefully ie Lease, PCP, HP, New, Pre-reg, Nearly new, second hand, banger.

Here is a good place to start:-

http://www.contracthireandleasing.com/

or you could try lings cars:- http://www.lingscars.com/

But until you have done your research you will not know what a good deal is so take your time.

colino

Don't rule out contract hire too, there are still a lot of the bigger, switched on dealers who will offer contract hire that means you switch cars more often and they benefit from higher residuals. You will have to get busy on the phone though.

AdrianC

You say you're a "high mileage" user, but don't give any indication what you mean by that. To some people, 15k/year might be perceived as "high". To others, "high mileage" starts at 50k/year.

For the best price for the old car, put it on ebay with the faults fully declared.

Nynaeve

Thanks for the replies,


Last years mileage was 17k. I considered this high in the sense that most lease schemes seem to be for 10k only.


I had a look at the Lings website, doesn't seem very reputable!


Lease seems attractive because we can likely opt to have maintenance included - my husband finds it difficult to find time to sort these things due to the nature of his work and hours.


Sam

AdrianC

Nynaeve wrote: »

I had a look at the Lings website, doesn't seem very reputable!

Ling has been around for years. The hideousness of her website is a large part of her schtick. She's probably more "reputable" than just about anybody this side of the big-name corporates.

Lease seems attractive because we can likely opt to have maintenance included - my husband finds it difficult to find time to sort these things due to the nature of his work and hours.

The only difference between maintaining a leased car and an owned one is who picks up the tab. The "sorting" is exactly the same. The lease company don't phone you and say "We'll be picking it up for a service next Tuesday, if that's OK, and leaving you a loan car".

smitchy73

Most cars will give you a price for a PCP based on your mileage which will reduce your GFV(guaranteed future value). If you do a HP you don't need to worry about the value of the car as it will be you paying the full cost of the car.
If you go for a personal contract hire, or a personal lease, you can get quotes for maintenance and tyres included, just maintenance, or just tyres, but you have to arrange your own insurance.

If you choose not to go down this route and if you do you have to adhere to the rules and guidance for servicing as per manufacturers guidelines and or the leasing company, this will protect your warranty.

Lings cars is good and she has some friendly advice too, avoid paying large upfront payments as you get nothing back other than reducing the amount you pay per month for the duration of the contract.

Other sites I've came across are Nationwide Vehicle Contracts which seem to be cheaper than Lings for most cars, they also answer queries quickly too, I think Ling's do too, but I haven't submitted any.

You do get deals that change for cars too on these sites. Also on Whatcar website there is a section on leasing too which seems to be linked or ran through the Vertu Motor Group, so a limited search but across the country depending on what your looking for.

Hope this helps

k3lvc

Whilst 17k miles is higher than the headline rates for leasing it's not massive - I ran an Alfa Spider for 3 years on an 18k mile contract for relatively little money compared to some of the manufacturers headline prices on 8k/10k mile contracts

To help we need some idea of budget (monthly/total), type of car and how important image/status are to you

Nynaeve

Thanks again,


With regard to maintenance, I mean it's attractive because the car is dropped in, at set times in the contract, with an approved garage and it's already paid for. It's attractive from husband's perspective, because basically he doesn't have to decide when and where to take it. He hasn't found a garage he trusts and finds anything to do with the car quite stressful, even little things.


It's attractive from my perspective because I don't have to nag him to book it in


Image and status count for nothing. What interests us is value for money and convenience. I.e. repairs and maintenance are someone else's headache.


Husband has remembered about a salary sacrifice scheme for leasing a car so we are looking into that. It includes everything down to tires, breakdown assistance and even insurance. Too good to be true?

Nynaeve

k3lvc wrote: »

Whilst 17k miles is higher than the headline rates for leasing it's not massive - I ran an Alfa Spider for 3 years on an 18k mile contract for relatively little money compared to some of the manufacturers headline prices on 8k/10k mile contracts

To help we need some idea of budget (monthly/total), type of car and how important image/status are to you

K3lvc - would you mind sharing more details about this? Who was it organised through and how much did you pay?


Image and status are unimportant. Budget at the lower end - we are looking at deals in the region of £260 pm with the salary sacrifice scheme I mentioned and lower would be nice! We honestly don't have any fond feelings about cars, we just need it to work and cause us as little hassle as possible.

w211

My car is on a 45,000 mile a year lease with Ling's Cars. Is that mileage high enough?!

Haven't had any problem with Ling's Cars or the car itself.

They answer e-mails promptly, often within minutes, if you e-mail during the working day.

Though most lease figures are based on 10,000 miles / year, you can do a quote with Ling's Cars with your desired mileage, and they'll give you a quote.

With maintenance, I don't think there are set times within the contract, usually, you will have to follow the manufacturer guidelines, when to get it serviced. Often it's at a set interval (usually yearly) - ok, then that it is a set time!, or a certain mileage (which can vary depending on usage, the car will you tell you when it's due a service), whichever comes first.

If you're doing 17k a year, and say, the service intervals are usually 15k or 1 year (whichever comes first), then you're going to have to book it in, say 10.5 months from when you get the car from new.