Car leasing for personal use

Lifes_Grand_Plan

OP, I currently lease my Smart Car and can advise as follows:

Pros:
Brand new car for a set price each month.
New car = comes with warranty so shouldn't ever need you to pay for repair bills
Lease companies usually get better deals from the manufacturer so cheaper than if you buy yourself direct
If you are comparing against second hand / older cars then possibly get a safer / more economical car

Cons:
You never own the car - if you would likely change after the 2 / 3 / 4 years anyway then what does that matter.

Take the "they'll charge you for every scratch" comment with a pinch of salt. They will tell you what is and isn't acceptable before you sign (if not then ask them). Wear and tear (small chips / scratches, small windscreen chips, small wheel scrapes) are usually acceptable.

Also double check if road tax and servicing is included or not. Some do, some don't.

I too can recommend Lings site, it sets things out clearly (considering the design of the site) and there aren't hidden costs like most sites that don't quote with VAT, or tell you the monthly price but don't tell you its a 5+35 or something rather than lings which are all 3+35 or 3+23 etc.

smitchy73

Over the past few years I've had pch deals with Arnold Clark, you don't need to deal with salesmen/women in the showrooms, I got in contact with them a very nice chap phoned me, we got on well, he asked what I was looking for, how many miles I planned to do, if i'd like it fully maintained, I did, this covered services as per manufacturers set services, tyres when required, and repairs(window wipers, etc). He emailed me a list of the cars I suggested, added a few of his own suggestions, then told me about 'specials' which were basically brand new cars where they had bulk purchased and un-registered.

I've had no problems, but one thing to be aware of, is that if you want to get out of the lease there is usually a clause, with AC it is 6 months payments or 40% of outstanding rental, whichever is the LOWER amount. There is also a excess mileage charge where if you use more than your allowance you get charged so many pennies a month, BUT if you use less than your allowance you get a refund.

I've also returned them with small scratches, dents etc from other doors opeing on the car from car parks etc, and I didn't get any charges at all. You also have to have Fully Comp insurance and I was advised not to bother too much about GAP insurance either, some dealers will push this.

Flyboy152

Has no one realised that this thread was started four years ago.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Has no one realised that this thread was started four years ago.

Whoops I didn't... sorry!

rfc1795

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

Whoops I didn't... sorry!

Neither did I :A ... But I am also looking to either lease or buy a car so wouldn't mind if people added more views to it :T

Hintza

rfc1795 wrote: »

Neither did I :A ... But I am also looking to either lease or buy a car so wouldn't mind if people added more views to it :T

Do a search here there are plenty of older threads.

My one comment is the sums are not stacking to well for lease cars at the moment so do your sums carefully.

Look for the deal not the car ie don't decide you want a particular car look for the best deal in class.

Flyboy152

Hintza wrote: »

Do a search here there are plenty of older threads.

My one comment is the sums are not stacking to well for lease cars at the moment so do your sums carefully.

Look for the deal not the car ie don't decide you want a particular car look for the best deal in class.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

This is one.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

tattycath

I knew someone a few years ago who leased a car as opposed to buying one. The payments were £300 a month-which i thought was expensive (this was 7 years ago)-that said this person also rented their tv for £20 a month-and at the time they were earning over 40k-is it just me who thinks it was a bit weird? or am i missing something?? x

Flyboy152

tattycath wrote: »

I knew someone a few years ago who leased a car as opposed to buying one. The payments were £300 a month-which i thought was expensive (this was 7 years ago)-that said this person also rented their tv for £20 a month-and at the time they were earning over 40k-is it just me who thinks it was a bit weird? or am i missing something?? x

That's not bad, that's ten thousand pounds to change a new car every three years. I'll bet it wasn't exactly Ford Fiesta.

tattycath

Flyboy152 wrote: »

That's not bad, that's ten thousand pounds to change a new car every three years. I'll bet it wasn't exactly Ford Fiesta.

No it was a peugeot! it wasn't all that really-nothing flash or anything!