Lease car or buy an old one?

HomelessHopeless

Hi All,

So, it looks like the end of the road for my 2009 Ford Ka. At 125000 miles it's needing a new clutch and all that goes with it, it's just not worth keeping on the road.

I have around £2k I could use on another older car, or I could lease. I've heard lots of stories good and bad about leasing..

I'd need about 10k miles a year, I park in a staff only car park at a hospital Monday to Friday, and I have a dog (not sure if that matters?!)..

Pros and cons/recommendations?

neilmcl

Can you get a bank loan?

Cornucopia

HomelessHopeless wrote: »

Pros and cons/recommendations?

As long as you understand the limitations of Leasing, then it simply comes down to the figures.

If your Lease will cost you (maybe) 36 x £200 + £1500 deposit, then that's a total of £8700, in which case, it's not hard to get a decent 2-4 YO car for that, and buy it outright possibly with a cheap personal loan.

OTOH, if you really want a new-ish car, then there are a few decent leases below £150pm, in which case it starts to compete with HP/Loan repayments.

https://www.carwow.co.uk/best/best-cars-under-150-month-0306

Disclaimer: I have one of the cars in the article above, on a 36 month lease.

stingey

Hi Subscribed to this thread.

We've got a PCP deal just now which is up in August and are looking at our options.
Will be interested in the advice given to the OP.

HomelessHopeless

I'd rather not get a bank loan, but I can see the sense of it if I were looking to purchase a car, rather than HP.

I guess the draw of leasing is the servicing etc. that's included in some (most?) deals, and handing it back after a couple of years for an upgrade.

Looking locally £2k can get me a car, but a high mileage similar to my current one, so I'm a little unsure which direction to go in!

jk0

Can't be that much for a clutch, surely?

neilmcl

HomelessHopeless wrote: »

I'd rather not get a bank loan, but I can see the sense of it if I were looking to purchase a car, rather than HP.

I guess the draw of leasing is the servicing etc. that's included in some (most?) deals, and handing it back after a couple of years for an upgrade.

Looking locally £2k can get me a car, but a high mileage similar to my current one, so I'm a little unsure which direction to go in!

HP and leasing are 2 completely different things. HP is a finance agreement where you are committed to purchasing the car whereas a lease is simply a long term car hire. A small, cheap bank loan in addition to the £2K you have will get you into a car of your own whereas with a lease you will have a long term commitment to hiring (and taking car of) a vehicle that will never be yours. As long as you understand this then it's really matter for you to choose the best deal for you.

If you do decide on car leasing then the best advice I would give is look for the best lease deals themselves rather than narrow it down to specific models of car.

Penelopa.Pitstop

HomelessHopeless wrote: »

I'd rather not get a bank loan, but I can see the sense of it if I were looking to purchase a car, rather than HP.

I guess the draw of leasing is the servicing etc. that's included in some (most?) deals, and handing it back after a couple of years for an upgrade.

Looking locally £2k can get me a car, but a high mileage similar to my current one, so I'm a little unsure which direction to go in!

Servicing is not included in PCH unless you choose maintenance option which is extra and in most cases not worth paying for.

Unless you use word lease loosely and mean PCP, not real leasing - PCH. Still, servicing might be some extra benefit with the deal, it's not standard.

Also, if you work in hospital and expect damage from parking, you have to consider extra charges for it, when returning the car.

Cornucopia

I wasn't intending to add Maintenance to my lease, but then I found out it was only £8 per month, which seemed on the face of it to be good VFM. A lease vehicle also has Road Tax and Breakdown insurance included, as well.

System

£400 or so for a clutch or spend £2k on a car only to find it ends up needing a clutch in the next year or so. Or spend £10,000 on finance for PCP/PCH on a newer car to avoid a few hundred quid in repairs but you get a shiny new car to park in the car park and all you have to do is give up the £2k for the deposit and a couple of hundred quid a month for the next 3-4 years for a car you won't own which will no doubt be in the forefront of your mind as you drive to work realising you've just spent that amount of money to do the same journeys in the same manner as before.

Unless the Ka is starting to rust I'd put a clutch in it, put away the £200 you would have spent on finance every month for the next year or two, buy a car for £5-£6k which is enough to put you in a 3 year old Fiesta and you'd own it outright.

HomelessHopeless

Thanks everyone.

My issue with throwing money at the car is that the last three MOTs have resulted in £300+ in work. The car is slowly falling to pieces! Yes, the bodywork is good and the engine hasn't struggled at all.. But does it make sense to keep throwing money at it for repairs? I mean, it's done me well and doesn't owe me a penny!

Tarambor that's my issue with getting a £2k car, it's just going to end up in the same state..!

Perhaps I'll get it through this and spend a year saving, then get a 2-3 year old car early next year.. Does that sound like a better plan?