Pros and cons of leasing vs PCP

wymondham

if you see a car as a 'service' rather than possession then leasing is a good way to go - have a new, reliable, warranted car for 2 or 3 years then hand it back. I've done this for the last 10 years and its worked out great. Only now considering buying as my circumstances are not as flexible as they were...

mark5

I had a golf on lease hire, it cost approximately 285 per month on a 3&35 deal, I’m coming to the end of a 3 year pcp on my replacement golf( higher spec) and it seems to have paid off as I’m going to be well over £1500 better off over the 3 years going the pcp route.

Commander007

I'm so glad I came across this thread. I thought I was going nuts. I'm looking to get the new Corsa for the other half.  I already have a leased Kuga so I know the system is a good deal. But these Corsa figures for lease v pcp are amazing.  I went to the main dealer in town (A C)  and priced the car on pcp deal over 3 years.  The price including trading in my old Corsa valued at £5000 is £12,746 over 3 years (not including servicing) with the choice of waking away or paying the balloon cost of £8000 on completion of the deal.  At Nationwide Vehicle Contracts the same car comes in at £8064 over 3 years.  But the punchline there is, I STILL HAVE MY OLD CORSA TO SELL FOR £5000.  So the true cost to me to lease is £3064 over 3 years compared to £12746 with Arnold Clark.  Even better, the trade in price from A C of £5000 is below valuation and I could sell it for nearer £6000.  DOH!  Sign me up. 

DrEskimo

Commander007 said:

I'm so glad I came across this thread. I thought I was going nuts. I'm looking to get the new Corsa for the other half.  I already have a leased Kuga so I know the system is a good deal. But these Corsa figures for lease v pcp are amazing.  I went to the main dealer in town (A C)  and priced the car on pcp deal over 3 years.  The price including trading in my old Corsa valued at £5000 is £12,746 over 3 years (not including servicing) with the choice of waking away or paying the balloon cost of £8000 on completion of the deal.  At Nationwide Vehicle Contracts the same car comes in at £8064 over 3 years.  But the punchline there is, I STILL HAVE MY OLD CORSA TO SELL FOR £5000.  So the true cost to me to lease is £3064 over 3 years compared to £12746 with Arnold Clark.  Even better, the trade in price from A C of £5000 is below valuation and I could sell it for nearer £6000.  DOH!  Sign me up. 

How long have you had your old Corsa, and how much has that cost you over the time you've had it?

treeroy

Leasing is cheaper than PCP as a general rule of thumb. The trade off, is that it is less flexible. It's difficult and expensive to get out of your contract, compared to a PCP. If your circumstances change it can be a hassle. eg when I got fired and was unemployed for 5 months, my lease was killing me monthly, but they quoted me the equivalent of 10 months of payments if I wanted to get out early, plus mileage overcharge. 

However, as a dependable cheap way of having a car, I think it's good. My lease comes to an end in a few weeks and I would recommend it (that being said I'm not getting another lease).
If the quotes you've stated in the OP are accurate then it's a no brainer, that's a crazy price difference. 

Incidentally, you mentioned Nationwide vehicle contracts, I bought my lease from them and they were excellent customer service wise. 

Commander007

My "old" Corsa will be 3 years old in a couple of weeks. It cost £10000 new. 

The_Rainmaker

Remember when leasing go with deal and not the model.
Best deals are on cars not selling well, run out models (ie about to be replaced).

If you decide you want a brand new BMW it will cost a lot more than a slightly less fashionable car.

DrEskimo

Commander007 said:

My "old" Corsa will be 3 years old in a couple of weeks. It cost £10000 new. 

So you could buy a new Corsa for £10k and it would still be worth £6k+ in 3 yrs, giving you a total cost of just £4,000.
Is the Corsa you are going to lease £4,000 better than the Corsa you are replacing it with?

Commander007

The figures are correct. Old Corsa worth between 5- 6000 on most platforms. Got a good deal when bought and new Corsa is SRi the same but now higher spec. 

DrEskimo

Commander007 said:

The figures are correct. Old Corsa worth between 5- 6000 on most platforms. Got a good deal when bought and new Corsa is SRi the same but now higher spec. 

£4,000 worth of higher spec...?

Sorry, I am struggling to see why paying £4,000 more over the same period to get essentially the same car, but with restrictions on how much you can drive it and how long you can keep it, is somehow a bargain?

If you keep the same Corsa for another 3 yrs I imagine it will still be worth a good £3/4k? So unless you imagine you will be spending approximately £5k in additional maintenance and repair costs, just keeping your current Corsa would be imaginably cheaper. Is the new Corsa with the extra spec really worth thousands more? What are you actually getting for all that additional outlay?