EV Car - Buying outright or Lease 17 January at 11:38AM in Motoring 5 replies 221 views

Wily_coyote

Good morning, trying to solve a dilemma so I value different prospective. I currently have a Renault Zoe EV. This is a company car which I have been paying through the Salary Sacrifice Scheme. 
I will be leaving the organisation soon and I have been given the option to buy the car outright which is just shy of £19K.  Not having the cash available if I want to do that I have to finance it through a loan. 
The Zoe is a 21 plate with 11K on the clock  so it is fairly new and pretty good condition. The original value was £31K. 
The organisation where I will be moving too, also have the Salary Sacrifice Scheme, however I have to wait at least 6 months plus the lead time for the ordering and getting the new vehicle. This could take may be 9 months. Cannot really afford to be without a car for that long.
So, what would be best to do:
1) Buy the car outright via a loan?
2)  Wait and find a stop gap for few months until I get access to the new salary sacrifice scheme - What options are available?
3) Lease a new car

Thanks for your thoughts.

Stateofart

Do you like the car?  If so, cheapest loan you can get and take it out.  It'll be cheaper than salary sacrifice, they're crazy money.  If you don't like it, hand it back, then don't do salary sacrifice, just get a loan for your next car (usually better rates than a lease plus you own it eventually).

DrEskimo

What spec if the Zoe? I take it it's the newer model with the 52kWh battery?

A GT Line with rapid charging (CCS), £19k isn't a bad price but it's not amazing.You can probably get one from a dealer for around £20-21k.

Overall though, I highly recommend buying used outright over leasing. Not only is it more flexible as you can keep and drive the car as long as you like, it's more often than not far cheaper in terms of total cost of ownership.

Whether you buy that Zoe or another EV is the next question.

How likely are you to be approved for a good finance rate? How much could you afford if you used your savings? The most MSE thing here might be to go to a cheaper alternative, and that often rules out newer EVs (and a lot of EVs altogether).

macman

Minimum conventional lease is usually two years, and there's no VT option if things change.

Car_54

I’d be inclined to buy the Zoe rather than a stop-gap - better the devil you know.

The decision on whether to take up the new scheme can wait.

Richard1212

I was a bit wary of your phrase that said the state of the current car was "pretty good"----for a newish car with such low mileage it should be in great state.
Other than that comment, it's fairly obvious that if you like it, buy it (outright with cheapest loan). And if you don't like it enough, buy a cheapo for 6 months and go for a new salary sacrifice ( which personally I think is a dreadful system).