Would you ever swap from owning a car to personal lease/PCP?

Bluebell1000

We sold our old diesel to move to a salary sacrifice arrangement. Saved loads of time and stress for my husband who doesn't have to try and do repairs. With an EV, fuel is very cheap and so overall costs are really only a few pounds more the cost of the lease itself. Yes, it's more expensive than buying an old car and running it until it's scrap, but it takes out the uncertainty of not knowing when there might be a large bill coming up. We took a 4 year lease initially and have just signed up for another 4 years, with the latest model of the same car. Might consider buying it off them after the next 4 years are up though.

Lavendyr

fred990 said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/cheap-car-finance-deals-britain-poorer-luxury-cars/

Hmmm...says it all really?

Not going to read an article behind a paywall. But I can read from the headline that it really doesn't say it all, at all. And perhaps if you bothered to read the comments on this thread, including my own, you'd realise that it doesn't. Sometimes it isn't about the "best car you can have" (and believe me, I haven't leased the best car I could have) - it's about managing financial and familial priorities. 

Lavendyr

PS - MSE has its own, far more balanced oped here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/car-leasing/

facade

Lavendyr said:

fred990 said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/cheap-car-finance-deals-britain-poorer-luxury-cars/

Hmmm...says it all really?

Not going to read an article behind a paywall. But I can read from the headline that it really doesn't say it all, at all. And perhaps if you bothered to read the comments on this thread, including my own, you'd realise that it doesn't. Sometimes it isn't about the "best car you can have" (and believe me, I haven't leased the best car I could have) - it's about managing financial and familial priorities. 

Just copy the URL and paste it into the wayback machine, then read the full article from yesterday.

I'll save you the time though

Apparently no-one is "buying" non-premium brand cars anymore as they can PCP a Mercedes/Audi/BMW/RangeRover/Lexus for a few pounds more a month than a Vauxhall/Ford

So there is gazillions of pounds worth of credit sitting on people's drives.

I got bored before they got to any point.

jimjames

hieveryone said:

We currently have a car which we have a personal loan for. We pay £390 a month and have £16k outstanding - car is worth around £30k. It's a big diesel car, so obviously expenses are high too. 

The thread title doesn't really tie in. You don't own the car at the moment so salary sacrifice scheme isn't really any different. The schemes seem very good value for money but are dependent on tax rates and BIK remaining as they are.

fred990

Lavendyr said:

fred990 said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/cheap-car-finance-deals-britain-poorer-luxury-cars/

Hmmm...says it all really?

Not going to read an article behind a paywall. But I can read from the headline that it really doesn't say it all, at all. And perhaps if you bothered to read the comments on this thread, including my own, you'd realise that it doesn't. Sometimes it isn't about the "best car you can have" (and believe me, I haven't leased the best car I could have) - it's about managing financial and familial priorities. 

LOL...so if I had 'bothered' to read your comment...(and others) it wouldn't actually say what it did...and you didn't read the article...too funny 😄. 

Herzlos

facade said:

Apparently no-one is "buying" non-premium brand cars anymore as they can PCP a Mercedes/Audi/BMW/RangeRover/Lexus for a few pounds more a month than a Vauxhall/Ford

Which is interesting because most of the top 10 cars by sales figures are non-premium, ditto most of the cars I see on the road.


Anyway, if you just view a car as a utility and/or are on a strict budget, then leasing one seems like a reasonable thing to do; you pay some money every month and get a car, job done.
Since you lease new, buying older will probably be cheaper, but out of warranty you risk being hit by bills which need covered at the time. I usually have older cars and I remember having to find £600 for welding to get a car through an MOT, £1500 after some kind of pulley broke, and so on.  I bought newer this time (within warranty) which has provided a bit more peace of mind, and I'd definitely consider a lease when my kids are older and I don't need to worry about keeping it good. If I don't need to hand the car back in any particular condition, and I'm keeping it for a long time then scratches and dents aren't really an issue.

Lavendyr

facade said:

Lavendyr said:

fred990 said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/cheap-car-finance-deals-britain-poorer-luxury-cars/

Hmmm...says it all really?

Not going to read an article behind a paywall. But I can read from the headline that it really doesn't say it all, at all. And perhaps if you bothered to read the comments on this thread, including my own, you'd realise that it doesn't. Sometimes it isn't about the "best car you can have" (and believe me, I haven't leased the best car I could have) - it's about managing financial and familial priorities. 

Just copy the URL and paste it into the wayback machine, then read the full article from yesterday.

I'll save you the time though

Apparently no-one is "buying" non-premium brand cars anymore as they can PCP a Mercedes/Audi/BMW/RangeRover/Lexus for a few pounds more a month than a Vauxhall/Ford

So there is gazillions of pounds worth of credit sitting on people's drives.

I got bored before they got to any point.

Thanks I learned today - never heard of the wayback machine before, brilliant!

If that's the summary then I stick by my view that it doesnt say it all - honestly most of my neighbours own their (non-premium) cars and as I said, until about a month ago so did I. My choice was driven by personal circumstances and was only made easier by identifying a car I'd love to drive and by finding a surprisingly good deal which ensures I won't have any surprise bills to pay and while I am paying more than I would lose in depreciation + service + wear & tear repairs + road tax + breakdown cover + higher fuel costs due to lower fuel economy on previous car - I have the certainty that it's all covered. In a one car household with children, that is really important.