car leasing

[Mitch]

I get an allowance through work that I can take as cash or put through the car leasing scheme. With it being a benefit in kind the tax isn't great, however with leasing it lets me have a fairly nice car that is completely hassle free. Just adding fuel.

It's Lex Vehicle Finance that my lease is through, however deal directly with the Audi garage out at Braehead. Couldn't be more helpful. Wouldn't go back to either buying a new car outright or through HP.

I'm no expert but it isn't really a money saver but it's hassle free, which is the big draw for me who knows f**k all about cars!

[Rugster]

I just leased again through leasing options. Highly recommend them 

[Granny Danger]

http://www.contracthireandleasing.com

This is a good site.  My contract is directly with Mercedes Fleet but it was through this site which shows all the offers for any particular vehicle.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

Just now, Mozzamozza said:

Thanks all. Looks like a busy day at work tomorrow!

[Homer Thompson]

Bumping this as I'm about to look into leasing.

Any horror stories/pitfalls/advisable a I should be looking for?

My tip as a current first timer is to make sure you estimate your mileage as accurate as possible and do the maths properly when comparing costs. There are companies who offer really low monthly fees but charge extortionate pence per mile if you go over your allowance. Also don't assume that covering your mileage will be cheaper. It worked out cheaper for us to take the 10k allowance and pay for an extra 1000 miles, or so, at 4ish pence per mile that it would have to take the 11k allowance.

Eta - I think ruggy and I used the same leasing company, the link is on this thread somewhere. Highly recommend them, they were really helpful.

[Rugster]

5 minutes ago, Mr X said:

My tip as a current first timer is to make sure you estimate your mileage as accurate as possible and do the maths properly when comparing costs. There are companies who offer really low monthly fees but charge extortionate pence per mile if you go over your allowance. Also don't assume that covering your mileage will be cheaper. It worked out cheaper for us to take the 10k allowance and pay for an extra 1000 miles, or so, at 4ish pence per mile that it would have to take the 11k allowance.

I've just leased my third and this is the best piece of advice anyone could offer. On both previous occasions I have gone over and it worked out better for me (in one instance cheaper, and the other due to personal circumstances) to pay the "fine" rather than re-quote or increase the mileage allowance.

Read the small print carefully on the mileage thing, a guy I work with leased a car from the same company as me, same manufacturer but different model, his excess charge is 6p a mile while mine is 2.8p. They can vary dramatically so follow Mr X's advice here!

[Homer Thompson]

I've just leased my third and this is the best piece of advice anyone could offer. On both previous occasions I have gone over and it worked out better for me (in one instance cheaper, and the other due to personal circumstances) to pay the "fine" rather than re-quote or increase the mileage allowance.

Read the small print carefully on the mileage thing, a guy I work with leased a car from the same company as me, same manufacturer but different model, his excess charge is 6p a mile while mine is 2.8p. They can vary dramatically so follow Mr X's advice here!

I had the exact same thing, different mileage excess on different quotes from the same company. I think part of it because they are an agent for different finance companies.

One quote I got, from a different site, was 65p per mile :-o

[The Master]

The alternative to leasing, which I don't think has been properly mentioned before, is PCP. Which is basically like a cross between leasing and HP.

You pay a deposit (which can be as low as one month's payment), make monthly payments for one month less than the term (i.e. 35 payments for 3 years, 47 payments for 4 years etc.). The final payment is then the "guaranteed minimum future value" of the car. Which depending on the sticker price can be anything between £5,000-£10,000. 

You then have three options:

1) Pay the final payment and own the car outright
2) Hand the car back - the minimum value is guaranteed, so the car itself covers the cost of the final payment
3) Use any equity in the car as a deposit on a new one, i.e. if your GMFV is £5k but the car is valued at £6k, you have £1k to use towards a deposit

The GMFV is always very conservative because the finance companies don't want to be out of pocked at the end of the term, so it's highly likely you'll have equity for a deposit at the end of the term. 

It also means that you're effectively getting a brand (or nearly) new car, for £5-10k less than its cash price, assuming you decide not to make the final payment. And considering the deposit on a new PCP deal can basically be the same as your monthly payments, it seems a no-brainer to get a new car at the end of the term.

Mileage limits do also apply to these deals, but only become relevant if you don't keep the car.

[Granny Danger]

2 hours ago, Mr X said:

I had the exact same thing, different mileage excess on different quotes from the same company. I think part of it because they are an agent for different finance companies.

One quote I got, from a different site, was 65p per mile :-o

The difference in leasing costs, not just for excess mileage, is staggering.  It astounds me how some of these companies are in business when they can be charging 50% more than others.  Mind you anyone entering into a lease deal without making exhaustive comparisons deserve what they get.

2 hours ago, The Master said:

The alternative to leasing, which I don't think has been properly mentioned before, is PCP. Which is basically like a cross between leasing and HP.

You pay a deposit (which can be as low as one month's payment), make monthly payments for one month less than the term (i.e. 35 payments for 3 years, 47 payments for 4 years etc.). The final payment is then the "guaranteed minimum future value" of the car. Which depending on the sticker price can be anything between £5,000-£10,000. 

You then have three options:

1) Pay the final payment and own the car outright
2) Hand the car back - the minimum value is guaranteed, so the car itself covers the cost of the final payment
3) Use any equity in the car as a deposit on a new one, i.e. if your GMFV is £5k but the car is valued at £6k, you have £1k to use towards a deposit

The GMFV is always very conservative because the finance companies don't want to be out of pocked at the end of the term, so it's highly likely you'll have equity for a deposit at the end of the term. 

It also means that you're effectively getting a brand (or nearly) new car, for £5-10k less than its cash price, assuming you decide not to make the final payment. And considering the deposit on a new PCP deal can basically be the same as your monthly payments, it seems a no-brainer to get a new car at the end of the term.

Mileage limits do also apply to these deals, but only become relevant if you don't keep the car.

I've looked at PCPs previously and never found them to be overly attarctive compared to leasing.

[throbber]

Why can't getting a car on finance just be simple?

[Shandon Par]

These end of lease/pcp deals can be sidestepped as you can get a settlement figure any time and the finance can be settled by the garage (or by you) should you want to trade it in. 

[throbber]

I don't see why anyone would want to own a car outright at the end of the lease term as you are paying the price the car was worth say 44 months previous rather than the current value of the car.

[The Master]

50 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

The difference in leasing costs, not just for excess mileage, is staggering.  It astounds me how some of these companies are in business when they can be charging 50% more than others.  Mind you anyone entering into a lease deal without making exhaustive comparisons deserve what they get.

I've looked at PCPs previously and never found them to be overly attarctive compared to leasing.

Really? I can understand some viewing PCPs as unattractive compared to buying outright, or even HP/loan, but what makes leasing more attractive? 

 

34 minutes ago, throbber said:

I don't see why anyone would want to own a car outright at the end of the lease term as you are paying the price the car was worth say 44 months previous rather than the current value of the car.

Interest aside, it's not much different to paying cash. It's just you've paid it over the course of 4 years instead of in a oner.  Bear in mind as well that the majority of a car's value is in the use as opposed to its resale value.

But in any case, I think PCP (like leasing) is aimed at people who fully intend to change their car at the end of the term. The advantage of PCP is that so long as you look after the car then it's highly likely it'll be worth more than the conservatively estimated guaranteed minimum value. That means you can start a new contract on a new car without needing a deposit.

[Homer Thompson]

Interest aside, it's not much different to paying cash. It's just you've paid it over the course of 4 years instead of in a oner.  Bear in mind as well that the majority of a car's value is in the use as opposed to its resale value.

But in any case, I think PCP (like leasing) is aimed at people who fully intend to change their car at the end of the term. The advantage of PCP is that so long as you look after the car then it's highly likely it'll be worth more than the conservatively estimated guaranteed minimum value. That means you can start a new contract on a new car without needing a deposit.

I never looked into it in any detail but I believe it's cheaper than PCP, in general.

Can you get PCP with maintenance included?

[PWL]

I never looked into it in any detail but I believe it's cheaper than PCP, in general.

Can you get PCP with maintenance included?

Yup. That's what I have. As per above, I ' flipped' over into a new car after my 3 years. Original PCP was via Arnold f'ing Clark but finance from Nissan. When I went back to AC the salesman annoyed me so I looked at Macklin. Much better choice and deal with them plus they sorted the swap to new PCP direct with Nissan .

Not normally a fan of servicing deals as you hear all the horror stories about extras not covered. However, I've taken it with Macklin and they didn't rip the urine.

[alta-pete]

As mentioned somewhere above, Leasing Options in Manchester seem very good, have just taken delivery of my new 330d and very happy with it, totally painless throughout. (RTBC thread for this pish, I know...)

Started at a branch of a certain BMW Dealer who happens to also be a big shot down Ibrox way. Salesman patter woeful, kicked them into touch, found Leasing Options on Google, on to them, deal done in 24hrs on the same factory order car at 1/3 (33%!!) less than quoted in Glasgow. Car delivered 2 weeks ahead of schedule straight out the wrapper from a Manchester main dealer.

If the local dealer salesman says 'no discount available', thank him politely and move on. You'd almost think these cnuts didn't know the Internet existed.

My view is that the relatively remote Scottish market is being carved up by 3 or 4 big players. If you can - and if you know what you want, there's no reason why you can't -shop further afield. It pays dividends.

[Honest Saints Fan]

My car lease is up in a few months and beginning to look for a new car. Anyone ever used Jet Vehicle Finance. Found a deal with them that sounds too good to be true! 

[Honest Saints Fan]

4 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

 

No but in this scenario one should sign up straight away. No time for questions
The deal might run out. Buy NOW!!!!

 

 I'm far too cautious to do something like that but they have a decent spec Mazda 2 for £152 a month with 3 month deposit upfront. It's like robbery.

[Dave]

On 8/22/2016 at 20:29, alta-pete said:

Started at a branch of a certain BMW Dealer who happens to also be a big shot down Ibrox way. Salesman patter woeful, kicked them into touch, found Leasing Options on Google, on to them, deal done in 24hrs on the same factory order car at 1/3 (33%!!) less than quoted in Glasgow. Car delivered 2 weeks ahead of schedule straight out the wrapper from a Manchester main dealer.

If the local dealer salesman says 'no discount available', thank him politely and move on. You'd almost think these cnuts didn't know the Internet existed.

This.

I got my first lease car in November, wee Citroen C1 with the top spec for £99p/m over 18 months. Was happy with that as I mainly use my motorbike to commute so it was just a wee runaround for when the weathers shite, and it would be dirt cheap to run. Before I signed the contract I went to a local Citroen dealer to see if they could match or better the offer. I took the actual contract I'd been emailed and was laughed at by 3 different salesmen giving it "Oi, c'mere and check this shit out haha" before being told I'd mocked it up on Photoshop and it'll never happen.

Two weeks later I took delivery of the car, very happy with it and can't see the point in buying something outright or second hand after this experience.

Edit: was with vehiclesforbusiness.co.uk if anyone is wondering.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Dave

[Shandon Par]

1 hour ago, Honest Saints Fan said:

 I'm far too cautious to do something like that but they have a decent spec Mazda 2 for £152 a month with 3 month deposit upfront. It's like robbery.

Sounds about right. It will likely be on a two or three year deal though and handing the car back at the end of the time. Worth checking Western Mazda in Edinburgh as they've a few pre-registered ones (brand new but registered to the garage to help them bump their sales numbers so you get a new car at second hand price - ie with about £3k off-  and can still do all the finance options).