Leasing a car

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I am thinking of leasing a car, not for work but for domestic use....has anyone have any experience doing this....what do you get for your money? Did it include servicing etc?

I did venture into contacting a local leasing firm but they went straight into the hard sell and I can't be bothered with that at the minute....
 
I've got my car on contract hire due to my mileage. I used a company called Select Contracts in reading. If it's for personal use, dependant on what manufacturer you're looking at, it may be worth looking at PCP as well. All the benefits of Contract hire as well as the benefits of ownership, ie equity at the end
 
BTW I used to work in a car dealership as a Business Manager, I now train car sales people :) I'd be happy to talk through the options with you. Just drop me a PM
Chris
 
we lease a car. Although its arranged through the Mrs work and (in theory) has to be available for her to use for work if she needs.

Main pros are everything is one fixed monthly payment (insurance, tyres, servicing, repairs, VED etc etc)

Main cons are I could do the same deal for cheaper myself (although not that much) and the ease factor is often offset by dealing with the numpties at the lease company.

It does work on the whole, at least for meand I plan to do it again next time.
 
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't :) it depends on the sums whether buying, leasing (personal contract hire) or pcp (personal contract purchase) is the cheapest.

I've found that a personal lease is only good value if there is a special deal on. And on a model that is already good equipped as you pay off any options nearly always over the lease period. Whether to include maintenance or not depends on the cost and the service interval of the vehicle. A lot of the time it is not worth it.

Also good deals then to be limited in numbers. They come and go quickly.

I'm afraid there isn't a single magical answer you got to crunch the figures.

One of my cars is leased at the moment. A VW Golf R, back in December they were doing such good deals on them that I just couldn't say no to a 300hp awd DSG hyper hatchback. As it is only a two year deal, and servicing interval is two years, there is no point getting a maintenance contract on it.
 
dejongj said:
............ As it is only a two year deal, and servicing interval is two years, there is no point getting a maintenance contract on it.
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Very much depends on the vehicle, service schedule and mileage allowance of your lease though....

I've just taken delivery of a Golf GTD on a 2 year / 20k miles personal lease and I chose to pay £9 inc vat a month for maintenance - at just under £240 for the term it will cover me for servicing (which I may or may not need admittedly as it is condition based servicing) but more importantly tyres are included - unlimited punctures and tyre replacements (think nail in sidewall or blowout requiring a new tyre at £115 a time) and other repairs which are not covered by the manufacturers warranty.

Also at 15-20k miles it'll probably be needing a set of front tyres at least, maybe a full set.

It was worth it for peace of mind IMHO - as the VED was included in the contract too, I know there will be no unexpected bills for 24 months outside diesel and insurance (which I'd need for any car).

As Dejong mentioned, like the Golf R, the GTD was also on special offer so I'm also saving minimum £2.5k over PCP or buying outright with a loan.

I also don't need to deal with car dealer/eBay shiesters when it comes to changing as there is nothing to try and sell/part ex :)

A tip when selecting your lease deal - sometimes it is cheaper to go for a lower mileage allowance and then expect to pay a few thousand miles at the excess mileage charge - than it is to go for a mileage allowance that will cover your expected mileage.

E.g it was cheaper per month by about £30 to go for 10k miles per annum knowing that I do about 12k and to pay the extra in excess mileage charges than it was to go for 12.5k or 15k which were the next levels up.

Some even find going for 5k per annum and then paying the other 5k in excess mileage charges to be financial better due to the specific special offer on at the time.

It also makes sense to pick a vehicle based on the fact it is on a special offer, rather than be set on an actual vehicle make and model. There are some great deals out there if you are not too fussed about what you will be driving.

Having said that, I wanted the Golf GTD so waited until it appeared as a special offer.

Finally, don't start adding loads of unnecessary extras - you will pay in full for these split over the lease term. A £900 satnav option could bump up the monthly cost by £35 a month!
 
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Indeed depends on the servicing deal. £9 including tyres is a very very good deal. For me it was £45 extra excluding tyres. Nice car bloatr!

I can't emphasise it enough. There is not a single correct answer. One has to do their sums as there are so many variances.
 
I would be careful I know see real people gone down this route and at the end of the lease comes the charges and has cost them a lot to get out of the contract
 
wave01 said:
I would be careful I know see real people gone down this route and at the end of the lease comes the charges and has cost them a lot to get out of the contract
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????? What end of lease charges?

It is going to cost a lot to get out of the contract early - of course it would - the contract is for 2 years. If you want to get out of it before that you will usually have to pay the remaining rental.

I went into my lease knowing it is for 2 years and I can afford to pay the rental - nobody has tricked me.
 
I think he is thinking about lease hire which is a whole different ball game!
 
wave01 said:
I would be careful I know see real people gone down this route and at the end of the lease comes the charges and has cost them a lot to get out of the contract
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Getting out of a contract hire contract is going to cost you the contract hire contract ;) Surely you'd know that when you enter it?????

PCP Does allow exit when you've paid more than half the finance value if I recall correctly...

If you are talking about wear and tear damage then the rules are actually rather generous and fair. And going through any office reputable company it is subject to the BVRLA guide which can be found here http://www.bvrla.co.uk/service/fair-wear-and-tear-guides
In short, it allows for dents, scratches, scuffs etc within reason....

PS. What are real people :)
 
dejongj said:
Getting out of a contract hire contract is going to cost you the contract hire contract ;) Surely you'd know that when you enter it?????

PCP Does allow exit when you've paid more than half the finance value if I recall correctly...

If you are talking about wear and tear damage then the rules are actually rather generous and fair. And going through any office reputable company it is subject to the BVRLA guide which can be found here http://www.bvrla.co.uk/service/fair-wear-and-tear-guides
In short, it allows for dents, scratches, scuffs etc within reason....

PS. What are real people :)
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You can carry out a Voluntary Termination on a PCP, once you've paid half the total amount payable (inc GFV). Although be careful as it can affect future credit application decisions.

End of hire costs are normally for excessive damage or excess mileage. With PCP it tends not to matter as most people part ex for a new car.
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
You can carry out a Voluntary Termination on a PCP, once you've paid half the total amount payable (inc GFV). Although be careful as it can affect future credit application decisions.

End of hire costs are normally for excessive damage or excess mileage. With PCP it tends not to matter as most people part ex for a new car.
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Did you just repeat what I wrote :P :)
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
You can carry out a Voluntary Termination on a PCP, once you've paid half the total amount payable (inc GFV). Although be careful as it can affect future credit application decisions.
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while many finance companies (and dealers) allegedly don't like VT, you're perfectly entitled to terminate the agreement and assuming your up to date when you do so won't (or shouldn't) have any sort of future repercussions. Your right to do so is pretty well documented both in your contracts and law too
 
boyfalldown said:
while many finance companies (and dealers) allegedly don't like VT, you're perfectly entitled to terminate the agreement and assuming your up to date when you do so won't (or shouldn't) have any sort of future repercussions. Your right to do so is pretty well documented both in your contracts and law too
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Although what Hugh says, technically is correct. Terminating does not affect your credit rating and it is your legal right to do so, notes are made against your profile.
Having worked closely with many underwriters, when making a decision on an application, they view this information and whilst they will still approve the application, they will often impose a "maximum advance" meaning you have to put down a larger deposit. This offsets some of their risk and potential future losses should you VT again.
 
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