Talk to me about car leasing

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stupar

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The wife and I were talking today about maybe getting a car.
Car leasing cropped into the conversation so i thought i would canvas on here for opinions from those that do it for personal use and to discuss things such as term, maintanence and what you do at the end of the contract etc.

All info is welcome!
Thanks
 
My wife is now on her third lease car.
The first was a peugeot 107, £99 deposit and £99 a month for 3 years. She never does more than 5000 miles a year, so we stuck with the 6000 miles a year deal.
At the end of the 3 years, she bought it for £3200, ran it for a year and sold it for £3800.
Her second was a Polo on a 3 year deal at £130 a month, which she traded at the end for a new deal with a higher spec polo, which she pays £150 a month for over 4 years. At the end of the 4 years she plans to buy this one and keep it for a while.
I know these arrangements aren't for everyone, but it works for us.
 
We're leasing both our cars at the moment but as they are the first we've not had to hand back yet. We do look after our cars so I'm sure that will be pretty painless.

I tend to change my car every few years anyway and leasing was a way to have a brand new car every 3 years, no worries about MOT or unexpected breakdowns or repairs.

Also don't have to worry about selling it when I get bored with it after a few years. I just give it back and get a new one.
 
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I guess pro's and cons....

You pay say £150 a month for a car which is effectively renting it - nothing at the end, unless you choose to buy. However, depending on contract maintenance, RFL etc is covered, and yes a shiny new car after x period of time.

One thing to watch out for are any excess costs, eg if a 10K mileage deal, can be quite expensive if you end up dong 40K over a 3 yr term.
 
See im not fussed about owning a car for years and years.
If we did buy a car it would be a bank loan job that may have more repayments at a higher cost.

My thinking with a car lease is say 3 years of motoring, road tax paid for the lease term (maybe maintanence too depending how much it is) and then hand it back after the three years.
 
These days leasing versus purchase often works out cheaper.

I do it as it goes down as a company cost and as the price is fixed at the end, it doesn't matter too much if it is pretty filthy as long as it is not pranged, you are ok.

Servicing etc all covered and as I do tyre and alloy insurance too, the motoring is painless, financially, apart from the fuelling. (Alloys are one they clobber you on, if you park close to the kerb with low pros)

Just watch the final excess mileage costs as these can escalate the lease cost dramatically if you are a high mileage user. However in some circumstances it may be better to pay the excess than to be stung throughout the lease period.

Yes, you never own it, but after the mileage and heavy usage I put in, I prefer a new car anyway.

However as I view it as a business cost, YMMV.
 
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I had an slk for two years for a couple hundred quid a month. There are some great deals out there...!
 
As above, I think it's just the mileage that would rule it out for me.
 
Some of the initial deals I have seen start at 8000 miles per year. As it wouldn't be for business use I doubt I would really put 8000 on in a year. Certainly I never used to put that much on when I used to own cars.

Is it better to do leasing through a main dealer or through a national/local company?
 
When I looked at the difference in price between say 8000 and 10000 it was less than £10 a month so I went for the 10000 deal. So far I'm 15 months in and only just about done 10000 but at least I don't have to worry about going over.

I got my initial quotes from lingscars but the dealer offered a slightly better deal on my car, so I used them.
My wife's car we did everything online through lingscars and she was great.

Her website is entertaining as well :)

Just watch out for dealers with low monthly prices, but want 6 or more month in advance plus other hidden charges.
 
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What is the approximate cost of adding maintanence if its not already included in the lease?
 
viv1969 said:
As above, I think it's just the mileage that would rule it out for me.
Click to expand...
High mileage is all the more reason to lease

stupar said:
What is the approximate cost of adding maintanence if its not already included in the lease?
Click to expand...

If you don't do many miles I wouldn't bother with maintenance. You could get a service plan for an extra 15-20 quid a month. Another option is pcp, you have the option to buy at the end or give it back, if you are looking for a different car, any equity at the end is yours and not the finance companies.
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
High mileage is all the more reason to lease



If you don't do many miles I wouldn't bother with maintenance. You could get a service plan for an extra 15-20 quid a month. Another option is pcp, you have the option to buy at the end or give it back, if you are looking for a different car, any equity at the end is yours and not the finance companies.
Click to expand...

I do approx. 20k miles a year though.
Don't they sting you for miles above their (pretty low) limits?
 
Yes it jumps up but not normally by a ridiculous amount. I do 30,000 a year on a 3 year agreement, it bumped it up about 20%. However at the end who would want to own a car with 90,000 miles!
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
Yes it jumps up but not normally by a ridiculous amount. I do 30,000 a year on a 3 year agreement, it bumped it up about 20%. However at the end who would want to own a car with 90,000 miles!
Click to expand...

188,000 on mine :lol: :lol:
 
Where do you find high milage leases, I will be doing around 30k a year and have really struggled to find a decent lease for that sort of milage
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
Yes it jumps up but not normally by a ridiculous amount. I do 30,000 a year on a 3 year agreement, it bumped it up about 20%. However at the end who would want to own a car with 90,000 miles!
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Meeeeeeeeeeeee (y)
Once bought a 3yo ex lease hire volvo estate with 105,000miles on the clock, done in 18 months, car
had done about 5,000 in the last 18 months, it was an absolute dream, went on to do over 250,000 with
few problems, the service book showed it had been done monthly so well looked after and only paid 1/3rd
the price of a new one
 
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Most quality cars will easily do 250k with no major problems. When I took a BMW to 140k the problem was finding a dealer who was interested in buying it. Eventually P/X with BMW themselves at a good rate. I had planned to sell at 125k and there was nothing wrong with it at 140k except getting the sale deal and I am sure it would have happily done another 100k without major expense.

It is down to you and how you drive as much as anything else. Nowadays such cars will keep going unless some idiot hits you, in which case the insurance company will only give you peanuts, regardless of what you paid. That can be the killer part of the deal. At least with new cars you can cover it with gap insurance (but don't arrange that through the dealer).
 
Gremlin said:
Meeeeeeeeeeeee (y)
Once bought a 3yo ex lease hire volvo estate with 105,000miles on the clock, done in 18 months, car
had done about 5,000 in the last 18 months, it was ab absolute dream, went on to do over 250,000 with
few problems, the service book showed it had been done monthly so well looked after and only paid 1/3rd
the price of a new one
Click to expand...

To clarify my point, for high mileage users like myself, leasing makes more sense as the residual values are hit very hard. These cars can make bargains for the next keeper. I know cars can do many many miles now, but with working for a motor warranty/insurance company, I also know how these can go wrong and the associated costs.

If I was looking at buying a new car and did under 20,000 miles a year, I would choose pcp.
 
So for those who have done car leasing who did you do it through?
 
I've had 3-4 Peugeots on PCP leasing (Passport) from my loca Peugeot dealer. Worked very well for us at the time. I have a company car now, so circumstances have changed...

To be honest, I coudn't really fault it - I think 3 of them we upgraded for another one at the end of the 3-year lease, then the last one I just handed back as I'd got the company car.
 
Ive been looking at ford for the 1L ecoboost fiesta, peugeot for the 1L 208 which seem decent and practical for our needs
 
stupar said:
Ive been looking at ford for the 1L ecoboost fiesta, peugeot for the 1L 208 which seem decent and practical for our needs
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I was talking to someone yesterday about the Ford 1L Ecoboost engine - one of my colleagues has orderd a Focus with it - and her husband has a Fiesta with the same engine. She reckons around town and 1 or 2 up it's OK, but 3-4 up the acceleration is a bit weedy, so make sure you get a decent test-drive first. Not sure about the Pug, but I prefer the looks - I'm not keen on the facelifted Fiesta grille, but think it looks OK on the Focus... (just my view, of course.... :) )
 
I leased for the first time last year - having owned cars and motorbikes for 25 years it was quite refreshing to have a personal lease, drive a car and not have my name on any v5 logbook :) off the dvla grid so to speak!

Am 9 months into a 24 month lease through Central Contracts on a Golf GTD. It is a truly awesome car and I love it.

£1600 deposit, 10kpa, 23x£267 a month which includes maintenance and road fund licence. The golfs were on managers special last year - it is nearly £370 a month for the same thing now.

Doing the sums, the depreciation after 2 years if I'd have had the £27k to buy outright, which I didn't, or to do the usual options and hand it back (which was a deposit of nearly £6k to get similar monthly payments) it was about £1750 quid cheaper to lease it.

Worth mentioning - if you want a specific car then the deals may not be out there, whereas if you look for special deals, you can get some really nice cars for a good few quid cheaper per month than if you're set on something specific.

Also, don't be tempted with too many extras - you'll pay for them in full. For example, a £500 option will be £500 divided by 24 - so an extra £20 per month.

I was lucky, I wanted the golf and it was on a deal so no compromise for me (y)

Just hope there is a similar level of deals on when it comes to change or I'll be disappointed.
 
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BT Bob said:
I was talking to someone yesterday about the Ford 1L Ecoboost engine - one of my colleagues has orderd a Focus with it - and her husband has a Fiesta with the same engine. She reckons around town and 1 or 2 up it's OK, but 3-4 up the acceleration is a bit weedy, so make sure you get a decent test-drive first. Not sure about the Pug, but I prefer the looks - I'm not keen on the facelifted Fiesta grille, but think it looks OK on the Focus... (just my view, of course.... :) )
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The 1 Litre engine in the Fiesta is available in several power levels. naturally aspirated producing 80PS, then there are 3 levels of power from the turbo charged engine, 100PS, 125PS and 140PS, the latter only available in the Fiesta Black or Red models. The turbo charged engine is available in the Focus as 100PS or 125PS only currently. I've only driven a B-Max with the 125PS engine but it was lively enough, but I do know someone who has a Focus with the 125PS engine and regularly uses it to ferry himself and another 3 adult men with no trouble.
 
Just had a look on Central Contracts and they have a few good offers!
The Nissan Qashqai 1.2 caught my eye for decent price.
 
I've just got a new car through vehicles for business. £150 a month cheaper than Mercedes for the same deal.
 
Anyone have experience of the maintenance packages can get included with the lease cars? How much extra do they add to monthly price?
I know the Peugeot one includes maintenance.
 
SaintSLR said:
Anyone have experience of the maintenance packages can get included with the lease cars? How much extra do they add to monthly price?
I know the Peugeot one includes maintenance.
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Mine was £9 extra per month and includes servicing, tyres, brakes etc etc

Already used it for a puncture - just drive into any kwikfit and they sort it - nothing to pay - just sign in the line sir.

£9 x 26 = £234 which is what the service it will need within the two years would have cost on its own anyway, plus you got the peace of mind in the event of a blow out or the fact it'll be needing new front tyres soon or other repairs not covered by the warranty.

Only thing it didn't cover was a new windscreen when it cracked - this is usually the same on any car as it comes out of the windscreen excess on your insurance and cost me £75.
 
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nilagin said:
The 1 Litre engine in the Fiesta is available in several power levels. naturally aspirated producing 80PS, then there are 3 levels of power from the turbo charged engine, 100PS, 125PS and 140PS, the latter only available in the Fiesta Black or Red models. The turbo charged engine is available in the Focus as 100PS or 125PS only currently. I've only driven a B-Max with the 125PS engine but it was lively enough, but I do know someone who has a Focus with the 125PS engine and regularly uses it to ferry himself and another 3 adult men with no trouble.
Click to expand...
Excellent info - thanks :)
 
bl0at3r said:
Also, don't be tempted with too many extras - you'll pay for them in full. For example, a £500 option will be £500 divided by 24 - so an extra £20 per month.
Click to expand...

Ouch!

I am dead set on getting an advanced adaptive cruise control car that can move forward by itself in stop-start traffic. It is usually a £1000 option in new cars.

That's disappointing. I'm a 15-20k driver, I was thinking leasing is a good option for me.
 
Wuyanxu - it depends on the company. I added on £1,500 extras for £20 a month extra over 3 years.
 
That sounds more like business leasing, rather than a personal contract plan.

With a PCP, they work out the on the road price of the vehicle (including any optional extras), then give you a minimum guaranteed future value (MGFV) based on what they think it'll be worth at the end of the 3-year plan. That gets subtracted from the OTR price and you pay the balance via combination of deposit & finance over the peiod of the plan.

For example - lets say the OTR price is £20,000 and the MGFV is £8000, you'll have to pay the £12,000 over 3 years. if you put a £4000 deposit that leaves £8000 to be financed. You might get a 0% deal, which would mean 8000/36 = £222 a month (approx.).

Then, at the end, you hand the car back and walk away (subject to any excess mileage charges or repairs (bodywork, etc) they find), or pay the £8000 (MGFV) and keep the car or, if you express an interest in having a new car, you may find the actual value is now worth £10000, so you have £2000 towards s deposit on the new plan......

These figures are only illustrations, obvioulsly, and these schemes are not for everyone....
 
That is PCP, what about PCH? That will be cheaper
 
Wow! That is a shocking website!!!
 
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