Car Leasing

Soldato
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
5,622
Location
West London
I am thinking of moving onto my 2nd car now, and I have the new Mini in mind.

I want to get it on lease, i.e. for 36 months and pay monthly.

Who are the best leasing providers to look at? (live in London)

Thanks
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
159,534
http://www.dsgauto.com/ are very competitive.

Consider VERY carefully if its the right thing to do though, don't be seduced by the affordable monthly payments.

Say you take out a 3 year lease @ £300 a month. Thats great, you can afford £300 a month, and you get a nice new car for that. But consider it from this point if view..

You are, effectivly, renting the car. It isn't yours and you don't own it. That £300 a month is £10,800 over 36 months. So you pay 10 grand to own a car for 3 years and after those 3 years you have nothing to show for your money, the car goes back.

Instead, considering buying a car outright using a personal loan - avoid brand spanking new stuff and you'll be unlucky to find something that will depreciate by £10,800 over 3 years and at the end of your payments you are left with.. a car that YOU own :)
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,898
Not usually.

Leasing is really only cost effective if you can claim the VAT back, and even then if you can buy new at the right price it can still be cheaper to get a loan. You have to be careful because lease return cars have to be in very good condition or they'll bill you for damage after return.

You could consider a PCP - its a bit like a lease agreement but are far more flexible for the private buyer. You agree finance payments and leave a balloon payment at end, so you can either return the car and walk away, pay the baloon payment and own the car, or if the car is worth more than the baloon payment (and the baloon values are always on the low side) you can use the balance as a deposit on your next car.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 May 2005
Posts
7,049
Hmm, 36 months is a very long time and there will likely be nasty penalties if you end the contract early. If you don't get insurance thrown in, I'd take out a loan and buy one instead.
 
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