| + Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results |
I have only ever bought cars previously.
Now looking to change my 65 plate Mondeo that's done 103k.
I drive 15k a year. There appears to be lots of adverts for leasing cars.
Is this the way forward,? I know nothing of the terms etc so if thinking of leasing what do I look for?, or am I better buying, which I've done for the past 30years?
Danke!
It depends, leasing is cheaper over your contact than owning but after that if you want to keep the car you have to pay a huge amount. If you just want a car for say 4 years and then upgrade straight away to another car then leasing is the way to go. If you want to keep a car longer than that then buying is cheaper long term.Originally Posted by Armitage Shanks
Do you have access to a company car scheme where you can sacrifice salary and get a leased car? If so - have a look.
If not: I'd look at leasing anyway. I don't like cars, I don't know anything about them and they are depreciating assets that become liabilities to me (although with the prices in the second hand market, the rate of depreciation seems to have slowed considerably). I've got a young family and want them to be safe and comfortable, and doing that with a purchased car isn't really going to work for me with the sort of money I'd be happy to spend. Financially I'm probably slightly worse off by leasing than if i'd bought a good second hand car, but then I've got zero risks and zero running costs by leasing (and a brand new car that I could never afford to buy) - the premium is worth paying. In particular as it's a gamble for me as to whether a second hand car I buy is good or terrible. [The one exception is if you can get a really good value new car. I was able to buy a brand new Skoda Superb estate 2l diesel with a top spec trim for £21.5k about a year ago. I didn't go for it, but if I had done then I'd probably make a profit if I sold it today. While I love my car, that was an astonishing deal and I really should have jumped at it]
If you know more about cars then the above might not apply. But for me, leasing has been easily beaten buying as an overall experience.
Bitte.
Mate of mine got a new vw golf think it’s about 180 per month, no maintenance, breaks down you get a new one etc…doesn’t your average car depreciate by about a grand a year?
Lease, as car ownership will soon be a thing of the past, so best to get used to it now.
I will need to change car soon (2007 BMW, 3 series 110k millage)
Financially the best thing to do seems to be buying a car 3-5 years old with around 30k millage keeping it for 8-10 years then doing the same again.
However this will cost around £10k for something like a focus, and you still run the risk of getting some nasty bills.
I have looked into leasing as an option, so this thread is helpful for me, the only issue is a find most lease deals looks good but only provide 8,000-10,000 miles a year with big charges for going over.
I need around 15,000-20,000. and the lease almost doubles in price then.
Same about cars, have little knowledge and even less interest.
I got a 10 year old car now (had it for 8), i'm starting to see things break and expenses adding up. I'm at the position now, that I'll not spend over 500 euros this year, anything more I'll bin it (I'm not doing the yearly service either as i've done next to nothing in KM these last 2 years).
Spent ages looking at leasing / buying new, the way I see it is value after about 15/20 years of leasing, best value was actually the service through KIA. I'm hoping to get another 2 years out my current car as making a decision is tough.
I know we have crossed this bridge a few times recently , but I think its worth noting at the moment,
The car market is quite volatile and residuals values are high , really high .
I have mentioned the residuals on my hire vehicles being superb , which would show leasing to be a poor decision for most . Problem is you have to try and second guess the market .
I treated myself to a C63 Merc 2 years ago , today it is worth 5 k more than I paid for the car with 12,000 miles more on it. Had I leased it , or a similar car I would have been paying somewhere in the region of £1000 per month .
Whilst I don't expect the car market to remain as buoyant , I don't expect my Merc to fall off a cliff (valuewise).
I believe Electric cars becoming the norm will keep the values of petrol super cars buoyant .
The way the price of electric is going , will soon be cheaper to run a 12mpg petrol car .
We are struggling to get terms or availability on any manufacturer for my rental company . As you said prices will go up as terms are reduced and retails soar, are any leasing companies able to supply cars within a reasonable time frame?
For the Leasing company miles are everything . Added wear ant tear , if its a serviced deal more servicing . And most importantly residuals are set by the mileages .
I would say the more miles you are doing , the better leasing should be for .
Buy a 3 year old car from a decent manufacturer and keep it for a maximum of 3 years .
Where people go wrong is they keep them after the 3 years because they are going fine , and the following year . Suddenly the injectors go and it cost £1500 to fix them so they decide to keep the car a bit longer (to get their money back )then, the gearbox goes , so they keep the car longer because the car owes them all these repair bills . The car continues to cost and cost .
So leasing @ X amount, fixed price, in a brand new car now looks very attractive ....
Leasing is an art. There are deals to be had but you need to do your homework. Leasing will not work for all.
A couple of things to consider:
Lead times may be long as in many situations you are getting a new car, even a quoted lead time can slip. I ordered mine in June 2021 for a September delivery and I am still waiting, new eta is now May. I’m not holding my breath.
Car companies operate quarterly and may bring out deals on certain models at the end of a quarter (surplus and/or new replacement model coming soon), but require you to turn paperwork round quickly.
Ways to compare the “cost” is by taking the term 9 + 35 months and dividing by the total mileage (e.g. 30000 miles over 3 years) over the term that way you get a pence per mile leasing price.
You can also look at the ratio that you are paying over the term e.g as a percentage of the list price and compare against the depreciation. Comparing a few cars will give you an appreciation of a “deal”.
If opting for optional extras they are normally reclaimed during the term of the lease, therefore your paying a premium, so be careful if your are loading up your car as it may be more cost effective to get the next level spec car.
You can adjust mileage allowance e.g 10k per annum, 8k per annum and then find out over mileage charges - sometimes it’s actually cheaper to bite the bullet and pay for the over miles at the end versus having a higher monthly charge - just make sure you put some cash aside just in case.
Also if asked about additional maintenance you can do a quick calculation to see whether you are likely to spend that on servicing/Tyres over the term. On one of my BMWs I ended up getting four new Tyres (I only really needed two) this then made the extra charge work. However on all other leased cars I did not take out the maintenance and saved myself some money (maybe £100 all in all over 3 years).
I’ve had many lease cars and used CLVR, Niche and the best one for me is Skyfleet, where the team have always found me an excellent deal. As an example in 2015 I got a BMW 520d estate for the price of a 3 series saloon.
Re: Lease or buy (cars)
I agree that the high prices on the second hand market might change the financial analysis here. I was just trying to put across different angle really, which is that for those of us who don't understand/like cars, there are some non-financial benefits of leasing. I don't doubt that for many, the pure financial position will be better through purchase, and that for many, leasing would be the wrong thing.I know we have crossed this bridge a few times recently , but I think its worth noting at the moment,
The car market is quite volatile and residuals values are high , really high .
I have mentioned the residuals on my hire vehicles being superb , which would show leasing to be a poor decision for most . Problem is you have to try and second guess the market .
I treated myself to a C63 Merc 2 years ago , today it is worth 5 k more than I paid for the car with 12,000 miles more on it. Had I leased it , or a similar car I would have been paying somewhere in the region of £1000 per month .
Whilst I don't expect the car market to remain as buoyant , I don't expect my Merc to fall off a cliff (valuewise).
I believe Electric cars becoming the norm will keep the values of petrol super cars buoyant .
The way the price of electric is going , will soon be cheaper to run a 12mpg petrol car .
We are struggling to get terms or availability on any manufacturer for my rental company . As you said prices will go up as terms are reduced and retails soar, are any leasing companies able to supply cars within a reasonable time frame?
I do keep coming back to the company car scheme tho. In my experience they are excellent. By way of example: my current one allows unlimited mileage. When you order the car you can stick any number in the box, it won't change the price. 5k or 50k miles per year: the monthly cost the same, to the penny. Mine also allows me to authorise anyone to drive it. I can name as many drivers as I want. All servicing, tax, insurance is all included, and the price isn't affected by age/experience. My colleague who is 10 years younger than me and can get a car that is far too fast for him for exactly the same price I'd pay. The excess is £50, doubling to £100 if you crash it twice. And if you do mess up the bodywork, they send someone out to fix it. If it breaks, they send you a replacement until its fixed. All of that convenience I think has to be taken into account. I appreciate that not all leasing operates this way, but if you've got a company scheme it is well worth a look.
The point on lead times is a good one too! Someone above was saying that they won't repair their existing car if the bill is more than EUR500. I had that approach to my X3. The bill came in at £600, and I thought: Great - time to swap for a leased car! But the lead time on my new car was 6 months, and while they offered iterim cars they were all diesels which would have cost me a fortune on the tax, so it was still cheaper to repair the X3 and run it for a few more months until my lease car was ready.
As regards running a petrol car for less than an EV: might be worth taking a quick look at the news. ;)
Doing the amount of miles that you do, you are going to get heavily penalised in lease charges. Average mileage is normally taken at around 7000 mikes a year max and you are doing double that.
This is a good point. I live in a city with fantastic public transport so 6 / 9 months would be a pain but not a massive inconvenience. There are lots of peer to peer car lending apps if i need something for a few days and could even rent out my parking space.
Yes it does and can can cost thousand a year to up keep especially as parts rise .
From my experience with Select Cars over the last 7 months I’ll never lease again. It’s been an absolute mare for many reasons. They’ve misled, misrepresented, miscommunicated and been totally unprofessional.
Is that due to supply?
You haven't quoted figures Nick but that sounds like a fantastic all round deal ,looks like they are doing the insurance as well.
Are you working in some kind of government establishment?
My comments on the fuel prices was a little tongue in cheek ...
I do wonder where the energy/fuel prices will stop .
Just had a look at a energy deal for my partner and the cost of energy will more than double over the next 12 months .
How much do you reckon in £ does it take to charge your EV?
If anyone needs any New commercial vehicles, I currently have prime stock of Small, Medium and Large and L1-L3 variants.
Can quote and advise on all manor of financing.
Local company - DM me for quotes or happy to just offer advise to any fellow City fans in navigating the current market.
You may be an experienced purchaser but the landscape has changed in the last 12 months.
Not as good as the £21k Skoda superb 2L se-L estate I didn’t take…
Yeah includes insurance. I work in the private sector but it’s via zenith, who I think are pretty big. They do the car scheme for an airline too: they tell me that all the pilots take the Porsche taycan (0-60 in under 3 secs); all the accountants take a bmw iX3 or Audi etron because we are boring.
As regards energy price: I have just switched, paying 5p/kWh overnight when I charge. I’ve got an etron which is a beast, So I get about 2p per mile at that rate. But I top up when I’m out and about for free, and my previous tariff did actually have me charging for free at home. For a smaller car, it would average out at well under 1p/mile. And I don’t have solar panels (although I really should, given my heavy electricity useage)
On the motorway chargers and with fast chargers, the price per mile is already similar to petrol tbh. But unless you are doing crazy miles, my guess is that 90%+ of your charging is done at home. And- company car scheme again- it’s a virtually tax-free benefit if it’s an EV, which is massive.
If you purchased a car on say a PCP that’s coming up for renewal. Assuming the condition is good and the miles are on course then you will have a lovely bit of equity over your GFV.
Natural equity to this level isn’t normal and dealerships normally have to make up the shortfall with manufacturer support and discount in order to make a renewal stack up.
If you took the same car out on a PCH (cannot buy at end, vehicle must go back) at the same time that may have been cheaper per month then you wont have any equity.
However you may have bill for any damage that’s not classed as “wear and tear”, if you have gone over the mileage that you stated, then there’s an excess miles charge, if you have missed a service then that’s another charge and indeed some finance companies can bill you for not putting the same premium tyres on that the car came with new.
You also need to factor in the finance companies underwriting criteria and if you meet their current scorecards.
(PCP is more relaxed as it’s an ownership product).
Manufacturer backed finance companies are usually better as it’s their own money in their own vehicle - so they have a vested interest here.
I choose to renew our main family car every 3 years and compare both PCP and PCH monthly payments and look to see how far apart they are - which changes period by period and car by car.
I always shift my purchases between the both methods, as I know the benefits and limitations of both as consumer and a vehicle sales professional. I wouldn’t say one was better than the other - you need to consider what that car will physically be like at the end your time with it.
It all boils down to what your end game is, but peoples needs can change mid contract which can bring severe costs to change on either.
The manufacturers were (until covid at least) looking to move away from ownership and into more of a Usership model.
Like the Rent a bike system.
Where as a car is parked up for about 20+ hours a day - you pay for usage of a vehicle for only when you need it.
The manufacturers/dealers will do anything to try and part you from your cash. You can bet that any car lease, rent or purchase scheme brought in will come out heavily in their favour.
Of course - it’s a business of which a customer has approached in the first place.
Most good business plans involve the transaction coming out in favour of the business.
If it didn't , we wouldn't have any long term businesses.
Of course, having been involved myself in business for many years, the object is to make a profit.
Problem is, so many businesses take things a stage further and look to make excess profits from their customers.From what I understand about you, I am sure you never did.
The earlier poster was right, however in that it is important to shop around if looking to lease and do your financial homework to see what is best for you as not everyone can be trusted.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
