First time car lease - anything I should look out for?

[StevieP]

I'm having to arrange my own car following work getting rid of the owned company cars and with the 2nd hand car market being so ridiculous at the moment I think I've ruled out either buying or getting one on a PCP type financing agreement, which is leaving me with leasing.

Having had a look around I heavily leaning towards the Skoda Kodiaq Sportline with the 1.5L petrol engine and DSG gearbox

I've found a couple of lease websites offering a 2 year deal, based on 10,000 miles P.A with a 1-month deposit at around £420 per month (this includes servicing and the winter pack, which I love on my current Octavia in the winter!)

Never having leased before I'm wondering whether there is anything I should be checking before pushing the button?

Most of these firms charge an "admin fee" which seems to be the only tie-in right up until delivery (so they retain either some or all of this if I pull out for any reason prior to the finance agreement being signed upon delivery) - I can understand this as work has gone into arranging the finance!

Is there anything else I should be looking out for or asking before signing on the dotted line?

Thanks for any advice or opinions on any lease companies you may have experience of?

 

[HangTime]

Lead time is a key thing to be aware of, when is your company car going back?

 

[StevieP]

Lead time is a key thing to be aware of, when is your company car going back?

Yeah I've already been made aware of a probable 6-7 month lead time - luckily my company don't seem to have a hard deadline so next May/June might still be OK!

 

[Sirrel Squirrel]

Have a look at Leaseloco, good comparison site. On a 2 year lease don't bother with a service/maintenance plan. Chances are you won't need a service and won't need new tyres.

 

[BUDFORCE]

I'm having to arrange my own car following work getting rid of the owned company cars and with the 2nd hand car market being so ridiculous at the moment I think I've ruled out either buying or getting one on a PCP type financing agreement, which is leaving me with leasing.

Having had a look around I heavily leaning towards the Skoda Kodiaq Sportline with the 1.5L petrol engine and DSG gearbox

I've found a couple of lease websites offering a 2 year deal, based on 10,000 miles P.A with a 1-month deposit at around £420 per month (this includes servicing and the winter pack, which I love on my current Octavia in the winter!)

Never having leased before I'm wondering whether there is anything I should be checking before pushing the button?

Most of these firms charge an "admin fee" which seems to be the only tie-in right up until delivery (so they retain either some or all of this if I pull out for any reason prior to the finance agreement being signed upon delivery) - I can understand this as work has gone into arranging the finance!

Is there anything else I should be looking out for or asking before signing on the dotted line?

Thanks for any advice or opinions on any lease companies you may have experience of?

That's £10k over the two years, for a 1.5 petrol car you won't own.

Hahahaha.

 

[StevieP]

That's £10k over the two years, for a 1.5 petrol car you won't own.

Hahahaha.

True, but how is this any different to the position I'm in right now? I'm basically being taxed to the hilt for having a company car and I still don't own it at the end of the day!

Added to which, can you pinpoint me a time in recent memory (or any time for that matter) that is worse for buying a 2nd hand car than right now? My current '17 plate Octavia was valued at around £9k around a year ago - if I run it through on WBAC right now I'm looking at £13k! (and I'm not comfortable spending that kind of money on a 4 year old car)

My theory is a couple of years in a lease car might give the market time to find its feet again and then look at getting something 1-2 years old!

But hey, if this is all complete nonsense I'm all ears for a better alternative!

 

[turbot1984]

I'm having to arrange my own car following work getting rid of the owned company cars and with the 2nd hand car market being so ridiculous at the moment I think I've ruled out either buying or getting one on a PCP type financing agreement, which is leaving me with leasing.

Having had a look around I heavily leaning towards the Skoda Kodiaq Sportline with the 1.5L petrol engine and DSG gearbox

I've found a couple of lease websites offering a 2 year deal, based on 10,000 miles P.A with a 1-month deposit at around £420 per month (this includes servicing and the winter pack, which I love on my current Octavia in the winter!)

Never having leased before I'm wondering whether there is anything I should be checking before pushing the button?

Most of these firms charge an "admin fee" which seems to be the only tie-in right up until delivery (so they retain either some or all of this if I pull out for any reason prior to the finance agreement being signed upon delivery) - I can understand this as work has gone into arranging the finance!

Is there anything else I should be looking out for or asking before signing on the dotted line?

Thanks for any advice or opinions on any lease companies you may have experience of?

That sounds expensive! My 2020 530D M Sport Touring is £450/mth but no servicing. By the way service packages are a joke, you don't own it so just get cheapest service you can.

 

[StevieP]

That sounds expensive! My 2020 530D M Sport Touring is £450/mth but no servicing. By the way service packages are a joke, you don't own it so just get cheapest service you can.

It's the cheapest I can find for that particular car - looking on the same site (Select Car Leasing) - the BMW 520i MHT M Sport (no idea how this compares to yours!) is coming out at £588 p/m on a 4 year lease - or £846 p/m if I want to stick with the 2 year option!

I'm by no means fixated on this particular car but having had Skoda's in the past I've got nothing but good things to say about them and the Kodiaq fits my needs in terms of size etc!

 

[BUDFORCE]

True, but how is this any different to the position I'm in right now? I'm basically being taxed to the hilt for having a company car and I still don't own it at the end of the day!

Added to which, can you pinpoint me a time in recent memory (or any time for that matter) that is worse for buying a 2nd hand car than right now? My current '17 plate Octavia was valued at around £9k around a year ago - if I run it through on WBAC right now I'm looking at £13k! (and I'm not comfortable spending that kind of money on a 4 year old car)

My theory is a couple of years in a lease car might give the market time to find its feet again and then look at getting something 1-2 years old!

But hey, if this is all complete nonsense I'm all ears for a better alternative!

It's your money.

No way in hell I'd be paying someone 10k to borrow their car, plus all the aggro that goes with it. Not saying that Skoda is a bad car either, perfectly fine, but it's an expensive way of doing things.

I guess if you want new you have to pay for it someway, I appreciate used cars are expensive at the moment but you could lower your goals a bit, you can pick up a perfectly fine use car for 10k which is what that will cost you over the 2 years.

If you are handy in the slightest learn how to service yourself, even start doing some if the brakes etc and go from there. Save a ton of money there as well.

Then at the end of the 2 years, you still have your car, and if you look after it, maybe 10 years you still have that same car.

Depends if you are fussy on what your registration plate says and you want to keep up with the Jones's then........

 

[turbot1984]

It's the cheapest I can find for that particular car - looking on the same site (Select Car Leasing) - the BMW 520i MHT M Sport (no idea how this compares to yours!) is coming out at £588 p/m on a 4 year lease - or £846 p/m if I want to stick with the 2 year option!

I'm by no means fixated on this particular car but having had Skoda's in the past I've got nothing but good things to say about them and the Kodiaq fits my needs in terms of size etc!

2 year deals are also expensive, so can't you do 3 years? This seems nearer the mark on Nationwide Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 TSI SE Lease | Nationwide Vehicle Contracts

 

[Kenai]

Adding options like the winter pack to a lease is generally going to be bad value, often resulting in the whole cost being added to the lease as they'll not account for any residuals.

The best way to lease is to find the best lease deal and not be fussy about the car. It's not often very cost effective when trying to get a very particular car.

 

[StevieP]

It's your money.

No way in hell I'd be paying someone 10k to borrow their car, plus all the aggro that goes with it. Not saying that Skoda is a bad car either, perfectly fine, but it's an expensive way of doing things.

I guess if you want new you have to pay for it someway, I appreciate used cars are expensive at the moment but you could lower your goals a bit, you can pick up a perfectly fine use car for 10k which is what that will cost you over the 2 years.

If you are handy in the slightest learn how to service yourself, even start doing some if the brakes etc and go from there. Save a ton of money there as well.

Then at the end of the 2 years, you still have your car, and if you look after it, maybe 10 years you still have that same car.

Depends if you are fussy on what your registration plate says and you want to keep up with the Jones's then........

Again all very valid points - although while I grew up learning basic servicing skills from my dad (oil changes and even freeing off calipers etc) that knowledge (and work ethic) is long gone I'm afraid!

I do need a relatively new car for my work though - even though they aren't providing the cars any more, I doubt they would be overly chuffed with me polling up to see customers in a battered old car! And after all this I've still got the problem of whatever I might buy, it would be at an inflated price due to the 2nd hand car market being absolutely nuts!

 

[StevieP]

2 year deals are also expensive, so can't you do 3 years? This seems nearer the mark on Nationwide Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 TSI SE Lease | Nationwide Vehicle Contracts

I have looked at Nationwide - although the spec above isn't quite up to what I'd ideally like (My current car is the "SE L" spec so I wouldn't want to go below that to be honest) - the main reason I settled on the Sportline was because I liked the styling and the extra' that came with it - plus the missus likes the seats!

I know I can pay more of an upfront deposit but the difference over the term of the lease is negligible - and the difference between 24 and 36 months is also not that great (in fact, the deal I've found is bizarrely slightly cheaper on 2 years rather than 3!)

@Kenai yes I know the "add-on's" are typically not worth the money (for example I wouldn't even pay extra for metallic paint if it was extra - it isn't with the Sportline model!) - but there is just something about the heated windscreen in the winter!

 

[Maximum Triceratops]

Budforce is right on the money from my perspective, think about it. spend 10k to borrow a car for 2 years and have nothing at the end of it or borrow 10k if you need to and buy something perfectly decent, depending on what you buy that car will still be worth many thousands at the end of 2 years, but if you wanna waste 10k just to experience a new car then feel free if you can afford to lose 10k.

 

[StevieP]

Budforce is right on the money from my perspective, think about it. spend 10k to borrow a car for 2 years and have nothing at the end of it or borrow 10k if you need to and buy something perfectly decent, depending on what you buy that car will still be worth many thousands at the end of 2 years, but if you wanna waste 10k just to experience a new car then feel free if you can afford to lose 10k.

Again, I can see the logic and I'm not saying its wrong - from my perspective as long as the monthly outgoings are not more than my existing company car is costing me then I'm essentially no worse off.

Yes I could buy a car and pocket the difference but a) I wouldn't be able to afford anything as nice as this and b) whatever I bought would be at an inflated price with the market as it is!

I know this is to a certain degree a vanity thing in wanting to drive something "nice and shiny and new" but doesn't that ring true of anything we buy (or lease) - after all I could sell my house and live in a complete dump but I choose not to!

I appreciate the feedback, I really do - but the original post was more to find out if there were any pitfalls or issues with lease agreements in general since I've never had one!

 

[gailjon]

I feel that you are doing what is right for you, and I always lease cars. It would be hard to find anything decently comparable to the Kodiaq in size, comfort and reliability for 10k. And with today's used car prices it would be impossible. Yes, you could buy a 10k car but it would be worth how much after two more years? 5k, 6k? 3k? No-one knows and a 10k car that was the size of the kodiaq it would be pretty old by then.

In terms of what to look out for, definitely do not do the maintenance package. I assume the service is the same as my wife's Karoq was, either 2 years or 20000 miles, whichever was sooner. Skoda service costs are not high and you would only pay for one service, if any at all depending on mileage. If you want the winter package then go for it.

 

[HangTime]

Yeah I've already been made aware of a probable 6-7 month lead time - luckily my company don't seem to have a hard deadline so next May/June might still be OK!

If you have that sort of lead time then why not just buy a new car, with the depreciation curve being very shallow currently there has arguably never been a better time to buy a new car (in some cases it is worth more when you drive it off the forecourt than what you paid).

Leasing makes sense for vehicles with high depreciation because you are getting the new car, but dodging the depreciation. When depreciation is low, it makes less sense to lease IMO.

 

[AndrewNR]

£10k seems poor value to me but my only lease experience was a 17 plate Golf R which was about 6.7k all in (I paid slightly more for lapiz blue paint) over 2 years, 16k miles.

As mentioned I'd look for a good deal rather than just eyeball one particular car, unless you really want it obviously.

 

[On Holiday]

Given that you can pick up plenty of 1.5 Kamiq DSG with >5000 miles on for £22k, paying £10k for one over 2 years seems a bit mad to be honest.

There's not much in it between the 1.0 DSG which often comes up for a bargain price and the 1.5 DSG. I've driven both (albeit in Octavia format) and I wouldn't miss the 35PS power difference.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/search?q=Kamiq
https://www.hotukdeals.com/search?q=DSG

I've had a very quick look and can find a 1.5 DSG Kamiq on 4 years with 10k/annum for a total of £14000 as an example so I do think you can definitely do better

 

[dlockers]

£14k for 4 years even if it sits on the drive unused for 2 years ~£4k seems like much better value.

I guess all of these leases are 'make believe' though as no one can get new cars?