It's the cheapest and easiest way to own one of these! More further down.
I know
Naturally an AUC would have tax, but would it really always be 12months?
It's the best way to fund it by a country light year, surely you see that
320hp
And yes, I'm with you. More below in answer to Fox.
I will drive it just as much as if it was my own, maybe more so
How else would you fund one of these for 2yrs?
Cash - I don't have £26k+ and it would a complete waste of capital even if I did!
Finance - Nope, it's dearer and you're locked in for longer and I don't intend to get locked into the joys of finance. Even if you just hand it back you'll be paying more than the lease.
Loan - So take my £1.7k deposit and grab a £24k loan (if I'd even get approved for it), which would cost over £1k in monthly payments. That's an incredible amount amount of disposable income to lose, there will be about £2k interest to pay on the loan, whereas with the lease I have, I'm still going to be investing/saving £800pcm over the next 2yrs, a far better way to utilise and increase the value of that ~£20k capital.
And with the above loan or 'owning' a car, no one can absolutely predict what the car will be worth in 2 years time, how in demand they'll be, especially with all these 2yr old lease cars flooding the market once handed back. Then there's the hassle of selling it.
With all the above taken into account, the mentality of '
OMG you should own the car and not rent it' really doesn't work out as a sensible financial option at all vs. leasing. You have worked out the figures well, but there's more to life than just headline figures and savings at the end of the 2yrs, plus with my leasing option I will probably save money vs any owning option (investing the money instead), have an extra £800pcm available should I really need it and have no risk at all when compared to having to sell it on in a few years time.
It's a no brainer really for me and still cheap in my eyes.