Leasing, any benefit?

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

oHUTCHYo

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Ive always bought privately using bank loans. However I do get bored quick and typically change cars within 2-3 years of ownership.

It seems leasing is becoming more common these days. Does anyone have any experience?

I quite fancy a Mercedes A-class AMG next.
 
If you buy new and change that often then it could well be that leasing is an option for you. As for whether that particular model represents good value will depend on what the deals are when you come to lease. There is a figure to aim for based upon % of list price but I can't remember what that is, I'm sure someone will be able to give you that though.
 
Not that many good deals for performance cars tbh, but they do come around.

Obviously you're meant to compare with other options like buying new and whether that'll be work out more expensive or cheaper in 2 or 3 years factoring in depreciation.

So yeah man maths it is ;)

By the sounds of it might be another bank loan unless Mercedes can whip up something nice?
 
[TW]Fox said:
It is generally the most expensive and least flexible way of running a car.
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Can you qualify this?

I'm looking at an A5 S Line for around £320pm, £1k down, 10k miles. I haven't looked at personal finance because I cannot envisage it being even close, and Audi's PCP deals want +£2k down, +£100pm, and get faced with a £17k payoff at the end.

Every option other than leasing screams expensive and risky to me.
 
It depends on the deal. Sometimes manufacturers or dealers with have attractive deals based on bulk buying discounts or promoted models the manufacturer wants out there, but it's usually the most expensive way to run a car as there is no getting away from the fact a car costs X and depreciates by Y based on use pattern Z. Now that can be influenced by manufacturers incentives or car discounts that are tied into finance deals and not open to cash buyers but they are not common.
 
D3K said:
Can you qualify this?

I'm looking at an A5 S Line for around £320pm, £1k down, 10k miles. I haven't looked at personal finance because I cannot envisage it being even close, and Audi's PCP deals want +£2k down, +£100pm, and get faced with a £17k payoff at the end.

Every option other than leasing screams expensive and risky to me.
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You are committed for the term, hence it's less flexible than ownership. It's quite difficult to change the car part way through.

With a lease, you are paying for the depreciation of the car over the term and the profit for the leasing firm. It is true that a lease firm can obtain the vehicle at an often large discount but the same is also true of the myriad of brokers for personal purchases.

Occasionally bargain lease deals pop up where you couldn't buy the car for less, but these are the exception not the rule. These deals are well worth looking at but generally if you have a certain car in mind then a lease will be the most expensive and least flexible way of obtaining it.
 
Every now and again there are some incredible deals which you don't get with other forms of finance. You need to keep an eye on pistonheads etc and jump in very quickly to get them. My last 2 leases have been amazing value for money.
 
Best way to approach a good lease deal is not have a specific car in mind. Look for the best deal on a car you would be prepared to drive for the term of the lease. For a 2 year lease 25% of the price of the car is a good price, this is also usually based on the best avaliable purchase price from broadspeed etc. I've just signed up for a VW Golf gti, 5 door DSG in red, 10k mile per annum, £745.20 initial plus 23x £248.40, total of £6458.40, average discounted price for this car is approx 26k so lease is just below 25%
2 years is seen as the optimum time as no need for mot, prob nothing major other than servicing.
Take into account the any cost extras are paid for in full over the lease term, you always want to look for a car that has your required spec as standard.
The lease price also includes all VED charges for the term but not insurance. If the car comes with breakdown cover etc if you were to buy it, then you get the same when leasing.
My current lease Octavia RS tdi only cost me 5200 over the 2 years lease. Even if i'd bought it for 21k which is a very strong price, it's curent value at 20 months old is 14k, loss of 7k, so it would have cost me an extra £1800 to buy, without taking any finance costs into account.
IF you want a specific car, and want any optional extras, you're probably better off buying, if you're happy to be flexible in your choice and take the standard car without any extras, leasing could be right for you.
 
MORE SPEED said:
Isn't this pretty obvious up front though? All you have to do is sum up the payments and then compare it to the expected depreciation if bought outright, and tada it's usually more.
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The only reason I leased is most my cash was tied up in cars at the time and I wanted a new kitchen and driveway, made sense at the time to sell the cars rather then getting a loan

My problem with leasing is when you give them back - they expect a brand new car only the smallest of marks and scratches are allowed. Mine required £650 of repairs - admitedley half of them were my fault (kerbed it in snow)

Once my home improvments were done I saved up again in no time, I've recenly bought a new car - half of it was paid with a personal loan, which pretty much means leasing was a waste of time for me and got me no where apart from stuck with a boring car for 2 years
 
Pay £360 +3k deposit for my BMW M240i with 10k mileage, 48 month, they threw in the 5 year service pack and £100 off any accessories. Fully loaded with mostly all options. At the end of the day why wait when you can have it now? At some stage when i move up i will look at loans and buying 2nd hand.
 
Mattitude said:
Pay £360 +3k deposit for my BMW M240i with 10k mileage, 48 month, they threw in the 5 year service pack and £100 off any accessories. Fully loaded with mostly all options. At the end of the day why wait when you can have it now?.
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That's 20k to hire an M240i for 4 years. There is no way you'd have lost that much by purchasing it, bank loan or otherwise.
 
Mattitude said:
Pay £360 +3k deposit for my BMW M240i with 10k mileage, 48 month, they threw in the 5 year service pack and £100 off any accessories. Fully loaded with mostly all options. At the end of the day why wait when you can have it now? At some stage when i move up i will look at loans and buying 2nd hand.
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To be fair Polo GTI is a huge step up. I'd start saving now.
 
MORE SPEED said:
Isn't this pretty obvious up front though? All you have to do is sum up the payments and then compare it to the expected depreciation if bought outright, and tada it's usually more.
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A lot of people can't do maths though and just poo poo an entire method of finance.

If you lease a car over a period of time that results in you losing money compared to pcp or buying, you're quite stupid.
On the other hand, as has been mentioned, there are some stonking lease deals that can't be matched. These are what make leasing viable imo.
 
I've got 2 cars on lease, both were very good deals and are cars I wasn't initially looking at, but I found quickly that I just needed to set out the options I wanted (sat nav, climate etc) and the number of doors. Then just looked for any relevant deal and didn't really care what the car actually was. If I'd have gone with my initial thoughts of "must be this car, with these options" I just couldn't make the lease costs stack up against nearly new purchase financed through other means. I ended up with the following on 10k mile deals :

Renault Clio DCi Media Nav s - 3+33 @ £162 p/m (free metallic paint thrown in)
Mercedes A Class a180d Sport - 1 + 23 - @ £229 p/m
 
Essentially just hiring the car for 2 or 3 years. If you have the disposable why not.

We took my wifes car allowance and got a business lease through her company for 2 years. Will get something else in a year when its up. :)
 
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