Leasing - experiences?

[[TW]Fox]

I wouldn't spend 6 hours polishing a lease but I would a car I owned.

I don't see the difference. They are just different ways of having the use of that car for the duration. Why does it matter whether you buy it brand new with all the pounds you've saved up and then sell it 4 years later or whether you lease it for 4 years? It's still the car you're driving for 4 years. It's still you that has to look at the swirl marks and paint damage - if that doesn't bother you because of the funding structure employed to buy the vehicle I don't see why it would suddenly bother if you've paid cash. You either want it to look really nice or you don't.

What about a Personal Contract Purchase? 'This one goes to the car wash because the finance company owns it until I make the optional final payment'.

 

[Hyburnate]

This has always been my view when people say a disadvantage of a lease is that you need to.. not damage it. Unless you're not bothered about your car that applies regardless of funding method doesn't it? The wear and tear terms on leases are sufficiently generous that they seem ok with some levels of damage I'd want repaired on my own car..

Some of the companies that collect lease cars go over them far more than the average trade or private buyer. We had one where a guy inspected the car for around 3 hours.

 

[Calpol]

We want to move to an EV but want to wait for 2 or 3 years just to wait and see what happens to the battery tech and the residuals.

So we need a ICE to cover the period before we make our minds up on an EV.

We want an estate and the new Skoda Superb estate looks perfect.

Had a lease offer of:
10k miles per year
24 months
£800 up front
£265 per month after that

Total over 2 years: £7160

That looks a decent deal. The Superb is huge and a very good car. £3500/year is about as cheap as you can get for a large car like that. There were some recent deals on the Octavia which is only slightly smaller but i don't think they were as good as that. Factor in servicing which might be £400. I doubt you will need tyres in 20k miles.
The good thing is that you know exactly what costs you will have for the next two years and will have peace of mind.

 

[Kenai]

Would be worth checking that the deal you've found is definitely for the new Superb though and not clearing stock of the old shape.

 

[dlockers]

I don't see the difference. They are just different ways of having the use of that car for the duration. Why does it matter whether you buy it brand new with all the pounds you've saved up and then sell it 4 years later or whether you lease it for 4 years? It's still the car you're driving for 4 years. It's still you that has to look at the swirl marks and paint damage - if that doesn't bother you because of the funding structure employed to buy the vehicle I don't see why it would suddenly bother if you've paid cash. You either want it to look really nice or you don't.

What about a Personal Contract Purchase? 'This one goes to the car wash because the finance company owns it until I make the optional final payment'.

PCP is "mine" in the sense I have the option to buy. A lease is just me looking after someone elses car.

 

[[TW]Fox]

PCP is "mine" in the sense I have the option to buy. A lease is just me looking after someone elses car.

I see this point of view, but my counter argument is that this is irrelevant - both are different ways of driving the same car for the same amount of time, surely. I want my car that I drive all the time for 3-4 years to look perfect regardless of the ownership structure of the method I've chosen to fund it. I don't lease, but if I did, I'd treat it exactly the same as if I owned it. Because I want it to look perfect throughout - I'd be paying a lot of money for it, after all!

 

[[TW]Fox]

Some of the companies that collect lease cars go over them far more than the average trade or private buyer. We had one where a guy inspected the car for around 3 hours.

The acceptable wear and tear is listed in the link someone has provided above. I would not want to drive around in a car with damage listed on that link regardless, so I'd have had it repaired if I owned it.

 

[Journey]

I want my car that I drive all the time for 3-4 years to look perfect

Where as other people will spend extra money/effort if they own it and will need to re-sell it to keep the extra potential value, but if it is leased an getting handed back they won't. If you can't understand that simple logic then it is pointless commenting on it any further.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Where as other people will spend extra effort if they own it and will need to re-sell it to keep the extra potential value, but if it is leased an getting handed back they won't.

Yes, that is literally what we're discussing. That's how discussions work, people with opposing views explore the reasons behind the others viewpoint and offer counter arguments.

What you've actually missed is that the original point was that it is a negative factor of leasing that you get charged to return the car if you've damaged it, whereas it was pointed out that you'd probably want to keep an owned car nice too, so the reality is whichever route you take, you're going to pay to get damage fixed and that it therefore isn't really a downside of leasing.

The 'I care more/less depending on if I own/lease my car' discussion came out of that.

 

[dlockers]

I see this point of view, but my counter argument is that this is irrelevant - both are different ways of driving the same car for the same amount of time, surely. I want my car that I drive all the time for 3-4 years to look perfect regardless of the ownership structure of the method I've chosen to fund it. I don't lease, but if I did, I'd treat it exactly the same as if I owned it. Because I want it to look perfect throughout - I'd be paying a lot of money for it, after all!

My E43 wears its battle scars with pride - as a reminder of where I used to live mostly (tight road with rashes on the rear bumper from eeejits). I would get it repaired but I like the patina

Quite an ironic PoV becuse if it was a lease I'd be getting a smart repair just before it was due hand back. Because I own it, I live with it.

 

[Simon]

Whatever mechanism used to buy. You still have to drive it and appearance of the car shouldn’t really change, if you like to look clean and tidy I imagine you will keep your car clean?

Do you not wash clothes you got in a sale too? Only full price clothes deserve a wash??

 

[Simon]

My E43 wears its battle scars with pride - as a reminder of where I used to live mostly (tight road with rashes on the rear bumper from eeejits). I would get it repaired but I like the patina

Quite an ironic PoV becuse if it was a lease I'd be getting a smart repair just before it was due hand back. Because I own it, I live with it.

I had to get a windscreen on my SS car as a year of driving with a crack I realised people think you are lazy if you don’t fix it and everytime people got in they would ask/tell me I have a cracked screen like it was a new fact.

Watch it get smashed next week.

 

[Hyburnate]

The acceptable wear and tear is listed in the link someone has provided above. I would not want to drive around in a car with damage listed on that link regardless, so I'd have had it repaired if I owned it.

Different lease companies operate differently and the BVRLA allow charging if a stone chip is 4mm or larger in size, which is quite easy to happen.

 

[kefkef]

I've had 7 cars now on lease. The 5 that went back i haven't had any charges except excess mileage on one of them, they've all been BVRLA reviewed. As Fox says above, i do treat them as if i own them, so they are well cared for, well maintained and cleaned regularly. The current SEAT Tarraco is due back in 6 weeks, there's one small dent from someone opening a door into mine, it's small and looks like a stone chip and one of the alloys has got a 2cm scuff (god knows where that happened) and that's after 25k miles and 3 years.

 

[Moobert]

That looks to be a good deal if thats what you are after, mind if I ask who that is with?

 

[Hodders]

That looks to be a good deal if thats what you are after, mind if I ask who that is with?

Leasing route. Never heard of them, bit lease loco threw them up.

 

[radderfire]

The alternative would be to buy a 2 year old car and sell it in 2 or 3 years. But doing that would easily lose us a similar amount in depreciation and interest on the whole purchase price over the ownership period.

Why not buy an older car then, and keep it a bit longer. At least when buying a car you actually own it, and can just keep it longer if you want to.

 

[Hodders]

Looking at that option. But reality like the idea of a manufacturer warranty, plus using a Skoda superb estate as an example it looks like the 2 to 4 year depreciation is more or less the same as the lease cost I've been given above.

SKODA Superb Depreciation Calculator

Find and calculate the depreciation of your SKODA Superb for any stage of your ownership.

www.themoneycalculator.com

Using 28k as the 2 y.o purchase price. Keeping for 2 years will give us a final value of 20500.

A lease does seem to make sense....

 

[jpaul]

postpone the electric dreams ? 8k miles at 35mpg would make the skoda superb a similar overall price.

 

[radderfire]

I don't know what your priorities are, but personally I would prefer to put my money into an older car that I would own, rather than pay to lease. I don't like leasing things, I like owning them, it's generally cheaper, and you have an asset. The Superb is quite a reliable car I believe, and the diesel engines should be capable of high mileages. I had a quick look on Autotrader, and as examples you could get:

2017 SKODA Superb, 2.0 TDI SE Estate 5dr Diesel DSG Euro 6 (s/s) (150 ps), 90,000 miles, £8,750

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!

www.autotrader.co.uk

2019 SKODA Superb, 2.0 SE TDI 5d 148 BHP, manual, 108,524 miles, £8,999

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!

www.autotrader.co.uk

I would think that buying something like this would be a much better financial decision. If you are worried about repair bills get a manual, as the DSG gearbox could have bigger bill potential, but as said, generally I think they are reliable. I don't think the mileages above should be much of an issue if the car has been looked after.