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.