Personal Contract Hire - Where to start?

craptakular

craptakular

craptakular

Soldato
Joined
7 Jan 2007
Posts
10,607
Location
Sussex, UK
Hi all,

I need to start thinking about a new car over the next few months, I've had company cars for many years, but my current employer only does a car allowance.

I bought a little Ford Fiesta during lockdown as it didnt seem sensible to lease/buy a car for it to sit on the drive, which would have been 18 months.

There are rules that come with the car allowance

1. under 150co2/km
2. Car less than 8 yr old.

My fiesta is over 8 yrs old, employer didnt mind during lockdown but by autumn I need to get a compliant car.

After some time googling, I think the best option for me is a Personal Contract Hire option, allowing me to cycle cars every 2-4 yrs and effectively pay for each cars depressation, then return to lease company. Hopefully I have this right.

My Question:

1. Where do people go to find good deals?
2. How do I know what a good deal is? P11D/total repayment over my term?
3. Any lease companies to avoid?
4. Any stonking SUV or saloon deals people are aware of or a comparison site?
5. My budget is up to £400 per month, hoefully less, I am not a car nut, just like comfort over performance.


Hopefully my post is not idiotic

Cheers
 
craptakular said:
, I think the best option for me is a Personal Contract Hire option, allowing me to cycle cars every 2-4 yrs and effectively pay for each cars depressation, then return to lease company. Hopefully I have this right.
Click to expand...

Why is it that you think this?

There seems to be an ever increasing number of questions about PCH on here lately but it remains the case that for most people it's the most expensive way possible of running a car. People think it's flexible but the reality is that it's about the least flexible option. In the event of changing jobs or something happening you can sell a car you own but getting out of a lease is difficult and expensive.

I'd limit your search to bargain deals only and if this doesn't throw up the right car for you then look into other ways of funding it if you want new.
 
True, if I could I wouldn't want to take on any additional debt in my name, thats why I liked company cars - if i left the company or was made redundant i just could hand back the car.

hhmmm, maybe a used Audi, BMW or something that I could sell on if the worst were to happen is the better option.

I just don't know!
 
Bank loan a reasonable amount and get yourself in a decent 3 series. Pocket the difference. As others have said, PCH is usually the most expensive way into car ownership. PCP slightly more flexible but only if you hand it back whilst it still has some equity (odds are it'll be negative equity the entire time you own it, bar the last few months). Especially if you aren't a mega car guy, don't pay mega car money on an average brand new car.
 
For an allowance scheme with conditions attached, those are pretty lax conditions.

If you want to be changing cars every few years, I think I'd be looking for something a year or two old, with some manufacturers warranty left, or some approved used warranty and running them for a couple of years then trade them in for a newer one in a couple of years. Or keep it longer. You'd have flexibility to do as you wish, when you wish unlike a PCH car.

Do you need to do much mileage in this car? PCH is typically even worse if you need to actually use the car rather than having a driveway ornament with a 5000 mile per year limit :p
 
Kenai said:
For an allowance scheme with conditions attached, those are pretty lax conditions.

If you want to be changing cars every few years, I think I'd be looking for something a year or two old, with some manufacturers warranty left, or some approved used warranty and running them for a couple of years then trade them in for a newer one in a couple of years. Or keep it longer. You'd have flexibility to do as you wish, when you wish unlike a PCH car.

Do you need to do much mileage in this car? PCH is typically even worse if you need to actually use the car rather than having a driveway ornament with a 5000 mile per year limit :p
Click to expand...

Im not sure on milege as i got the job during the summer and we were still working remotely and via Teams with clients.

if not was a normal year i would have done work in Sweden, Newcastle, Leeds and Cumbria.

The mority of which i would have flown or trained it in. only one i would have driven to i think would have been cumbria. I am wokring on the basis of 10k miles.

3 Series seem to be around £12-15k used so that seems sensible 3-4 yrs old
 
First up I’d drive the fiesta until someone told me otherwise. A lot of places don’t actively enforce the rules associated with car allowances they just have them to stop you showing up in an absolute shed at a customer site if the Fiesta is in decent condition there is a good chance nobody will care.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom