While looking for deal on a new car for my mum, I spotted this deal at Tilsun.

£130 inc VAT per month for a fully maintained Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI Zetec. The titanium version works out at around £17 a month more.

That’s based on 10k miles per annum for 2 years and with a £1,440 up front payment.

Including the up front payment, it works out at about £4,500 over the 2 years, which seems like a pretty good deal considering it is fully maintained. The best price I can find for one of these to buy brand new is via drivethedeal and for about £15k.

Obviously, it’s not as cheap over 2 years as the inevitable comparisons that will be made to running a 2004 plate bought for cash saved by only buying supermarket own brand food and reusing toilet paper…but it certainly seems like a good deal if you want to rent a new car 🙂

I wish I could find a personal lease van hire place…

I wouldn’t mind some of these cars…. but I’d prefer a van…

Ideas appreciated.

P.S., The Grand C max looks good as a deal to me,

Looks a good deal for sure, cheers for the PSA.

Two things. Make sure you have additional insurance policy cover for the total value of the car (its additional- not the same as your normal insurance). If you write the car off within the term the company will come after the original cost not what is paid out. So if the car has the RRP on the invoice to you (say 16k- they give you an invoice with the full RRP on)- and your insurer pays out 10k due to current secondhand values guess who has to stump up the difference?

Is this hire company signed up to the BVLA’s terms of fair wear and tear? VERY important. Get this in writing if they are and/or ask to see the wear and tear policy terms before signing anything.

For instance- Citroen/PSA terms say no stone chips allowed. Car must be resprayed in a approved PSA/Citroen garage.

Lease cars are great however its other road users that aren’t. Alloys get kerbed- a given but any supermarket draws even the tinniest of dings. The day before handback I parked in Tescos’ carpark and was literally 5mins. Ran back out and noticed the trolley ding straight away. That was £60 to pull out!

Good points hora. Someone sent me a link for cheap GAP insurance, I’ll dig it out and post it.

Re Tilsun…i’ve never used them but they were recommended to me by a friend who has been using them for years. They’ve been around for yonks, are huge and are signed up to the BVRLA guidelines. Like I said, I’ve not dealt with them personally, but they do seem to be a much much safer proposition than the vast majority of faceless lease companies.

Won’t need much maintenance over two years, its got a 12,500 miles service interval so it’d only be one service and you’d have to drive hard to wear the tyres out in that time as well. Any faults etc would be covered under the warranty if its a new car.

Works out at around £230 inc vat over the length of the contract for maintenance. Still probably worth it given you’ll need at least one service an potentially a full set of tyres. Lease company will presumably require that servicing is carried out at a main dealer.

OP, what is your email? I can send you a link. Is it File.Peter?

It’s in my profile, hora 🙂

you missed the reference!

Obviously, it’s not as cheap over 2 years as the inevitable comparisons that will be made to running a 2004 plate bought for cash saved by only buying supermarket own brand food and reusing toilet paper…but it certainly seems like a good deal if you want to rent a new car

Mine’s an 06 pertol C-max, but yup, averaged over the last 4 years/40,000miles it’s cost me £1100/year in serviceing, tyres, MOT and depreciation, and thats including doing the serviceing myself except the cambelt, and only £90 in repairing things broken.

By the time lower tax and the better mpg is taken into account the gap’s probably pretty small, probably small enough that the ‘smug, new car’ feeling would be worth it.

Having said, that, I do like the ability to reverse upto the boat trailer untill I hear the sound of grinding metal and lean bikes against it without worrying about the guy with a clipboard.

you missed the reference!

dammit!

I remember reading something about gary glitter releasing a book a while back, and someone tweeted him to ask whether he’d be making it available as a PDF file too 🙂

Having said, that, I do like the ability to reverse upto the boat trailer untill I hear the sound of grinding metal and lean bikes against it without worrying about the guy with a clipboard.

Funnily enough, just today I somehow kicked a stone at my car while walking towards it in a car park, leaving a nice little chip, which is now conveniently camouflaged amongst all the other little chips. Couldn’t help wonder how i’d be feeling if that had happened to the new car that I should already have by now!

Ah yes the guy with the clipboard. Hes very thorough. He told me my car was by far the exception. He said most were in disgusting condition at handback (wtf) but almost all were charged for new wheel trims, non alloys, dings or scratched wing mirrors.