Who Leases A Car Here? Any tips?

Hey y’all,

My wife is in the process of getting rid of her Peugeot 3008. We are looking at the option of a lease vehicle as a replacement.

A similar size SUV type vehicle for family duties.

There seems to be many companies offering, with varying prices.

We would like a ‘service plan’ so its a simple one monthly payment to cover everything.

Do you lease a car? any pitfalls or small print to look out for? Has it worked well for you?

Any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated.

There are a whole load of leasing companies – I signed up for emails from a bunch of them then just see what special deals they have on – don’t get hung up on a specific model or you could end up paying more than you want – I just have a budget in mind and then look at cars that fit. I just take the view that it isn’t ‘my’ car and it will go back in a few years – I didn’t even test drive the last two I ordered, I just checked out reviews online.

Be careful with the pricing though as they all massage prices to make them look good at different points (ie, there could be a great deal on your perfect car, but it’s based on a really low annual milage or has a big upfront payment) – just make sure you compare all deals like-for-like.

And make sure you pick a dealer that follows the BVRLA Code of Conduct as they are very clear about what is and isn’t defined fair wear and tear.

I have been pretty lucky over the years (leased for some 18 years now) as I have only been hit for extra costs once and that was only a couple of hundred pounds.

FWIW, this is who I used last time around and they keep having some great deals https://centralukvehicleleasing.co.uk/

I’ve leased several. It’s good value if you’re less fussed about a specific car than a good deal – leasing.com, leaseloco.com, etc for comparing deals.

Have a play around with how much upfront, etc – I used to do a spreadsheet to compare total costs. Things like admin fees can swing it too, some that looked a bit more per month were less overall. Any options tend to be spread over the cost of the lease so generally not worth it unless there’s something you absolutely need – stuff with good spec as standard will do better.

Never felt the need for service plans, normally mine were over 2 years so a service or two, always in warranty, rarely needed tyres so I just kept a bit aside just in case.

Pitfalls – understand the excess mileage charges, and that it can be expensive to exit early. There are industry “fair wear and tear” guidelines for condition when it goes back although the odd thing we’ve had over that have had pretty reasonable repair costs – eg a kerbed wheel was far less than the cost of me getting it refurbed.

thanks for the feedback.

we will take a look at the sites you listed and good to know about the ‘fair’ wear and tear.

I’ve leased many cars over the years, always on a fully maintained basis as IMO it worked out value for money (depending on the brand). Make sure that includes tyres etc.

Prestige brands can be cheaper to lease as they hold their value better.

Use things like leaseloco, CarWow to get an idea. Always go back to a main dealer and see if they can beat. We had a BMW x1 on lease. The dealer beat the lease company quote

Historically there used to be good lease deals but those days appear to be gone unfortunately.

You need to know

1. Pence per mile charge (over agreed mileage) as it can work out cheaper to pay for less miles upfront and pay afterwards for

2. Fair wear and tear policy eg. better companies give you a template of what size scatches and dents are acceptable.

3. Some leases give the opportunity to purchase the car after the lease, some do not. Many lease cars I have ended up purchasing, run for an extra year or so and then sold on at no loss from the lease purchase price, although again those days may be gone!

4. If you lease the car for 3 or more years you have to get the car MOTd before returning. Check weather a fully maintained package includes MOT.

Historically there used to be good lease deals but those days appear to be gone unfortunately.

More recently I have seen some great deals – I posted on here a couple of months ago about a Leaf for £110 a month with a relatively small upfront payment and I have just got an electric Lexus RZ for £296 a month (£3k down) which is a great deal for a £70k car.

Get the maintenance package. It covers the servicing as well as brakes & tyres.

Historically there used to be good lease deals but those days appear to be gone unfortunately.

There do seem to be a few popping up though, this seems like a fair chunk of a car for the money: https://centralukvehicleleasing.co.uk/car-leasing/skoda/superb/105193/20-tdi-se-technology-5dr-dsg

Get the maintenance package. It covers the servicing as well as brakes & tyres.

£33 a month doesn’t seem great (for the Skoda above). Over the 2 years it defaults to I wouldn’t expect anything more than a couple of services. Am I missing part of the puzzle?

Also lease it based on more mileage than what you think you will use, then you can adjust this on the last year of the lease and get the difference back, better than getting a big bill for excess mileage if you go over the agreed mileage.

I’m just about to get my second lease (Octavia VRS Estate) and my wife is on her first which she got last year.

Echo the points raised above, I’ve been following this thread for ages looking out for good deals:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=255&t=1955391&i=14620

Key thing to remember is to chase the deal and not a specific make and model.

Due to the current government regulations there aren’t many deals on ICE cars as the car manufacturers need to sell a lot more EV’s to avoid getting fined.

Don’t try to back out of the lease once the contract has been signed and car has been ordered and then get a relative to come on here and whine about it? 🙂

As above, don’t be too fussy about make or even model, and always look behind the headline monthly figure to look at the overall charge, and penalties for stuff like excess mileage.

To be fair just gone on leaseloco and yes some good deals.

But not on nice Audi/BMW stuff. Still cant get one for less than £700 a month over a reasonable period, cash up front etc.

Mind boggles why anyone would put down a huge upfront amount, unless the total cost of ownership is significantly less.

Its nor great though when the only cars you can lease for less than £300 pm are Vauxhall or GWM etc

£33 a month doesn’t seem great (for the Skoda above). Over the 2 years it defaults to I wouldn’t expect anything more than a couple of services. Am I missing part of the puzzle?

You need to work it out. A BMW x1 we had, annual services approx £300 each. New tyres £150 each. We had all the tyres done twice in the 3 yrs + 1 puncture. Complete piece of mind and no unexpected bills for 3 yrs motoring

My lease car went back last week (BMW X3), initially I’d got it on a 3 year lease but extended by a year twice as it was such a good deal at the time and I was getting nowhere near the value on the market (for the same price it was going to be an uninspiring Kia/Nissan/Peugeot type car).  Back when I leased finance companies were buying a load of pre-registered vehicles and leasing at good prices (my car was one of 50 identical (in various colours) pre-registered X3s the finance company had at the time) – I still was not seeing a lot of well priced ‘premium’ manufacturer cars available when I was looking back in summer (I’ve since PCP’ed a Model Y with Tesla as got an interest free finance deal).  I assume there are still deals out there but are harder to find, as others have said be prepared to be flexible, have an idea of what you want (eg. SUV, Auto, Petrol etc) and then see what options come up at a good price.

My car was fully maintained including tyres, given that a full set of tyres is around £1K (large run flats)  this can make a lot of sense and helps budgeting, I’d do FM again.

Finally it’s worth understanding costs on return.  Most lease finance companies (reputable ones) will use the BVRLA guidelines which can be found with a quick google search, but their application of them can be interpreted differently by different lease companies.  I have a good chat with the guy that turned up to inspect and take my vehicle away.  I’ve always tried to look after my cars, but after 5 years you will pick up the odd scratch and car park ding, I was flapping that I’d end up with a big bill as noticed marks that I never knew existed when preparing the car for pick up.  Fortunately the guy took one look and said it was a ‘minter’ (I had spent time cleaning it properly inside and out), he did the inspection and then showed me how each mark was entered on his tablet and how that translates to a charge (or not) – there is a separate form for the different lease co’s they work with so charges can vary.  End result was £0 additional, which was his first of the day.  That day he’d had inspections that looked like bumper cars, people who had no idea of the service history (4 unaccounted for services charged at £240 apiece unless they can be evidenced) etc – if you don’t look after the car you can end up with a decent sized bill.

I’ve leased cars for about 15yrs now. I just look at it as another monthly payment that goes out which means I’m in a new car which is therefore reliable, with little in the way if unexpected costs.

Re’ the maintenance thing, just bear in mind how many miles you’ll do. A lot of cars are 2 yr service intervals now anyway, or like the Corsa I just got, the first service is £100, so not a big shock! But if you’re doing low mileage, you probably won’t need to replace things like brakes anyway. I’ve had a few 3yr deals and sometimes I’ve had to replace the front tyres close to the end of the deal, so I’ve just stuck on whatever cheap ones I can get as the car will be returned soon. Haven’t MOT’d any of the lease cars I’ve had.

I did get caught out by the excess mileage charge once, we’d gone a few thousand over, but it only added up to a couple of hundred quid. They tell you the charge beforehand so you can work out what it might cost.

I’ve used Leden group a couple of times, Simpsons Skoda a couple of times, got a mini through a local dealer, a Citroen lease. Just gone into a PCP with Arnold Clark as I was happy with the car and deal.

I’ve just been browsing Lease Loco again for the first time since lockdown, there are some good options, but the better ones just don’t quite work for us, I mean who wans a new shiny car to only drive 5k miles a year and slaps down a full 12 months worth of lease up front?

I can see why there’s so many 73/74 plate small to mid-sized SUVs on the roads again now too, I think we could well end up popping for something like that TBH.

Well I’ve been browsing the available options and have a couple of candidates, how do people find the whole process of getting insurance for Leased cars?

I’ve been doing my best to bang details into comparison sites, but of course this is theoretical until I’ve actually ordered something and know it’s details, reg, etc.

Historically there used to be good lease deals but those days appear to be gone unfortunately.

Will change as money becomes cheaper with possible interest rates cuts.

Well I’ve been browsing the available options and have a couple of candidates, how do people find the whole process of getting insurance for Leased cars?

No different really though remember that the finance company is the registered keeper and not you.  This did mean for me on my lease car insurance policy I was not insured to drive another car unless I was a named driver on its policy.

This did mean for me on my lease car insurance policy I was not insured to drive another car unless I was a named driver on its policy.

Shouldn’t affect company (pool) and/or work hire vehicles though should it? I’m covered by the company policy for all of those by default.

Current car is probably destined for the scrappy, so I’ll be cancelling that policy and taking out a fresh one for the lease I think.

just had my second lease hire car turn up , first car I’ve had 3 years, had to put 2 new front tyres on it for the mot , plenty of tread left just cracking around the edges so mot fail , so 2 cheapest same spec tyres fitted, spent a few hours over the weekend cleaning it, looks really good again inside and out , couple of tiny marks and 1 small dint near fuel filler flap but happy with condition, will be sad to see it go tomorrow as been a fab car .

first car was with Zen auto , this cars through leasecar , both great to deal with , just don’t get too hung up on spec etc … I had to have an auto as its all the wife can drive and set your self a budget and get the best u can for that money…. plenty of good deals around

I had to have an auto as its all the wife can drive and set your self a budget and get the best u can for that money…. plenty of good deals around

The Boss doesn’t want to drive it as she’s convinced she’ll scratch it (also an auto license holder), so I’m open to manuals, but have gotten used to driving an auto now.

The most likely scenario now is an Estate on Lease and a small, used, leccy car (Leaf, Zoe, etc) in the future for er’ indoors who only does local driving, so lost range is less of a worry.

Don’t focus on the monthlies but instead calculate the TCO over the term as putting a lot down usually makes zero difference unless you plan to extend the term. This is important because if the car is written off you’ve lost that money. Always get GAP and you can get some huge discounts on pre registered cars which easily covers any extended warranty cost to cover the time lost on the manufacturer warranty.

Lease loco is one of the best sources but some car deals are missing.