Personal Car Lease

[pablo]

Hey all, looking a new car for the wife and tempted to lease one. Advantage being she will always be in a new car, under warranty and not extortionate value either.

e.g a new Citroen DS3 1.6 HDI.

deposit 6 x 180 = 1080
monthy = 35 x 180 = 6300
total = 7380

buying one outright for say 10k, keeping for 3 years = a loss of around 6k? Plus it wont be new (around 2011/2012).

So for a grand ish more I can have a new car, with warranty, no MOTs/Tax etc. Im still not convinced about a 3-4 year old model and expecting to keep it for another 3 odd years.

Any downsides to this? A couple of questions that they dont tell you though:

- when you order the car what about extras? say you wanted leather/satnav etc
- what happens if you crash it? I know you still have to insure it but will it affect the handback?
- what about minor marks? scuffs/wheels kerbed etc.

Cheers all.

 

[Artoir]

Minor marks will have to be sorted before handing back. Extras will increase the monthly payments.

Don't get sucked in by cheap monthly payments either (I know you haven't) as the deposit can be anything from 3-12 months worth.

 

[pablo]

yeah deposit certainly adds a bit on ok.

unsure what way to proceed tbh.

 

[pablo]

is there no by ball on minor marks then? would likely need a respray ffs!

 

[Marc]

fair wear and tear guide is here

http://www.knowlesfleet.co.uk/Documents/FWT/lexFWT.pdf

 

[pinto200]

Fair wear and tear seems generous enough, although at hand back time will only know for sure I suppose.

Extras are basically paid for in full over the course of the lease as most don't add a great deal to retained value which is why I went for a basic car in plain paint.

 

[Deckz]

Only thing is if it's bought out right at the start after years of paying for it it's yours at the end of it mightn't be worth a whole lot but better than handing it back and spending £7000+ and nothing to show for it.

 

[Marc]

Only thing is if it's bought out right at the start after years of paying for it it's yours at the end of it mightn't be worth a whole lot but better than handing it back and spending £7000+ and nothing to show for it.

so say he buys one outright for £10k and sells for £3000 at the end of 3 years time, how much has he spent?

 

[Mel]

The majority of people haven't the capital to buy a car outright, we lease 60 vehicles in our work, a mixture of vans, pick-ups and cars, when it comes to handing them back they basically get a good clean, any dents removed and if there are any big scratches them fixed, biggest hit seems to be if one of the keys has been lost, something like a £200 hit

 

[pablo]

so say he buys one outright for £10k and sells for £3000 at the end of 3 years time, how much has he spent?

depreciation vs leasing. costs are similar and adding in maint of a 3-6 year old car vs nil maint on a new car outweighs any difference.

I got a car allowance from work so happy to spend it indefinitely on a decent car for the wife/family. That way we will always have a 0-3year old car.

 

[Woodcutter]

If you're getting an allowance from work, I agree that using it to fund a lease car is a good idea.

Lots of good lease deals out there too.

 

[pablo]

saw this crowd:

http://www.uchoosecontracts.co.uk/citroen_ds3_1.6ehdi_115_dsport_airdream_personal

Ive no idea how to proceed though, is it worth approaching citroen?

 

[Ceebl]

Out of interest (on behalf of a friend who I know has done this...) what happens if you lease a car and modify it?
Exhaust or suspension changes say and then take it back in for it's service, are the likely to cause a fuss? (I assume it would need to go back to standard before hand back regardless but what about during your ownership)

 

[tbdevpaul]

Speak to the dealer directly, then speak to the leasing companies and see what deal you can get and then play them off against each other. I saved almost 20% going direct to Dalys as opposed to a major NI leasing firm.

Minor marks and scuffs is not a problem, £70 when the sister handed the A4 back for a scuffed alloy

You take Gap insurance for the difference in value should the car be written off

 

[tbdevpaul]

Out of interest (on behalf of a friend who I know has done this...) what happens if you lease a car and modify it?
Exhaust or suspension changes say and then take it back in for it's service, are the likely to cause a fuss? (I assume it would need to go back to standard before hand back regardless but what about during your ownership)

you would be a numptie to do this.

 

[pablo]

I presume as long as it was returned to standard it wouldnt matter.

 

[pinto200]

Nothing to lose talking to Citroen I suppose. I went to a few dealers here, one main BMW dealer didn't have a clue what I was on about and said the deal must be fake. Merc dealer couldn't get within 100/ month of the car I was looking at. It pays to talk to a broker that ordering 100's of cars.

 

[Artoir]

depreciation vs leasing. costs are similar and adding in maint of a 3-6 year old car vs nil maint on a new car outweighs any difference.

I got a car allowance from work so happy to spend it indefinitely on a decent car for the wife/family. That way we will always have a 0-3year old car.

Yep. Doesn't work for everyone, but for those after a new car some of the deals are too good to ignore. Ditto PCP with dearer stuff.

 

[Coog]

Minor marks will have to be sorted before handing back. Extras will increase the monthly payments.

Don't get sucked in by cheap monthly payments either (I know you haven't) as the deposit can be anything from 3-12 months worth.

They're less fussy on marks that you may think. I know of a few that went back in bad shape and my own ones went back with arch trims missing, door dings, etc, etc and nothing ever happened. They seemed to be more interested in getting me into a new motor than worrying about a trolley ding on the rear quarter, etc.

I did it for years and it was great. You're largely funding depreciation and maintenance & both are bills you'll see with any car. I only stopped it because I fancied something a bit more special...

 

[56oval]

We just gave our mk6 back, scraped on the wing, scuffed on the bumper dent on the door,they didnt say a word

 

[tbdevpaul]

We just gave our mk6 back, scraped on the wing, scuffed on the bumper dent on the door,they didnt say a word

this is closer to the experience I have had. When you think they are mostly heading up to Wilsons auctions and back into the trade it doesnt seem to matter.

I presume as long as it was returned to standard it wouldnt matter.

depends what you do but the last thing you want is to void the warranty for some stance

 

[pablo]

nah Id agree, certainly wouldnt bother myself bar maybe changing wheels or something.

 

[swansty]

Similar position myself at the moment so interesting to see the feedback. Depending how much capital you have to start, might be worth paying a bigger deposit and a lower monthly payment as it can be cheaper in the long run. I looked at a deal last week for a fiesta zetec S 1.0 125bhp which was costing 4k over a 2 year deal. I cant see you losing less than that if your bought outright.

problem is finding time to get to the dealers - why dont they open on sundays???

 

[Artoir]

I'm just going by a guy in work who had an Audi out from Agnew's themselves, they were seriously fussy when it came to hand it back.

 

[chris_b]

I've leased loads of stuff over the years and never ever had an issue. Better than that if changing to a new car they never even bothered with an inspection.
People get to hung up on condition, dealers care about one thing only - the value in the book that's all