Car - lease or buy?

[Old Greg]

Had one of those as a hire car on hols. Not to my taste as I hate MPVs but the kids loved it.

Quite like it but it's to contain the kids, really.

[AtW]

997 Turbo, lease or buy - both are fine.

HTH

[BolshieBastard]

Anyone recommending a car lease is a nut job. Anyone recommending a car lease through their ltd co is a sheer loon!

If you lease a car through your ltd, you pay both as an employer and employee. For a one man ltd, that's just lunacy.

The problem with lease isnt the payments, its when you hand the car back. Yes, the lease company say before you sign 'we accept fair wear and tear to the car' but their idea of FW&T is different to yours and mine.

If the car has a single scratch on it more than an inch long (yes, really), expect a bill to correct it when you hand the car back. Have it professionally detailed before handing back as a mate of mine did with his 2 year old E Class? Yep, you guessed it, he got a £600+ bill to correct it despite the guy who collected it saying it was probably in the best condition of a car being handed back.

Stone chips on the front valance? Yep, I'd call it FW&T but not the lease co. The car is inspected no less than 3 times when you hand it back. Once by the guy taking the car back, once when they get it back to the collection centre to make sure the collection guy hasnt missed any scratches and, at least once again 24 hours after first being inspected at the collection centre.

The leasing industry reckons it gets an average of £600 extra end of lease charges in the UK for each car returned to it. Obviously company cars get bigger bills but dont think you'll escape because you'll look after it better.

But the big whammy on a lease car is if you need to get out of the lease before the term is up. The exit and penalty costs will almost equal paying the full term of your lease, no exceptions.

If you want a new car to drive around (and let's be honest, that's most of us!) buy it on a PCP. The cost will broadly be the same. And, if you do need to get out of the PCP early, provided you have paid 50% of the payments in full, you can hand the car back without the considerations like you would with a lease. Obviously the car must be ok or again, you could be charged a correction fee.

Each to their own but, having investigated leasing v PCP, I'd go PCP every day.

[Willapp]

Just to update the thread, ended up signing up for a 3 year PCP on a brand new Audi A1!

Got a pretty good deal as the missus works as a receptionist at the local Audi garage so we're paying £3k deposit (offset against p/ex of the old A3, we get £2k back) then it's £236 a month for 3 years and give the car back at the end of the 3 year term (not interested in the option to buy).

I'm sure someone could do the maths and prove it's better value buying than leasing (which is essentially what this PCP is, in my eyes) but we're definitely going to change the car in 3 years' time so why worry about residual values!

[doomage]

Just to update the thread, ended up signing up for a 3 year PCP on a brand new Audi A1!

Got a pretty good deal as the missus works as a receptionist at the local Audi garage so we're paying £3k deposit (offset against p/ex of the old A3, we get £2k back) then it's £236 a month for 3 years and give the car back at the end of the 3 year term (not interested in the option to buy).

I'm sure someone could do the maths and prove it's better value buying than leasing (which is essentially what this PCP is, in my eyes) but we're definitely going to change the car in 3 years' time so why worry about residual values!

So basically PCP is a great deal if your missus works for the local dealership?

[Willapp]

So basically PCP is a great deal if your missus works for the local dealership?

Lol, no I didn't mean it like that. The PCP itself is just a standard product available to all customers but on a new car the APR is 7% which isn't that bad (could've got a bank loan through Sainsbury's at 5.9%) so the payments are pretty affordable and because the residual values on Audi cars are generally quite high it means if you don't exercise the right to buy at the end of the agreement (and give the car back), the monthly payments are quite affordable and you get a relatively expensive vehicle for not too much money IMO.

Obviously there's a big debate between rent or buy, much like houses, but the difference is that cars only ever lose their value whereas houses generally (current economic situation aside) increase in value over time so while I can see the benefit of being a homeowner (which is why I am) I think leasing cars makes economic sense if you can afford the monthlies and don't care about having that sense of 'ownership'.

The benefit of the missus working there is we got about 11% off the list price which helped reduce the total finance cost, plus they're throwing in a load of extras (iPod lead, floor mats etc.) which usually would cost extra.

I'm not kidding myself that they're doing well out of the deal but I suppose it looks good if all the staff drive Audi cars so it's in their interest to incentivise them to get on board.

[sasguru]

I really don't understand why anyone would pay (236x36) approx £8.5K for the pleasure of driving a supermini for 3 years.
And after that not even own the damn thing.
There are plenty of good cars that can be bought outright at that price.

[Willapp]

I really don't understand why anyone would pay (236x36) approx £8.5K for the pleasure of driving a supermini for 3 years.
And after that not even own the damn thing.
There are plenty of good cars that can be bought outright at that price.

This is true, I don't disagree with you. A large part is obviously the desire to have a new car, and a specific make/model of car at that. I can't deny I've become a bit of a badge snob where cars are concerned and Audi is my choice of brand because despite their premium price I've always found them generally reliable, nice to look at (both inside and out), nice to drive and (clearly most importantly) nice to have on the driveway!

The other more practical considerations are that I think engine technology has really moved forward in the last few years and the fact that I can get a practically-sized car (for my needs), which is powerful enough to still enjoy driving (ok it's not "fast" but it doesn't feel slow either), is exempt from any road tax and will return 65+ MPG makes it quite desirable to me. I also don't have to worry about MOT tests and the car comes with a 5 year service plan so those are free too, and a decent warranty.

Second hand cars will always be something of a lottery and I prefer to pay a premium for the comfort of knowing that nothing should go wrong with it, and if it does it's not going to cost me to put it right. The A3 I've part-ex'd only had 60k on the clock and was 6 years old so in most people's eyes probably still a nice car to own, but it just doesn't tick the right boxes for me anymore.

[sasguru]

... nice to have on the driveway!
...

I think more important to have at the end of the drive is a massive paid-for house. What's on the drive doesn't signify anything.

HTH

[AtW]

I think more important to have at the end of the drive is a massive paid-for house. What's on the drive doesn't signify anything.

Your Aygo parked in front of your flat over a kebab shop speaks volumes.