PCP or lease

[Electric_Andy]

Can you add a tow bar etc ?

According to another forum I've just looked on, the lease company will charge an arm and a leg to fit one (i.e. to have one as an option from new), and it will not increase the sale value when you hand it back, so if you get permission from the finance company to have a bar fitted by a garage then it should be fine. They may specify that it needs to be safely removed (by a professinoal) prior to you giving it back. It seems that they don't care much about wear and tear on the car due to towing activity. Just check with the financer and it should be ok.

 

[Milkfloat]

I have leased my last 3 cars, all at significantly less cost than the depreciation alone. My tip is to chase the chase the deal, not the exact car (i.e. don't be fussy). My current car is a 7 seater BMW which I pay £207 amortised per month (monthly fee plus percentage of deposit). At the same time it would have cost £270 for a Fiesta . I need to have a car that is less than 4 years old for work, so leasing makes that easy and relatively cheap for me. I wanted a tow bar on the car I was quoted £1100 extra over the two year lease and increase of nearly 45% - needless to say I did not get the tow bar.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I looked at leasing many times even whilst running a business and could never make it work no matter how attractive others made it sound.

Same here. When I was a driving instructor I looked at it a few times and the mileage limits were 10k a year max. I was doing up to 40k on a busy year.

 

[keithmac]

I know a fair few people with PCP cars and none of them have bought the car at the end of it (just swapped for a new one again..).

Saying that I bought our MK2 Kuga for £15,000 at 3 years old (we keep our family cars a long time, hopefully 10 years), couldn't buy a new one at 36k!.

2 years later it had a massive gearbox failure that cost £4,000 to fix by the end of it (properly fixed by me, no putting the same mess back in).

At that point I genuinely wished I'd just PCP'd a brand new car, but what can you do hindsight is a wonderful thing.

If we ever go for an EV I think well take a PCP deal, batteries are horrifically expensive and knowing my luck we'll get another lemon..

 

[dodgy]

I like to lease cars. No admin, no MOTs, no VED, just put fuel/electricity into it and get it serviced when required (I pay extra for maintenance so this bit is not free, but no worries).
I'm about to retire and will continue to lease, it's very predictable in monthly costs, no surprises.

 

[Mrs M]

At end of lease, depending on who you lease from they may charge for any “damage”.
Mr M’s first lease car was collected and driven away, end of.
Latest lease car was collected last month and was inspected in minute detail.
Guy said car was obviously very well looked after, immaculate with low mileage but with a small scrape on one of the wheels and a minute dent not worth bothering about. Since received a bill for damage to the car, Mr M disputing, although not a huge amount, he’s not impressed! (Audi).

 

[Beebo]

At end of lease, depending on who you lease from they may charge for any “damage”.
Mr M’s first lease car was collected and driven away, end of.
Latest lease car was collected last month and was inspected in minute detail.
Guy said car was obviously very well looked after, immaculate with low mileage but with a small scrape on one of the wheels and a minute dent not worth bothering about. Since received a bill for damage to the car, Mr M disputing, although not a huge amount, he’s not impressed! (Audi).

Do they have a reasonable wear and tear policy. A 3 year old car driven for 30000 miles is bound to have some damage.

 

[Mrs M]

Do they have a reasonable wear and tear policy. A 3 year old car driven for 30000 miles is bound to have some damage.

Mr M is arguing that with them, car looks like new apart from the minor issues.

 

[DCLane]

@Beebo it seems to depend on the lease firm.

My neighbours have had a lease car for the past 5 years and they have to keep it as new. I did try to explain that they've paid for this in full already but they like the lease aspect.

 

[Mrs M]

Good result, phone call this morning to say no charge for any damage. Advised charge being waved as a gesture of goodwill and car being returned 6500 below allowed mileage. As a valued customer, etc.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Having not leased before; do you go to a dealer's website etc and look for lease deals, or do you go directly to a leasing company??

 

[CharlesF]

I was interest to read about the rise in renting your car (Volvo for instance). Expensive, but if you need occasionally it’s good idea for me. If it becomes popular the costs will decrease.

 

[Grant Fondo]

I have leased my last 3 cars, all at significantly less cost than the depreciation alone. My tip is to chase the chase the deal, not the exact car (i.e. don't be fussy). My current car is a 7 seater BMW which I pay £207 amortised per month (monthly fee plus percentage of deposit). At the same time it would have cost £270 for a Fiesta . I need to have a car that is less than 4 years old for work, so leasing makes that easy and relatively cheap for me. I wanted a tow bar on the car I was quoted £1100 extra over the two year lease and increase of nearly 45% - needless to say I did not get the tow bar.

Thats great advice . Dealers will always want to shift cars at cost at certain times of the year and if its an outgoing model. My current PCP is a pre-reg but the BMW dealer gave me 'new' car interest rate to make it work. I had been prepared to walk away, just proves how flexible these scoundrels can be!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

We usually buy our cars for cash but my wife bought a VW Up Gti new back in November and took the PCP option at 0% interest over 3 years.

Was a deal to good to miss and the money we would have laid out up front is chugging away nicely in our various investments.

 

[Milkfloat]

Having not leased before; do you go to a dealer's website etc and look for lease deals, or do you go directly to a leasing company??

It is mixed, sometimes direct to dealers, but most of the time through brokers. I find the best deals on PistonHeads who have a very active and passionate section of their forum for the deals.