Leasing a car

Make sure you know of any mileage restrictions Snowbell. Some companies allow so much per year and charge per mile for anything over that allowance.

You'll need GAP insurance to fill the gap between what your normal insurance company will pay if there's an accident and what the leasing company will want. It can be quite expensive.

A private individual would not normally "lease" a car it's usually companies
Most buyers choose a PCP Personal Credit Plan it can be for New or S/H cars.
You pay a deposit, often 10% of value then a monthly payment for 2, 3 or 4 yrs, the car will have an end value set if you want to keep it you pay that, if you don't the finance company takes it back.

New cars often have a low interest rate maybe even 0% can make them a better deal than S/H, gap insurance is optional get several quotes not just the dealers price.

considering leasing for myself. I found most companues offer 2/3/4 year deals. What appeals to me is that some offer servicing included and a charging point installation for all electric. The concerns I have are on handing back the vehicle is inspected and I've heard stories of every tiny little scratch has to be paid for and that insurance for PCP is more expensive than owner vehicles. Interested in comments too.

David49 There are quite a few companies now that lease to individuals.

It’s not cheap, but you can get some great deals and “extras” and brand new car every couple of years

DH and I have had cars like this for years. We normally take it over 4 years. I don't rack up the mileage and the last 4 I have bought out right then sold them on, I have always make a small profit.

We have ours on PCP - worth looking at.

I’ve looked at it - but the permitted mileages are too low for me. I think it’s the way to go if you can afford the monthly payments and want a new/almost new car. Remember how much a new car would lose in depreciation in 3 years - that’s frightening,

4allweknow

considering leasing for myself. I found most companues offer 2/3/4 year deals. What appeals to me is that some offer servicing included and a charging point installation for all electric. The concerns I have are on handing back the vehicle is inspected and I've heard stories of every tiny little scratch has to be paid for and that insurance for PCP is more expensive than owner vehicles. Interested in comments too.

Handing back is always uncertain, thing like small scratches and stone hips are allowable what qualifies is always a worry. As for milage you can choose whatever milage you want I always choose a lower milage then pay the extra if I do more.

It's exactly the same if you own the car when you sell it the buyer takes age, milage and condition into account.

A lot of people do now privately lease cars, and my daughter looked into this option when she was changing her car, but she found it was cheaper to take out a bank loan and buy it directly than to pay the monthly lease fees, particularly as she will own the car at the end.

Depreciation, if you choose a popular small car, depreciation will be low, if you do a fairly high milage, say, 10k miles a year plus and you don't want to worry about breakdowns or repairs buy a new car.

Buying a S/H car on finance can be expensing , sometimes 15% interest, a low interest deal on a new car is a better buy. If you are on a budget avoid S/H large cars, repair costs on those can be sky high

Because I was a hospital car volunteer driver, and in a rural area where I would often do a long trip in the morning and another in the afternoon, I would rack up a large mileage. You were only paid for the fuel, so of course , there was nothing towards the depreciation on the car etc. So as Baldrick said " I had a cunning plan" Any brand new car is going to lose a lot on depreciation, and at the same time being brand new, you might be unlucky and get a "friday afternoon" car where there were lots of faults and stuff to be sorted. So I found a way that worked for me.

There is a local garage that does the Mobility Scheme cars. On this scheme, the garage sorts it out for the driver, and does maintenance and stuff, so although I do not know the exact things they do, the main point is that the car starts as brand new, it is very well looked after and maintained. Very often the drivers will not be doing large mileage, and then if they have some limitations that might become worse, they may have to change their car or give up driving if their eyesight deteriorated. So I used to watch out for a suitable exmobility car about 2 years old. The worst of the depreciation from new has happened, and then I would drive it for another 2 years, when at 4 years old , the mileage looked normal . You know that it has been properly looked after.

I found a particular garage that did this work, and then used this plan, so that when the mileage was getting higher I would contact them, asking them to look out for a suitable car for me and let me know. They would contact me and I would then px the present car for the next one. During the covid time when second hand cars were making high prices, I actually got more than I had paid for it 2 years previously.

So I think it might be an area that you could look into as you will know that the car is working well and so forth. I now have a Ford Kuga, through this scheme, and it will be my last car. Sadly for the previous owner, he had bought it brand new but after about 18 months was no longer able to drive and I bought it with only 8000 miles on the clock, in very good condition. As others have said, with leasing, all the stuff about scratches etc can add to the hassle, and you also have to be aware of the fly types , who will try and con you on that front. So I suggest that if you do decide to lease, when you go to collect the car, that you walk round it taking photos of every angle and side. Make sure the person leasing it to you sees you do it, so that are made aware that you are no pushover, and have photos to show the state it was when you received it!

If you havent done leasing before , it is worth checking with friends locally if they have any recommendations or warnings about specific places. When my husband was working, his firm had leased cars, and he used to do a large mileage . They got a brand new car, I think it was every 3 years or something. When these were going to be changed, a couple of times we were able to buy the old leased one. As he would have been the sole driver, he knew exactly what it was like, how it was driven and so forth and the maintenance. We then bought it for our own use at a good price . So again I do not know how the leasing schemes work now, or even if you would want to try leasing and then buying at a cheaper price or whatever, but it might be something worth considering.

I am sure that GN will have lots of good ideas to consider, and there is always something you hadnt thought about. Finally while you are thinking about what changes you might make, do just have a think if your requirements have changed, so any problems such as a bad back, where a particular make or car is now more or less comfortable than in the past etc. I know that because we are experienced drivers , who may have driven a particular style of car for years, we dont always think of changes that may have occurred. My back is getting more painful and I find the drivers seat in the Kuga is actually one of the most comfortable seats for me. On really bad days I have been known to go out with my book and sit in the car to read as it was more comfortable than sitting in the house!!

Good luck finding something to suit you

This is the received wisdom from AI.

Cost and Buying DifferencesInterest Rates: A good credit score unlocks low personal loan rates, beating many dealer options. Users on Reddit r/UKPersonalFinance generally agree that personal loans offer a lower APR than typical dealer agreements, though opinions on total value can vary with PCP balloon payments.

Vehicle Choice: Bank loans act like cash, allowing private purchases that are often cheaper than dealer forecourts.

Ownership & Rules: Bank loans give you immediate ownership with no mileage caps, whereas PCP or Hire Purchase (HP) deals tie conditions to the car.

Monthly Outlay: PCP car finance can feature lower monthly payments, but usually hides a large final balloon payment if you want to keep the car.

We have been able to choose the mileage limits on PCP cars. Obviously the cost per month changes but we have never been constrained by distances.

12,000 per year is an average mileage, one used by many car insurance companies.

And the starting point obviously but we have done both higher and lower annual mileages.

Cossy

12,000 per year is an average mileage, one used by many car insurance companies.

Insurance companies will often assume 12k miles but if you only travel 8k you are paying too much get price for less miles

David49

A private individual would not normally "lease" a car it's usually companies
Most buyers choose a PCP Personal Credit Plan it can be for New or S/H cars.
You pay a deposit, often 10% of value then a monthly payment for 2, 3 or 4 yrs, the car will have an end value set if you want to keep it you pay that, if you don't the finance company takes it back.

New cars often have a low interest rate maybe even 0% can make them a better deal than S/H, gap insurance is optional get several quotes not just the dealers price.

Not quite so David my partners son leases a car and upgrades it every 3 years which he likes and finds cheaper. Lots of people apparently do. Even when I worked in London for a private lady she leased a car then, that was in the 60s. She too upgraded frequently.

Leasing has been quite common for private individuals for some time. Our last 3 were taken out as 36 month lease and all in all it worked out cheapest way to get a new car. If you look online at nationwideleasing.com you can get a good idea of costs. You choose a car then you can choose between 12, 24,36 and 48 months lease period. You then chose you milage from 5,000 miles per year upwards. You can also choose how many months you pay upfront deposit. You can choose servicing options and other variables such as colour etc. you then get a price. You can adjust different combinations. Some lease companies allow you to add an extra year when your lease ends if you decide to keep the car. We are about to change our car next month but the car we have chosen has a special deal at the moment and is cheaper on PCP but this has been unusual in our experience, but there's a lot of competition at the moment in the car market. We haven't had to pay extra for any damage at the end of a lease, we have had some small marks but no major dents.

We had a car on lease over 2 years. Paid an up front lump sum then monthly sum. Car delivered and collected. We were charged for slight damages when we returned and had no choice but to pay. Would not do again as always worried about someone else damaging the car when in a car park

David49

A private individual would not normally "lease" a car it's usually companies
Most buyers choose a PCP Personal Credit Plan it can be for New or S/H cars.
You pay a deposit, often 10% of value then a monthly payment for 2, 3 or 4 yrs, the car will have an end value set if you want to keep it you pay that, if you don't the finance company takes it back.

New cars often have a low interest rate maybe even 0% can make them a better deal than S/H, gap insurance is optional get several quotes not just the dealers price.

Sorry this is not true, I know several private individuals who have leased cars dating back many years, it is increasingly popular and there are numerous leasing companies including the AA. We looked into leasing a car last year but decided against it because of DH’s deteriorating eyesight but since then we have spent much more on our car than a lease would have cost us.