Thinking about Personal Leases - a few questions !

[justa1972]

Hello

I am thinking about a Personal Lease for my next car - just a couple of questions that I'd be very grateful if you could answer !

1 - Is it better to lease from a Main dealer ? i.e are they likely to offer a better/more reliable service than a lease company ?
2 - I have a PCP at present - Would I just hand the car back at the end of the term ? If so when should I start looking at leasing ?
3 - Any pitfalls to avoid being a first time leaser ?

thanks muchly

[Super Slo Mo]

1. No. usually they're more expensive too, but not always. Shop around.
2. You often need to advise the finance company that you are handing the car back. Depending on how early you order your new car will depend on whether it's something in stock (sometimes very likely if it's a special offer) or if it's being built to order.
I would suggest you start looking 3-4 months before unless you are not fussy and will take whatever is on offer within your budget.

[Jonno02]

justa1972 said:

Hello

I am thinking about a Personal Lease for my next car - just a couple of questions that I'd be very grateful if you could answer !

1 - Is it better to lease from a Main dealer ? i.e are they likely to offer a better/more reliable service than a lease company ?
2 - I have a PCP at present - Would I just hand the car back at the end of the term ? If so when should I start looking at leasing ?
3 - Any pitfalls to avoid being a first time leaser ?

thanks muchly

1 - It can be. It might not be. Take the best lease quote you can find online to your local dealer. All lease companies order through main dealers anyway. But finding a dealership local to you that will match, may be easier. Plus, no arrangement fee.
2 - You can hand the car back once 50% of TOTAL payment has been made. This is normally around the 3 year mark on a 4 year PCP deal. You will need to pay any excess pro-rata mileage charges. Alternatively, if there's equity in the car, you can sell it (e.g. WBAC), they'll settle the finance and you keep the profit.
3 - Maintenance packages and random insurances. Sometimes maintenance packages can be better than replacing your own tyres and doing your own servicing, but these are the exceptions to the rule. It's generally easier to arrange these yourself. Also, 9+deals. Oh look, the car I want on a 9+23 deal and it's only £280 a month...with a £2.5k deposit. Look at the price 'amortised' (i.e. total monthly price over the term).

[justa1972]

Thanks for taking the time to reply

Thats great advice - I will take note

cheers

[essayer]

Sometimes it's much better to lease a car that's already in stock than risk waiting for a factory order which maybe delayed, not actually ordered. This means being flexible about options and colours of course.
The car is delivered to you so don't worry about where the dealership is.

[justa1972]

essayer said:

Sometimes it's much better to lease a car that's already in stock than risk waiting for a factory order which maybe delayed, not actually ordered. This means being flexible about options and colours of course.
The car is delivered to you so don't worry about where the dealership is.

That sounds like a plan - I think i would look at a standard ish car and not add to many options (if I could help it) so a stock car might be a good idea.

[Jonno02]

justa1972 said:

That sounds like plan - I think i would look at a standard ish car and not add to many options if I could help it so a stock car might be a good idea.

Never add options to a lease car. You'll pay the total cost of the option over the term and the financier gets a car worth more at the end. People were adding £1,000 alloys to Golf R's...that they'll never have the option of owning! Mental!

[MTech535]

Adding options bumps the price up a lot as you usually pay for the full cost of the option over the term of your lease.

[justa1972]

Thanks - so the same applies to say a Chili pack for a Mini ?

[Raymondo111]

MTech535 said:

Adding options bumps the price up a lot as you usually pay for the full cost of the option over the term of your lease.

So as a newbie to Leasing I have 'pulled the trigger' on a new VW Tiguan SE Nav and expect to take delivery in January 2017, based on advice re options I have just opted for metallic paint as the car is well specced anyway, the car has been ordered direct from a Main VW dealer and not a Broker so I just need to know what this involves:

1) Will the V5 be in my name as the Registered Keeper.
2) Are there likely to be any problems with me insuring the car.
3) Should the car include the Road Fund Licence for the duration of the Lease (2 years)
4) With GAP Insurance do I need to cover the value of the 2 year lease cost plus my 6 months upfront cost.

Anything else I need to know?

[essayer]

No to the first two, the Lease price includes tax
VWFS will demand the return of the car and any outstanding rentals less 4% (I think) should the agreement be ended, hence your max exposure is if the car gets written off day 1.
I bought £10k cover plus £2k initial payment and it was about £150

Edited by essayer on Thursday 29th December 08:37

[spookly]

Raymondo111 said:

MTech535 said:

Adding options bumps the price up a lot as you usually pay for the full cost of the option over the term of your lease.

So as a newbie to Leasing I have 'pulled the trigger' on a new VW Tiguan SE Nav and expect to take delivery in January 2017, based on advice re options I have just opted for metallic paint as the car is well specced anyway, the car has been ordered direct from a Main VW dealer and not a Broker so I just need to know what this involves:

1) Will the V5 be in my name as the Registered Keeper.
2) Are there likely to be any problems with me insuring the car.
3) Should the car include the Road Fund Licence for the duration of the Lease (2 years)
4) With GAP Insurance do I need to cover the value of the 2 year lease cost plus my 6 months upfront cost.

Anything else I need to know?

1) With VWFS no, but with some finance companies (like MBFS) then yes.
2) No, just tell them it is leased on the quote forms
3) With most who keep the V5, yes. With MBFS who register the V5 to you, then no. Although they might have changed this with the new tax system since I last leased a Merc
4) I used DirectGap, which include a large amount of cover regardless of the car price. You don't have to pay any more for more cover.

[Raymondo111]

spookly said:

1) With VWFS no, but with some finance companies (like MBFS) then yes.
2) No, just tell them it is leased on the quote forms
3) With most who keep the V5, yes. With MBFS who register the V5 to you, then no. Although they might have changed this with the new tax system since I last leased a Merc
4) I used DirectGap, which include a large amount of cover regardless of the car price. You don't have to pay any more for more cover.

Thanks for the info, re the V5 I will have to check as I have an account with the Dartford Crossing which allows local residents to get 50 crossings for £10.00 and anything after this at a large discount from the usual £2.50 each way charge.

[justa1972]

Another question - why is GAP insurance so important when leasing?

[codenamecueball]

justa1972 said:

Another question - why is GAP insurance so important when leasing?

my understanding is they pay out the difference between the "market value" of the car at the time it's written off and the value the lease company would be asking you for, which would be a lot closer to retail + your deposit and stuff that you'll never see again