Best lease car deals available?

[tyranical]

On the note of Gap Insurance what is peoples take on it? Is it worth doing or a waste of money?

The blurb from Central IMO has a paragraph of scaremongering in it, it reads:

"Let’s say your car is written off or stolen within 3 months of you having it! The finance company will charge a settlement figure which can be anywhere between 50 – 100% of outstanding rentals on contract, Gap covers you for this up to the amount of cover taken e.g £10000

£10000 cover only £190 – one off payment!! Cover for full term of contact!! (this is £120 cheaper than the usual price for a limited time!)"

Now I may be completely wrong but just for the sake of argument, lets say that you are leasing a 20000 car (which the lease company will have sourced for say 17500 giving them their profit margin), the company in 2 years time are expecting to have a car returned to them worth 15000 after depreciation and earn 5000 through payments that you will make to them giving them 20k in total. 1 month into the lease and you get some pissed up driver crashing into you head on at 48mph writing the car off. The insurance company pay out market value for a brand new car as many do on less than one year old cars therefore the lease company have got the 20k they were expecting from the deal, where does this "50-100%" outstanding rentals figure come from?

I wouldn't take it out through them anyway as £190 is daylight robbery for something you can pick up from other well known GAP companies for less than £100.

Edited by tyranical on Wednesday 9th September 22:19

[btcc123]

tyranical said:

On the note of Gap Insurance what is peoples take on it? Is it worth doing or a waste of money?

The blurb from Central IMO has a paragraph of scaremongering in it, it reads:

"Let’s say your car is written off or stolen within 3 months of you having it! The finance company will charge a settlement figure which can be anywhere between 50 – 100% of outstanding rentals on contract, Gap covers you for this up to the amount of cover taken e.g £10000

£10000 cover only £190 – one off payment!! Cover for full term of contact!! (this is £120 cheaper than the usual price for a limited time!)"

Now I may be completely wrong but just for the sake of argument, lets say that you are leasing a 20000 car (which the lease company will have sourced for say 17500 giving them their profit margin), the company in 2 years time are expecting to have a car returned to them worth 15000 after depreciation and earn 5000 through payments that you will make to them giving them 20k in total. 1 month into the lease and you get some pissed up driver crashing into you head on at 48mph writing the car off. The insurance company pay out market value for a brand new car as many do on less than one year old cars therefore the lease company have got the 20k they were expecting from the deal, where does this "50-100%" outstanding rentals figure come from?

I wouldn't take it out through them anyway as £190 is daylight robbery for something you can pick up from other well known GAP companies for less than £100.

Edited by tyranical on Wednesday 9th September 22:19

I have spoken to Volkswagen finance and Ford finance regarding leasing a car and they both said that GAP insurance is a waste of time.

Although the insurance is in your name they will sort out any damage,car stolen or written off with the lease company.The insurance company know that the lease company get between 25-33% off the list price so if a car is stolen or written off it is a lot cheaper for the insurance company to pay out than with a private car.

If during a lease contract the car is written off or stolen the contract is cancelled so you are not liable for any money.Some lease companies will find another car for you to carry on the lease.

Edited by btcc123 on Wednesday 9th September 23:21

[talksthetorque]

georgefreeman said:

Can anyone recommend any lease deals on circa 24k per year mileage?

If you go on contract hire and leasing,
www.contracthireandleasing.co.uk
you can specify 25k miles in your search. There are 42000 deals at that mileage.

What sort of car are you after?
I imagine at 24k a year it's not a Citroen C1 you're looking for.

[Zoon]

btcc123 said:

If during a lease contract the car is written off or stolen the contract is cancelled so you are not liable for any money.

Edited by btcc123 on Wednesday 9th September 23:21

Are you sure about this?
Wonder why all the lease companies flog GAP if this is the case?
Or if this is "the" reason they flog it, knowing it'll never be used.

[Apple Pie]

jjr1 said:

Sounds expensive to me too!

My C250amg on 20,000 miles per annum is £378inc vat on a 6*23.

Hi JJr1,

Would you mind giving me the details to the dealer/leasing company that sorted the above deal out for you, sounds great value. Cheers.

Regards,
Ryan.

[foreverfalling]

• ***************As someone who just had their leased car stolen TAKE GAP! DON'T LISTEN TO EVERYONE SAYING ITS NOT NEEDED!

My car was stolen. A 4 month old GOLF R with 8K miles on it.

VWFS offered a very fair finance settlement of £25.5k

Insurance offered £24k max and there was a £1500 shortfall...

Thankfully VW got me another car but if they hadn't I would have had to pay the £1500 shortfall... ****************

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 10:44

[schmunk]

foreverfalling said:

*****************As someone who just had their leased car stolen TAKE GAP! DON'T LISTEN TO EVERYONE SAYING ITS NOT NEEDED!

My car was stolen. A 4 month old GOLF R with 8K miles on it.

VWFS offered a very fair finance settlement of £25.5k

Insurance offered £24k max and there was a £1500 shortfall...

Thankfully VW got me another car but if they hadn't I would have had to pay the £1500 shortfall... ****************

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 10:44

I can't help but read this cautionary tale as "Gap cover is unnecessary, as the supplier will deal with it".

[Ste1987]

schmunk said:

foreverfalling said:

*****************As someone who just had their leased car stolen TAKE GAP! DON'T LISTEN TO EVERYONE SAYING ITS NOT NEEDED!

My car was stolen. A 4 month old GOLF R with 8K miles on it.

VWFS offered a very fair finance settlement of £25.5k

Insurance offered £24k max and there was a £1500 shortfall...

Thankfully VW got me another car but if they hadn't I would have had to pay the £1500 shortfall... ****************

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 10:44

I can't help but read this cautionary tale as "Gap cover is unnecessary, as the supplier will deal with it".

I can't help but think he had a PCP, not a lease

[Sheepshanks]

foreverfalling said:

*****************As someone who just had their leased car stolen TAKE GAP! DON'T LISTEN TO EVERYONE SAYING ITS NOT NEEDED!

My car was stolen. A 4 month old GOLF R with 8K miles on it.

VWFS offered a very fair finance settlement of £25.5k

Insurance offered £24k max and there was a £1500 shortfall...

Thankfully VW got me another car but if they hadn't I would have had to pay the £1500 shortfall... ****************

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 10:44

There was another Golf R owner on here recently very miffed as his car was stolen and the insurance payout would have been more than the finance settlement but they wouldn't give him the difference.

However the poster above asserting you'd have no liability is clearly wrong.

[Fast Bug]

jjr1 said:

Sounds expensive to me too!

My C250amg on 20,000 miles per annum is £378inc vat on a 6*23.

That sounds like really good value!

[rfoster]

Shambler said:

Are we allowed to name and shame companies that offer deals that don't exist, I'm fed up being offered deals then sending through proofs etc, then getting a call to say the finance company has closed the deal. Anyway looking for medium exec for £350 a month. Would prefer C250 Amg line or equivalent, must be auto and 10000mpa

I can offer the following:

C250d 'Sport' Saloon Auto in Tenorite Grey with Black Artico and Mats
3 years, 6+35 rentals, 10,000 mpa, non maintenance for £352.42 inc VAT
From stock

Alternatively, factory order:

BMW 420D Gran Coupe 'M-Sport' Auto with Metallic Paint
3 years, 6+35 rentals, 10,000 mpa, non maintenance for £364.46 inc VAT

Have seen some 3 Series deals around with other funders, not something I have access to.

[btcc123]

Zoon said:

btcc123 said:

If during a lease contract the car is written off or stolen the contract is cancelled so you are not liable for any money.

Edited by btcc123 on Wednesday 9th September 23:21

Are you sure about this?
Wonder why all the lease companies flog GAP if this is the case?
Or if this is "the" reason they flog it, knowing it'll never be used.

There are not many larger companies when leasing cars than Volkswagen and Ford through their finance division and they both told me that GAP insurance is a waste of money and that if the car was stolen or written off then the lease contract is cancelled.

GAP insurance is a policy in relation to the covering of a short fall in a cars value and is nothing to do with covering payments to a lease company.

The majority of lease companies are relatively small and all they do is basically a broker between you and a Manufacturer or finance company where they get a commission of say £200 and charge an admin fee of say £200 so they get £400 per car sold,minus their costs so can be a good profitable business.

Perhaps to increase their profits by 50% they say to the lease customer you need GAP cover otherwise if A B ans C happened you will have to pay D all for a £200 once only fee.Scare tactics.

Edited by btcc123 on Thursday 10th September 10:57

[Sheepshanks]

btcc123 said:

There are not many larger companies when leasing cars than Volkswagen and Ford through their finance division and they both told me that GAP insurance is a waste of money and that if the car was stolen or written off then the lease contract is cancelled.

"Cancelled" is a bit sweeping. Yes, it ends, but you've got to settle it. You can't necessarily just walk away.

Did they explain how they settle? You could have to pay all the outstanding lease payments plus their expected value of the car at the end of the lease. Who knows how that sum would end up vs what the insurance company are prepared to pay?

[rfoster]

If a car is stolen / written off on a contract hire agreement, the leasing company will provide a figure to you / your insurance company to close the agreement. Generally this is not a percentage of remaining rentals and their future valuation, but a figure calculated where the can close the agreement without making a loss.

If your insurance company will pay out less than this figure then you can potentially be liable for the shortfall.

[foreverfalling]

Ste1987 said:

I can't help but think he had a PCP, not a lease

I Definitely had a lease NOT A PCP...

It was very rare that I got a replacement 99% of people don't get a replacement car when leasing. The agreement ends and if there is a shortfall you are liable (hence why I would recommend gap cover)

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 11:26

[btcc123]

foreverfalling said:

*****************As someone who just had their leased car stolen TAKE GAP! DON'T LISTEN TO EVERYONE SAYING ITS NOT NEEDED!

My car was stolen. A 4 month old GOLF R with 8K miles on it.

VWFS offered a very fair finance settlement of £25.5k

Insurance offered £24k max and there was a £1500 shortfall...

Thankfully VW got me another car but if they hadn't I would have had to pay the £1500 shortfall... ****************

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 10:44

If the car gets stolen although you have the insurance policy its like you have it for the lease company as the owner of the car (lease company) and the insurance company sort out the value of the car.If anything the lease company should have GAP insurance to cover any short fall nor the person leasing the car.

The above example the Golf owner says that the insurance company offered £24k where as the lease company wanted £25.5 and he would be liable for the £1500 short fall.Why he is not the owner of the car.

If you are saying you are liable for the short fall what difference does it make that the lease company found you another car as there is still a short fall,who paid or lost the £1500.

[foreverfalling]

btcc123 said:

If the car gets stolen although you have the insurance policy its like you have it for the lease company as the owner of the car (lease company) and the insurance company sort out the value of the car.If anything the lease company should have GAP insurance to cover any short fall nor the person leasing the car.

The above example the Golf owner says that the insurance company offered £24k where as the lease company wanted £25.5 and he would be liable for the £1500 short fall.Why he is not the owner of the car.

If you are saying you are liable for the short fall what difference does it make that the lease company found you another car as there is still a short fall,who paid or lost the £1500.

There was only a shortfall if I decided to settle the finance. If they provide another car with the £24k which they could (once they can add the value of vat (or deduct the vat from cars for sale from vw dealers) its nearly £29k worth of car) then there was no shortfall...

It's me who took finance, and so my responsibility... Its just how it works.

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 11:42

[btcc123]

Leasing a car is virtually the same as hiring a car from Hertz,Avis etc its just for a longer period.

How many hire car companies say that you should have GAP insurance when you hire a car just in case the car is stolen or written off.

Answer is none as you are just hiring-leasing the car,are not the legal owner so are not liable for any sort of shortfall.

[btcc123]

foreverfalling said:

btcc123 said:

If the car gets stolen although you have the insurance policy its like you have it for the lease company as the owner of the car (lease company) and the insurance company sort out the value of the car.If anything the lease company should have GAP insurance to cover any short fall nor the person leasing the car.

The above example the Golf owner says that the insurance company offered £24k where as the lease company wanted £25.5 and he would be liable for the £1500 short fall.Why he is not the owner of the car.

If you are saying you are liable for the short fall what difference does it make that the lease company found you another car as there is still a short fall,who paid or lost the £1500.

There was only a shortfall if I decided to settle the finance. If they provide another car with the £24k which they could (once they can add the value of vat (or deduct the vat from cars for sale from vw dealers) its nearly £29k worth of car) then there was no shortfall...

It's me who took finance, and so my responsibility... Its just how it works.

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 11:42

I thought the figures were for the insurance company to replace the stolen car but you are saying that the lease company want you to pay £25.5k to settle the lease payments.I am guessing your lease was for 24 months that worked out at less than 14k for the two years so why are they asking for £25.5k.

[btcc123]

foreverfalling said:

*****************As someone who just had their leased car stolen TAKE GAP! DON'T LISTEN TO EVERYONE SAYING ITS NOT NEEDED!

My car was stolen. A 4 month old GOLF R with 8K miles on it.

VWFS offered a very fair finance settlement of £25.5k

Insurance offered £24k max and there was a £1500 shortfall...

Thankfully VW got me another car but if they hadn't I would have had to pay the £1500 shortfall... ****************

Edited by foreverfalling on Thursday 10th September 10:44

I am a bit confused as you say that VWFS found you another car so you did not have to settle the shortfall in finance.

Yet reading your posts you said:

You had to pay the finance shortfall.
You hired a car for six weeks.
You did a lease deal on a BMW 335d
You did a lease deal on another Golf R.