Leasing ALWAYS makes sense...

[Flibble]

CYMR0 said:

Lots of people seem to do way better than this with old cars ... sadly I never seem to be one of them.

I've done all right. I bought a second hand A3 some years back, it cost me about £5k in depreciation over 5 years, and needed little more than routine maintenance. I'd reckon I spent comfortably under £200/month on it, doubt I'd have got anything close on lease for that.

In a weird twist I actually did rather well out of not buying the only brand new car I've had, as it was written off after 18 months. Due to gap insurance it only cost me a couple of grand to run it for that time, way cheaper than any lease.

[Muddle238]

I own my car and actively avoided leasing for one simple reason - I don't like leasing.

The reason I don't like leasing is because I don't like owing money on things. If I can afford it outright I shall buy it, if I can't afford it outright then I shall either wait until second hand values have dropped within easy reach, or I won't buy it at all. It's a very simple philosophy and it's enjoyable.

I like having the freedom of owning the car, I can sell it tomorrow or I can sell it in 10 years time, I'm not capped on how much mileage I allowed to do, I can do what I like with the car, I don't have to worry about monthly payments, I don't have to deal with leasing companies, the list goes on.

It's nice not being part of the 3-year PCP cycle, after three years on PCP you have nothing to show for it, unless you make a balloon payment. The day I collected my car, I had 100% equity in it as I drove home. I prefer this option. The other day someone walked past my car and said "that's brand new that is", when infact this summer it'll turn 4 years old. Look after things well and you can always have a shiny car on the driveway, don't need a finance scheme to do it.

[HedgeyGedgey]

spreadsheet monkey said:

If he's getting 5 years and 125,000 miles of use out of a £500 "banger", you should ask him to choose the lottery numbers for this weekend.

Had a Vauxhall Frontera last, the speedo broke at 160,000miles about 3 years ago and it's still going strong today, must be on well over 200k now. His current mk4 golf bought 6 months ago has 100k miles and is barely worn. Common misconception that cars fall apart at certain mileages, choose carefully and look after them they're perfectly reliable

[98elise]

hora said:

A 2010 car says 'I'm struggling'.

A brand new Allroad says 'hey I'm doing ok'.

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

Agreed. I'm an IT contractor so I'm definitely in the "doing ok" bracket. My daily driver is a 53 plate fiesta because it does the job I want it to. I have zero interest in what it says to other people.

[Ved]

HedgeyGedgey said:

spreadsheet monkey said:

If he's getting 5 years and 125,000 miles of use out of a £500 "banger", you should ask him to choose the lottery numbers for this weekend.

Had a Vauxhall Frontera last, the speedo broke at 160,000miles about 3 years ago and it's still going strong today, must be on well over 200k now. His current mk4 golf bought 6 months ago has 100k miles and is barely worn. Common misconception that cars fall apart at certain mileages, choose carefully and look after them they're perfectly reliable

Depends if you count maintenance but I think you're right. There's something very satisfying in buying the right tool for the job.

[neil1jnr]

Depends entirely on your circumstances and what you value.

A couple of years ago I bought a shed for a grand while I saved for a house, I did have a Evo VI TME too but that's not important.

It was brilliant having an old car that was worthless, didn't care if anyone damaged it, how dirty it was etc. A few months after moving into my house and working out my finances I decided I wanted something a bit more reliable and the monthly cost to be predictable (compared with the potential for repairs on the shed). I now lease a Fiesta 140 ecoboost for £155/month, this was a 1+23 deal, excellent little car, very good fun to drive and suits me, very affordable.

That is £1,860/yr for brand new decent car, it's hard to not go for a lease over a shed. Even if I didn't have two cars I'd probably lease an Mustang V8 or something fun as an everyday car... but for now I really enjoy the Fiesta and my 500+bhp Evo

Edited by neil1jnr on Friday 20th January 13:26

[Jonno02]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

You seem quite judgemental that all of those people are buying those cars to impress the other soccer mums at the school gate though. What if they genuinely like driving a new car, it's their passion or they want the latest safety systems for their family wagon. You don't need to justify that you could buy those cars, if people judge you for driving an older car, then they're just as bad as the "new cars are for idiots" people.

Not everybody is out to impress the neighbours.

[havoc]

Hub said:

Of course it doesn't always make sense. In fact it only makes sense if you absolutely have to have a shiny new car every couple of years, don't mind paying for it, and don't get too attached to your cars, and don't mind the hassle of looking for another deal again after a short period.

THIS. Emphatically so.

Leasing makes sense if you only compare over the lifetime the lease-provider wants you to (typically 2 years from new).

If you typically own a car for 3+ yrs, particularly 4 or more, then leasing often makes no sense whatsoever (barring the odd "too good to refuse" deal).

e.g. The wife's just about to take delivery of a Mk7 GTi under lease. Total payments for 5k a yr over 2 yrs will be ~£4,700 (which is a steal for the car it is, so a hard comparison to put against buying 2nd hand), plus £300-400 for the excess mileage at the end of term, plus maybe a little bit for unfair w&t.
- Vs a 2nd-hand GTi, that makes a lot of sense over 2 years as the depreciation over 2 yrs on a ~3y.o. GTi is going to be that sort of money anyway.
- BUT...keep the 2nd hand car for 4 years, and even factoring in a VW warranty and some additional maintenance costs, and the £10k+ for 4 yrs of leasing looks less attractive...

[Gallons Per Mile]

SebringMan said:

Gallons Per Mile said:

I don't understand leasing cars when people say how it 'saves them money' or 'only costs x hundred a month'. In my world, I currently run a cheap banger (yes, admittedly it's not shiny and new) that I own outright and has only cost me > £800. For a year and 11k miles of running. Including buying the car and maintaining it to a good standard. That's under £66.67 a month to put it in perspective of a lease. On the flip side, the car is 16 years old, has no gadgets and looks a bit sheddy. But I'll get at least £500 of my £800 spend back if I decided to sell tomorrow, and i don't really care about what it looks like or how many gadgets it has when I'm driving to work or taking stuff to the tip.

Does leasing always make sense? Not to me, it doesn't.

If you like a decent car in good condition leasing can make sense. For me at the moment it wouldn't. I like my cars to work and TBH I don't like driving a wreck but it seems people's definition of that varies. Garage rates make any car expensive and unless it is a banger will always continue to depreciate.

I know my "banger" Mondeo cost me £300 in parts last year on small items (without labour ; I fitted them myself) and another £600 with a clutch and flywheel change at the tail end of 2014. It would have cost more if done by a garage. It still needed a crank seal changing, a huge job as the sump has to come off. That kind of cash if I didn't do work is just stupid in my eyes to spend on a car.

This is true. I did most of the work myself on my shed. Actually it needed a complete engine swap as the original unit has died when I bought the car. For the price of the car and the price of a known running engine to go in to it, it made sense to swap it out and use my own time. I actually paid someome to do some other work on it that I couldn't be bothered to do after an MOT showed up that the flexi brake lines were showing their age, so could have saved myself around £150 on the total cost of running my car for the year. And if I'd kept up with the tyres originally on the car and worn them down to the legal limit that would have probably saved me £80 on the spare set of wheels/tyres I bought too. Ridiculously cheap motoring, but not in any way new or shiny! I didn't really see the point in commuting to work in a new motor or I may have looked at leases. Each to their own :-)

Edited by Gallons Per Mile on Friday 20th January 13:23

[Jonno02]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

"I must be in the minority as I don't care what the shallow people around me think"

Here you're inferring that anybody that drives a brand new car is doing so to show off to shallow people around them.

Back up by "wasting so much money" - these people are wasting money to impress those around them.

[KevinCamaroSS]

talksthetorque said:

Roger Irrelevant said:

Where do people to to find the lease deals that are quoted on here? The OP's example - an Audi Allroad for a little over £7k for two years - does sound pretty good. But when I look I can't find a deal close to that.

Contract hire and leasing's website is a good start. It's a business deal, so excludes vat, but it's 6.5k

Business deals do not count, we are talking private here. Go private and it is way more (minimum 20% for VAT plus risk factor as a private individual)

[bqf]

hora said:

A 2010 car says 'I'm struggling'.

A brand new Allroad says 'hey I'm doing ok'.

Does it? Wow

[bqf]

I have a 13 year old audi allroad. Does this say to people 'I'm struggling'??

Blimey. i'd best get down the audi dealer quick and sign up to spunk £10,000 on a car i will never own

[loose cannon]

Leicesterdave said:

No??

Unlike anything else in life I don't see the sense in 'owning' your car- is there any point in having someone you own by the time it potentially becomes a money pit? The ideal garage for me is a modern car for everyday use and a classic car for fun days (and a nice classic is clearly the car you want to own).

An Audi Allroad can be had for £250ish pounds a month (£300ish if you count initial payment) for 2 years- isn't any other similar car going to cost the same or more to buy?

What if you can maintain your own car and you dont want a new car every 5 mins as your perfectly happy with the one you have and your an enthusiast ? What about classic cars ? Can you lease a jag e type or a used 80's super car ?

[George111]

98elise said:

hora said:

A 2010 car says 'I'm struggling'.

A brand new Allroad says 'hey I'm doing ok'.

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

Agreed. I'm an IT contractor so I'm definitely in the "doing ok" bracket. My daily driver is a 53 plate fiesta because it does the job I want it to. I have zero interest in what it says to other people.

I can't believe that a car is these days taken to be any indicator of success or wealth. Perhaps it is by the proud and boastful type . . . ummm, quite possibly.

Hora is just the sort of person who makes me glad I drive an 07 Volvo, lets hope he works for HMRC and therefore doesn't look too deeply into my finances, as I'm clearly on the bones of my arse

[anonymous-user]

chrisb92 said:

These threads always make me smile..

Someone posts saying that have loads of money, but drive around in a 10-15 year old pile of st, because they don't care what people think. There's another word for these people.. bullstters!

It would be slightly easier to believe if you weren't posting on a motoring forum!!

You're a bit naive I feel? I know plenty of people who drive things not as grand as your Golf or Audi who have enough money to buy pretty much anything . The real issue is caring so much about what you drive on a daily basis, or caring what everyone else thinks, that you lose sight of what you really want in a car. As you say it's amazing what some people on a motoring forum choose to drive, just because it is nice and shiny.

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 20th January 14:06

[George111]

chrisb92 said:

These threads always make me smile..

Someone posts saying that have loads of money, but drive around in a 10-15 year old pile of st, because they don't care what people think. There's another word for these people.. bullstters!

It would be slightly easier to believe if you weren't posting on a motoring forum!!

Says the bloke who claims to own an Audi A3 and a Golf GTi. Hardly gleaming examples of wealth, just dreary examples of the "like me too" cars manufacturers push out these days. I suppose it could be worse, you could have an X1

[spreadsheet monkey]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Here are those "mum reasons" - they want a recent model car, with all the latest safety features. And they want to spend as little time as possible at the dealers for servicing and MOTs.

Modern cars with 2 year service intervals mean that you might only need to visit the dealer once during the course of a three year lease. If you don't do many miles you probably wouldn't even need new tyres in that timeframe.

I can understand why some people can't be arsed with "older" (> 3 years old) cars. We have a 2013 CRV as our main family car, and it has been perfectly reliable, but even taking it out of service for a morning to get an MOT or new tyres requires careful planing to fit into my wife's complex schedule of work, school pickups and kids activities.

We plan to keep the CRV for at least another 3-4 years, but if money was no object I'd change cars every 3 years (or less) so I didn't have to worry about MOTs, tyres, brakes, all the stuff that wears out over time and is a hassle to stay on top of.

Edited by spreadsheet monkey on Friday 20th January 14:21

[BoRED S2upid]

bqf said:

I have a 13 year old audi allroad. Does this say to people 'I'm struggling'??

Blimey. i'd best get down the audi dealer quick and sign up to spunk £10,000 on a car i will never own

In Hora's mind you were doing all right once... or something.

[Dr Jekyll]

chrisb92 said:

These threads always make me smile..

Someone posts saying that have loads of money, but drive around in a 10-15 year old pile of st, because they don't care what people think. There's another word for these people.. bullstters!

It would be slightly easier to believe if you weren't posting on a motoring forum!!

I care what people think, but I don't believe that they would think any better of me if I had a newer car, or even notice.

Come to think of it though, if I did drive a new car and someone noticed. I'd feel obliged to point out it was a low depreciating model/very good lease deal/actually pre reg and only looked new, simply to avoid them thinking I was a muppet with my finances.