Best lease car deals available?

[MadaCup]

Anyone have any luck with the Fiesta ST deal that Chipmunk posted? I called and the guy knew nothing about it, suggested that there was no chance that it was a Fiesta ST and likely to be a standard Zetec or Edge for the price mentioned.

Just wondering if I got through to the wrong person.

[Dog Star]

VX Foxy said:

IMO leasing is just a finance deal. The pricing has SFA to do with residuals it's simply about the finance. Manufacturers want to sell cars, lease companies want to sell finance.

It has everything to do with residuals.

I spent several years writing car lease and contract hire quotation software, and I can assure you that the future residual value is a very big factor in the figure you get.

(As an interesting aside I once tried to find the worst possible lease car in terms of value for money (this was a while ago and my memory is hazy on the details) and it was a thing called a Tata Safari diesel with alloy wheels and some other options. It worked out more expensive than (iirc) a BMW 520d. This was down to the crap residuals and the fact that the car was, essentially, worthless after 3 years).

[dunning]

I'm still on the look out for the st deals, nothing! :-( I've spoke to a few and they said there isn't any in the country anyway so will all be a factory order hence not being many deals around
They did however try and get me to take a st1 or st2 at more than most people are quoting for te st3

[toon10]

Buzz Lightyear said:

Decent personal deal on a 420d M Sport's. Fully maintained.

Being advertised as 9 + 23, 5,000 miles. Ran some numbers at a more realistic 10k per year. I'd assume you can do a lower deposit for higher monthlies.

Manual

£2,325.24 down, £258.36. Effective monthly £344.48 (10k miles)

http://www.nationalvehiclesolutions.co.uk/BMW-4-Se...

http://www.nationalvehiclesolutions.co.uk/BMW-4-Se...

That's a cracking deal. I don't need a diesel but if I did I'd be giving this a good look over.

[dunning]

I was tempted by this one, what does everyone think?

http://www.smartlease.co.uk/car-leasing-ford-fiest...

Initial Payment: £485.10

---

35 Monthly Payments: £161.70

---

Maintenance: No

---

Miles Per Annum: 10,000

The prices include vat

[ATM]

Dog Star said:

VX Foxy said:

IMO leasing is just a finance deal. The pricing has SFA to do with residuals it's simply about the finance. Manufacturers want to sell cars, lease companies want to sell finance.

It has everything to do with residuals.

I spent several years writing car lease and contract hire quotation software, and I can assure you that the future residual value is a very big factor in the figure you get.

(As an interesting aside I once tried to find the worst possible lease car in terms of value for money (this was a while ago and my memory is hazy on the details) and it was a thing called a Tata Safari diesel with alloy wheels and some other options. It worked out more expensive than (iirc) a BMW 520d. This was down to the crap residuals and the fact that the car was, essentially, worthless after 3 years).

Maybe in the past when money was worth something. Now manufacturers have metal they need to shift. If the lease deal worked out with a realistic residual is too expensive then no one will take the deal. So then the manufacturers shift no metal. So what do they do - simple economics - they lower prices. If you look at some of the insane deals recently on the Golf R and the M135i it is hard to argue that these are based on residual based calculations. Remember that most of these lease deals nowadays are underwritten by the manufacturer rather than a 3rd party like years ago. So the residual value is almost meaningless. If it costs them EUR5000 to make a Golf R - ball park man maths - and they can lease it to someone for EUR6000 over 2 years then they make EUR1000 AND they get the car back to sell on.

[simo1863]

dunning said:

I'm still on the look out for the st deals, nothing! :-( I've spoke to a few and they said there isn't any in the country anyway so will all be a factory order hence not being many deals around
They did however try and get me to take a st1 or st2 at more than most people are quoting for te st3

Where have you tried?

gateway2lease website still says they have stock of ST-3s for £185.99 pcm on a 6+23 personal.

[VX Foxy]

Dog Star said:

It has everything to do with residuals.

I spent several years writing car lease and contract hire quotation software, and I can assure you that the future residual value is a very big factor in the figure you get.

I will have to defer to your better knowledge, but it doesn't ring true to me. If that we're the case the options would be taken in to account and a sort after car like the 1M would be virtually free to lease. Conversely, something heavily depreciating like (I'm guessing) a Citroen Picasso would be relatively expensive.

[dunning]

Thanks simo, just sent them an email, I'm after 10k mileage which might put it up by a couple of quid but I'll see what they say and what they have available
Thanks

[VX Foxy]

ATM said:

Maybe in the past when money was worth something. Now manufacturers have metal they need to shift. If the lease deal worked out with a realistic residual is too expensive then no one will take the deal. So then the manufacturers shift no metal. So what do they do - simple economics - they lower prices. If you look at some of the insane deals recently on the Golf R and the M135i it is hard to argue that these are based on residual based calculations. Remember that most of these lease deals nowadays are underwritten by the manufacturer rather than a 3rd party like years ago. So the residual value is almost meaningless. If it costs them EUR5000 to make a Golf R - ball park man maths - and they can lease it to someone for EUR6000 over 2 years then they make EUR1000 AND they get the car back to sell on.

That's the way I'm seeing it.

[Dog Star]

ATM said:

Maybe in the past when money was worth something. Now manufacturers have metal they need to shift. If the lease deal worked out with a realistic residual is too expensive then no one will take the deal. So then the manufacturers shift no metal. So what do they do - simple economics - they lower prices. If you look at some of the insane deals recently on the Golf R and the M135i it is hard to argue that these are based on residual based calculations. Remember that most of these lease deals nowadays are underwritten by the manufacturer rather than a 3rd party like years ago. So the residual value is almost meaningless. If it costs them EUR5000 to make a Golf R - ball park man maths - and they can lease it to someone for EUR6000 over 2 years then they make EUR1000 AND they get the car back to sell on.

Out of interest what do you do for a job? "Maybe in the past when money was worth something"??! What? Of course they are a financial product, but the residual is still one of the biggest factors along with manufacturer discounts on volumes (these are not what they were - mid 90s for example 35% could be had. You won't see that anymore. Notice how Audis don't figure much in this thread?).

Very often these cars (the Golf Rs and stuff on this thread) are stock and need shifting quickly. Even at this level the residual has a large effect - hence why you see Golf Rs going for not a lot more than a Fiesta ST. It's also the reason that these things dry up very quickly.

Obviously though I know fk all. I'm just the guy that wrote the software that generates these figures.

[simo1863]

VX Foxy said:

I will have to defer to your better knowledge, but it doesn't ring true to me. If that we're the case the options would be taken in to account and a sort after car like the 1M would be virtually free to lease. Conversely, something heavily depreciating like (I'm guessing) a Citroen Picasso would be relatively expensive.

It's not a charity, there has to be something in it for the funding party.

Residuals are also only a contributing part of the rate. It also seems to be about registrations, product life cycle, lower than anticipated retail sales, temporary funding drives and even certain manufacturers wanting to say how many new cars they've sold when underneath the surface it's not so positive.

[VX Foxy]

When did you write the software Dog?
The Golf R deal has been around for quite some time...

[VX Foxy]

16v stretch said:

Just got a quote request back for an IS300H.... Very bloody tempting.

But add in metallic, and some options and it's the pretty much the same monthly as what I managed to negotiate to buy one.

Get a quote from a Lexus dealer - metallic should be free iirc.

[thewharftrader]

VX Foxy said:

Sorry, when I said MB direct, I meant Corporate in Tamworth not any old franchise dealer. Glad you got there in the end

What shade of grey are you going for ? have they quoted you an xs mileage rate?

Edited by VX Foxy on Monday 15th September 23:54

I presume it is £287 + VAT? Also, what was the deposit, 6 months? (So similar to the tilsun deal).

Am very tempted...

[crosseyedlion]

Dog Star said:

Obviously though I know fk all. I'm just the guy that wrote the software that generates these figures.

Internet forum discussions in a nutshell?

[Zoon]

Dog Star said:

Very often these cars (the Golf Rs and stuff on this thread) are stock and need shifting quickly. Even at this level the residual has a large effect - hence why you see Golf Rs going for not a lot more than a Fiesta ST.

Funnily enough a very small percentage of the Golf R orders were from stock, based on all the build week update threads. So that doesn't explain the rates with people factory ordering for March next year.

[RYH64E]

thewharftrader said:

I presume it is £287 + VAT? Also, what was the deposit, 6 months? (So similar to the tilsun deal).

Am very tempted...

Yes, 6+23+VAT on a 10,000 miles per annum deal, crazy cheap for a £46k car imo.

It certainly tempted me, I was (and still am) looking to buy an Evora but ended up with the MB as well.

[Dog Star]

VX Foxy said:

I will have to defer to your better knowledge, but it doesn't ring true to me. If that we're the case the options would be taken in to account and a sort after car like the 1M would be virtually free to lease. Conversely, something heavily depreciating like (I'm guessing) a Citroen Picasso would be relatively expensive.

Relatively speaking the Picasso is expensive IMO compared with the 1M.

A *very* quick look (just looking at the headline figure here) on Freedom shows a 24 month Grand Picasson 250 and a 218d M-Sport 2Dr Manual (just an example I know it's not a 1M) for about 50 quid a month more. IMO the BMW works out better value.

[gizlaroc]

blindswelledrat said:

But it's not, that's what Ive been saying.
On any second hand 3 year old premium car the price of a basic one with cloth seats and no extras is significantly less than one with a few extras. Just look at any on autotrader and you'll see in a moment that I am right.

But some options do not cost much more.

In fact on some models choosing leather, metallic or nav adds nothing.

It is just funny when those guys that add massage seats to the rear and then wonder why it adds £50 a month to their hire price. Cause no one else wants them??!!