Leasing a car - good or bad idea?
Discussion
Just been looking around the internet for ideas on what my second car could be and I've stumbled across some pretty epic leasing deals on a Vauxhall Corsa VXR that seem too good to be true. My question is what are the pros and cons of having a car on lease, and is it worth it or not?
Pros
Some epic deals about.
You get a new car (and the benefits that come with this e.g. warranty, lower running costs etc).
Pretty much "fixed price motoring", the costs are deposit, plus monthly payments (plus any hand back prep costs or insurance products taken out), you are not at the mercy of used car values, which can shift massively.
Cons
Only works if you want a new car, the cost advantage disappears if you were happy to drive. 3+ years old car
Often limited milage (& surcharge for exceeding)
You can't (shouldn't) modify it
Harder to swap and change cars (not impossible)
Harder to build up equity in a car and then over the years trade up (without simply paying higher monthly fees)
If the value of that car goes up (as has happened with some models recently) you don't benefit.
I work for one of the large dealer groups, the % of customers that "buy" cars from us on some form of finance/lease deal has rocked, simply because the deals have never been better, largely due to low interest rates and manufacturer support on deposits.
I know lease and finance are different, but the end result can be similar, deposit, monthly payments and then hand back (in the case of some finance deals, ballon payment and own the car).
It may be worth going into you local dealership and see what kind of deal they can do, they might (should) be able to better many of the online lease deals often advertised.
Some epic deals about.
You get a new car (and the benefits that come with this e.g. warranty, lower running costs etc).
Pretty much "fixed price motoring", the costs are deposit, plus monthly payments (plus any hand back prep costs or insurance products taken out), you are not at the mercy of used car values, which can shift massively.
Cons
Only works if you want a new car, the cost advantage disappears if you were happy to drive. 3+ years old car
Often limited milage (& surcharge for exceeding)
You can't (shouldn't) modify it
Harder to swap and change cars (not impossible)
Harder to build up equity in a car and then over the years trade up (without simply paying higher monthly fees)
If the value of that car goes up (as has happened with some models recently) you don't benefit.
I work for one of the large dealer groups, the % of customers that "buy" cars from us on some form of finance/lease deal has rocked, simply because the deals have never been better, largely due to low interest rates and manufacturer support on deposits.
I know lease and finance are different, but the end result can be similar, deposit, monthly payments and then hand back (in the case of some finance deals, ballon payment and own the car).
It may be worth going into you local dealership and see what kind of deal they can do, they might (should) be able to better many of the online lease deals often advertised.
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