Should I buy a SH car for £6K or get a lease...? Newbie !

[Paul S4]

Hi.

I am new to this leasing topic...but not new to PH !

I have always bought my cars for cash in the past, because that's the traditional way of having a car I suppose. However, I do about 14,000 miles a year commuting and I suppose about 5,000 personal use.

I have owned an Alfa 156 JTDM 150 for the past 6 years, and spent a lot on it recently ( uneconomic I know but I really liked that car !).

However, after 100,000 miles in my ownership, including a couple of track days, rust finally got to the chassis rails so it has been sold for breaking...





I have borrowed a 2003 Polo 1.9 SDi from a pal, which is a stop gap car until I decide what to do next.

I am looking at Volvo V50 diesels just now, with a personal budget of about £6K or so after releasing some funds from a small pension fund.

I am wondering about leasing a car, but not sure about how the whole thing works in 'layman's terms'....but I am attracted to the concept of knowing exactly how much I will be spending on a car every month, and thus avoiding unexpected bills which have caused problems in recent months as my monthly salary is nowhere near the majority of fellow PH'ers !!

I realise that I would never 'own' the lease car, but if anyone can let me know in simple terms how the whole lease thing works I would be grateful !

Thanks in advance.

[Paul S4]

Thank you all for those very informative replies, the time taken to write them is much appreciated.

Although I have always had 'decent' cars....( VW Passat, BMW E36s, Alfa 156s (2!), they have had a fair mileage on them when I acquired them, and therefore I have had the upkeep/servicing costs etc as everyone has who does not lease.

I would realistically have to go for a much 'cheaper' type of car if I were to lease, just to minimise the costs. So I would be looking at the lower end of the scale if you like, and something that was good on fuel, be it diesel or petrol.

I would therefore have to get used to not having the BHP that I have been accustomed to (!) having recently disposed of my 180BHP remapped Alfa !

I shall do a lot of thinking before I proceed....as has been said, a lease car is never 'owned' in the traditional sense, and I have a habit of wanting to improve what ever car I get, so obviously that would not be happening !

Again thanks for the contributions above.