Car financing/leasing?

Anyone have any experience of car financing or leasing?

Had a head on collision 3 weeks ago, all ok but my poor beast is no more. Obviously I now need to get a replacement car and I'm not the best at finance and the like. I've noticed leasing as an option and wondered if anyone had any experience of it on here? I know it would end up never actually owning a car and perpetually having to replace it but at least then I have a known cost each month and a reliable car.

Then there is PCP (I think) that seems almost the same as leasing but just done through the car company, with more flexibility on how much upfront and the subsequent costs and with the option to buy at the end with a lump sum.

Any tips and advice otherwise?

I have literally just signed up for a Personal Lease. There are pros and con's to it

for me its a positive as i would change a car every few years anyway as I'm a bit of a ponce :) so actually not having to put a huge lump sum down first is a good thing and the monthly payments when I looked where only around £5/10 more than I would have been paying on a car loan to own the car to then sell in a few years time.

the only negatives to it are if you plan on buying a car and keeping it for the real long term.

I used Nationwide Car Leasing as an Agent and they were pretty good.

That's brill glennda, that is who I have kinda been sniffing round so it's good to know they are all right.

I usually end up keeping my car until it conks out but only because I'm useless about sorting out selling, and then end up with a junker and have to stump up a large chunk. Much the same thoughts as you.

Can I ask do they sort the Tax for you or do you do it? & being cheeky what did you go for & roughly how much? Did they haggle at all or was it one price and that's what you pay?

PCP is usually when a company provides a company car but doesn't want the hassle of dealing with any of the car companies.
They give the employee a set amount of money each month so the employee can pick any car in his budget.
My friend had a car through PCP so i can ask him anything in particular if you require.

I'm not talking about PCP then, no way I'm getting a company car :D Hire Purchase maybe then.

I've had 2 financed cars now, Pro's of getting a finance are if you pay early, you don't owe as much interest (interest if based on time supposed to amount loaned) and if you fancy a change half way through the finance agreement, you can ring the company up and give the car back (the company will then auction off the car to pay off the rest of your finance), cons are you can not sell this privately until the finance is completely paid off.

If you know your not going to pay off the car for a long time, it maybe worth looking at loans from banks, as this means the car is 100% yours to do what you want with and may end up cheaper.

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Originally Posted by TechMonkey

That's brill glennda, that is who I have kinda been sniffing round so it's good to know they are all right.

I usually end up keeping my car until it conks out but only because I'm useless about sorting out selling, and then end up with a junker and have to stump up a large chunk. Much the same thoughts as you.

Can I ask do they sort the Tax for you or do you do it? & being cheeky what did you go for & roughly how much? Did they haggle at all or was it one price and that's what you pay?

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The tax etc is all sorted by the Finance company (in my case FG somebody or other) I got an Alpha Giulietta at £250pm

It doesn't necessarily have to be a company car. If you want to keep a car until it dies then leasing isn't really for you. After 3 years I will give the car back to the leasing company and get a new one.

What @andrew_91090 is not leasing - with leasing you never own the car. Leasing is more like a rental scheme.

I typically buy a car every 3 years...I dont see how leasing would be beneficial tbh, a £330 a month car * 36 is 11880.00, you can buy it for a little bit more and its still worth something you own to part ex when you've finished? I just dont get why its beneficial...?

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Originally Posted by mmoseley

I typically buy a car every 3 years...I dont see how leasing would be beneficial tbh, a £330 a month car * 36 is 11880.00, you can buy it for a little bit more and its still worth something you own to part ex when you've finished? I just dont get why its beneficial...?

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For me i am doing the following:

253*36 = £9108 + £700 = £9808 + £180 fee to agents total cost and no requirement to pay road tax at all

the car I am buying ORT price is £21,000 and I don't need to worry about any parts failure (warranty) or MOT's as its a brand spanking new car (no MOT for 3 years)

I'd rather not keep a car until it dies as I've found it just causes more cost, stress and issues.
@mmoseley: They way I was shown to compare is you find the car price and the expected resale value after 3 years. For leasing Times the payments by 36 and add any deposits and fees. This is the total leasing costs. Do the same for what you would pay on finance/loans/however you are going to pay for the car and then minus the resale value. This is the price to compare. You can also imagine you are paying with cash and subtract the resale cost from the current price and see what that would be. So far I've seen costs of about half the price of the car when leasing so can't see a downside as long as you are happy changing every 3 years and not owning it.

& glennda highlights what I'm thinking about extra costs, no Tax, no servicing (if you get it included) and no MOT.

I keep the car until it dies, which will be never. 334,xxx miles and counting.

Not helpful, I know.

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Originally Posted by MordyT

I keep the car until it dies, which will be never. 334,xxx miles and counting.

Not helpful, I know.

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I used to drive round in a 4.4lt Nissan Patrol - had done nearly 750,000 miles 9 clutches (we towed lots of heavy trailers in mud), 2 head gaskets and 3 radiators but the engine block was solid as a rock. My old boss still sold it for £1500

oooh you should have made a crazy offer to @michael2k6 for his Alfa its never yet made a month without a visit to the garage as much as he loves Julie he's glad to be rid of her after less than a year :)

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Originally Posted by john

oooh you should have made a crazy offer to @michael2k6 for his Alfa its never yet made a month without a visit to the garage as much as he loves Julie he's glad to be rid of her after less than a year :)

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Good job the garage is less than 100 yards away from the office :)

with any sort of lease finance plan where you have to return the vehicle, watch out for excess mileage charges as they can add a sting to the end of the term. Also the car upon return has to be in a 'reasonable condition' for its age/mileage.... be sure you know what this means in real terms otherwise they might stick you for costs to bring it up to their standards.....