Leasing- Good, bad or ugly?

[BenH]

I've been playing with the idea of getting an FR for a while now and was just wondering how people have gone about financing them. Has anyone taken out a lease for one? Is leasing a sensible move or is it a waste of cash come the end of the lease period?

Obviously a lease removes any kind of external mods but has anyone remapped a lease car then removed the chip prior to giving it back?

I've never leased a car so I'm a bit of a rookie when it comes to the dos/do nots of it all

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Cheers.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RichardC27]

I had my lease Leon FR Titanium delivered on Friday just gone. I got it through Nationwide Vehicle Contracts as they seem to be very competitive on price compared to a lot of dealers. Aside from a slight issue with the delivery time it's been very easy so far. My insurance is even £2 cheaper than if I had bought the car. As you say obviously mods are out (although my lease doesn't say I can't modify while I have it, only that I have to return it in standard condition) but other than that it seems to be a cheaper way of getting a nice car. This is my first time leasing too.

 

[DynamicD]

It's the future!

I will be returning my first lease in December (Golf R) and once i got my head around it wasnt mine, it has definitely been the cheapest way to have a brand new car with mega performance.

"I own my car" is talk for down the pub and old school - IMO.

Got Leon 290 black in Dynamic Grey arriving December - absolute bargain - £2.4k down, £156 * 23, no tax, 5k miles (£0.072 per mile if you go over - eg 5k extra miles only £360). Might need one service before going back, then get another brand new car.

2 year cost for 15k miles and a service ~£6.5k.

IMO buying would cost more in depreciation.

Dave

 

[Jonwm]

Just got my leased 290, could never afford to buy one, means I can have a nice car for less than the loan on my old FR, also released nearly 10k I had in my old car so re did my bathroom.

Only problem will be 2 years time when it goes back, will worry about that then lol

 

[kiddo]

I also lease. 3 yrs @ 10k pa. Had the car 12 months and using a dtuk tuning box. Before going in for service I take it off as it's literally a 10 min job to remove the wiring loom and clear the error codes as high boost logged. This was my first lease car and when I did the maths on previous car ownership I would be better off leasing. It's not for all but for me it's a winner.

 

[BenH]

I do around 12-15000 per year, always had visions of whacking a custom exhaust on the back but I'd sacrifice those dreams to have a decent car that's not a turbo charged corsa! Gonna spend some time tonight pricing things up and I'll come back with some figures for people to give feedback on/tell me if I'm mental


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[adamant]

same as rest really - got a 3 year lease on on a 184 FR. £500 down and just over £200 a month @10k miles. I get bored after a while so lease is deffo the way to go (for me) has been some cracking deals on copra's which has been painful to see!!
cant imagine buying a car now - until I retire or something

 

[BenH]

Yeah with the savings I have and the sale of my car (7.5-8k) it really shouldn't cost me much at all then it'll just be fuel and insurance that I'm used to paying anyway, I've got bored of my car after about 18 months and I'm hoping come 2 years time more cars will be rocking Audis virtual cockpit I think that looks really fancy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[surrealjam]

Leasing is a very cost effective way to drive a brand new car. Buying a brand new car makes little sense as by the time you factor in depreciation you will often have spent more.

Over simplified example, but if you lease £30k worth of Leon Cupra for a couple of years it's likely to cost you (say) £8k. If you buy that same Cupra, drive it for 2 years and put 20k miles on that means you'd need to guarantee you can get £22k for it in part exchange towards your next vehicle to be better off. And of course that's assuming you bought the car outright as this simple example doesn't factor in the cost of finance. I know I don't have £30k to go out and buy a new car and even if I did, I'd prefer to have at least some of that in my bank account instead of locked away in a car.

Of course, if you don't mind having a car which is a couple of years old then that's a different story...

 

[BenH]

I was torn between Leon FR 1.8tsi/2.0tdi second hand less than 10k miles go for around 16-17000 but then I'll get bored and the price will drop to like 12/13 after a couple of years so I definitely think I'm leaning towards a lease just trying to find a decent one


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RichardC27]

My lease is £578 up front then 47 x £192 for 12,500 miles a year. I've worked out that I'm only paying the depreciation on the car. A Leon FR Titanium is around £20k new and I'm paying just over £9k over four years. A four year old Leon with 50k on the clock is going to be worth around £9k I'd imagine. Leasing is a no brainer

 

[ganticus]

I think I will go for lease on the second car soon. Wife's new commute is going to be under 8K miles a year. I'm not sure what I'd be looking for so would go to Hotukdeals for the best deal. In fact there is a Golf GTI on there now as a good lease. My question is: If you have a two year lease and see another lease deal elsewhere (after say 22 months of the two year term) can you terminate the original lease early to move on to the new one without too many expensive penalties?

 

[Gadgetboy]

I think I will go for lease on the second car soon. Wife's new commute is going to be under 8K miles a year. I'm not sure what I'd be looking for so would go to Hotukdeals for the best deal. In fact there is a Golf GTI on there now as a good lease. My question is: If you have a two year lease and see another lease deal elsewhere (after say 22 months of the two year term) can you terminate the original lease early to move on to the new one without too many expensive penalties?

I'm terminating my 208 GTI lease a couple of months early as I'll be getting a Leon Cupra in December. I'll have to pay the remaining 2 monthly payments minus a little bit of interest. I'm happy enough doing this as 208 GTI payments are only £166 a month and I'm getting such a good deal on the Cupra

 

[ganticus]

Cheers. That doesn't sound too shabby. Decent reason to change too!

 

[page3]

The lease on my FR (18,000 miles/pa) with a few extras is £100/month less than the loan for my (now) 8 year old Audi A3. That's mad for a brand new car with warranty and without the maintenance expected on a car that's done over 130,000 miles.

 

[Julian1977]

What about the costs at the end of the lease?

 

[BenH]

You pay the cost of depreciation for the time you have the car, it goes back at the value it would cost the leaser to sell on


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Julian1977]

So there is hidden cost so to say, which you don't really know how much it will be?

All cars returned at the end of a business lease I came across had a final invoice for repairs, etc. Sometimes worth few thousands quid.

 

[BenH]

I don't think so, unless there's something to repair, then yeah you'd have to pay for it, I think if you return it in a sellable condition within agreed mileage then the only cost should be the monthly payments


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Julian1977]

i agree, they were company cars and not looked after but absolutely all of them included charges for refurbishing the alloys, repair the stone chips and things of this kind that happen during the course of normal driving.

Is it worth paying extra for maintenance? Anyone got this?