[Closed] Car leasing, anyone here do it??

It's really not - I mentioned my figures above, to lease what I currently own for 3 years would cost almost twice the amount I've paid all in.

I think leases they make alot of sense if your car is a tool to earn you money

for most folk an unchipped pedelec from WCA makes more sense than a hired car - and a hired car/commonwheels car club for the long trips.

I like leases because as rone points out - it lets me have a good choice of used cars to buy cheap.

"A colleague had a nice audi quattro, only 6 odd years old and that's what was about to happen to his car (I think). He sold it to a 2nd hand car place with no disclosure but had he not found out, it would have just died and been worth (next to) sweet fanny ann."

And this is why i dont touch cars from dealers for the most part - they are a dumping ground for shit cars that peoples conscience wont let them sell privately....

I think one of the main points here is that you're only one major repair away from your figures being blown out of the water. If you get a head gasket go, is it even worth repairing? (I have no idea of the value of your car)

I think the chance of a major failure is low, and based on the costs even if it did you could just chuck the car and go get another one. Chances of it happening twice? Not to mention you still have some scrap value in the first car and the residual value in the second. So still better overall, just without having had a shinier car the whole time.

HGF isnt the coffin nail most folk treat it as.

the issue is that most folk see that the car still runs and drive it till it no longer runs.... by that time the damage CAN be irrepairable or at least much more expensive than it otherwise would have been.....

Its a bit like the crazies on here that scrap/sell a good working car just because it needs a timing belt....

I think the chance of a major failure is low

and based on the costs even if it did you could just chuck the car and go get another one.

yeah like when i rented a flat the landlord picked up the bill when the boiler broke.......

250 quid a month for 3 years on a rental car...... thats 9k. Thats alot of repairs and alot of cars before im in the red.....

my 1400 quid berlingo over 2 years stands me a wheel bearing and a spring on top of routine servicing at 40 quid a pop for filters and fluids.

out of 8 cars(in a 2 car household) over 15 years ive had 1 lemon - it was the expensive car with the FSH - my spidy sense was tingling but the mrs wanted "that" car ..... still lasted 2 years mind !

But i can buy the hassle factor - getting a decent garage is a pain in the hoop and getting them to do repairs in a timely fashion is an even bigger pain in the arse......

BUt its still paying a premium for that convenience how ever the crux for me is that i dont really need the car its a convenience thing because i live out of town and have zero public transport options.

Why do people always insist on comparing cheap second hand car ownership to leasing a brand new car? Apples and pears.

You can't compare bangernomics with leasing though can you? If your car is a necessary evil, you don't do a lot of miles or whatever then obv there is no point leasing one.
Having said that, you can lease a brand new Berlingo from £99/month....think trailrat, a nice new shiney van..... 😀

"Having said that, you can lease a brand new Berlingo from £99/month....think trailrat, a nice new shiney van....."

Ive seen those but i really struggle with it not being my car.

I also struggle with paying 100 quid a month for it to sit on my drive.

How ever if i got a sales job or such like where i was driving around as part of my job then id be all over something like that 😀

I can see the appeal though 99 quid for the use of a new motor for a month isnt alot.

Why do people always insist on comparing cheap second hand car ownership to leasing a brand new car? Apples and pears.

Because the discussion is not usually about how to get a nice car, but how to get any car cheap. That's why most pointing out the cheaper s/h cars are identifying the additional cost of lease as either, 'having nice shiny car' or 'removing uncertainty'.

and based on the costs even if it did you could just chuck the car and go get another one.

You can't possibly know this. There are far too many variables for this to apply in every circumstance/comparison.

Based on how much may mates fork out a month to lease generic child-ferries you could buy something equally boring s/h twice per year, that's 6 cars over the lease period! Yes occasionally you could get a lemon but for the cost you could afford to just chuck it and get another, if just 1 lasts more than 6 months your are winning. And given you don't see cars littering the side of the road id say the chances of a cheap school run car (£1k) lasting a full MOT year would be high.

Ive seen those but i really struggle with it not being my car.

And given you don't see cars littering the side of the road

Very randomn comment.

When I was younger I spent a fair bit on cars.

Now when I hear people spending £300 to lease car and thinking it's cheap , I just shake my head.

That's £7,200 thrown away to have a boring and mundane car for 2 years.

[url= http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602181153713?page=1&maximum-mileage=up_to_30000_miles&make=ford&price-to=5000&searchcontext=default&maximum-age=up_to_5_years_old&postcode=tn126rt&search-target=usedcars&radius=1500&sort=default&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&model=focus&logcode=p ]Why not get seomthing like this for £5k?[/url]

You would probably get £2-3k for it after 2 years.

And given you don't see cars littering the side of the road
Very randomn comment.

i see plenty cars littering the sides of the road.

most residential areas are overflowing with them infact. Blocking pavements and such......

Why not get seomthing like this for £5k?

You would probably get £2-3k for it after 2 years.

I think this is the limit where a lot of people divert to leasing. In buying at 1-2k you can get a car that is almost disposable as its comparatively less than the lease. At £5k its tying a lot of money into the car and that's where people get tetchy about expensive repairs and such. The cost of leasing at that purchase price (and return) is not much more, so the safety net of no extra cost lease is seen as worthwhile.

New cars tend to be much safer than old ones too. At least for the occupants!

good point there, STATO - I’m beginning to wonder why I spent exactly £5k on a car now.

Rachel

Stato has it and you still have to insure and tax that depressing Focus you posted as well as MOT, servicing and general running costs such as tyres. You won't get £2k for that in 2 years I bet £1.5k at the most.

although all things asside that focus is no more depressing than an octavia/golf/mondeo........

and on its side - you dont have to hand it back at the end of your 3 years and start again.....

but as noted - its not yet in the throwaway catagory.

although all things asside that focus is no more depressing than an octavia/golf/mondeo........

My mother in law has one, it's awful. 😀

It's all done to choice. Some like prefer to get a car of my choice new and trouble free for 2 years. Others go down the banger route to which I can see the appeal and have done myself. I don't anymore as I prefer the option of a newer car, there's no right or wrong to either.

This comes up every time there is a lease car thread.

It works for some people and it doesn't for others, for example it works for those with a car allowance - you always have a car under XX years, you know the outgoings each month etc. Those who do the school run twice a week in a 10 year old car will never make the maths work.

Remember too, this is STW. You don't [i]need[/i] a new car, that is quite correct but you also don't [i]need [/i] a 5 grand mountain bike when a second hand 5 year old bike will still get you up and down hills 😉

But say, keep that Focus 5 years, budget £3k for repairs, MOT, tax and you're in for £8k.

Leasing @ £250/mth for 5 years and you're in for £15k plus any remedial body work that needs sorting before you hand back.

You still need to insure both.

£7k + over 5 years is quiet a saving.

I guess it depends on whether you want to save money or have a new car.

We could all save lots of money by buying perfectly good second-hand clothes and shoes. How many of us do that?

I guess it depends on whether you want to save money or have a new car.

I'm not denying that, but the discussion started out about cheap reliable motoring didn't it? Somewhere on the last page someone claimed you couldn't run a second hand car for less than the £3500/yr they were paying on a lease; which is ridiculous.

I think we all agree, there's not a particularly cheap way to a new car, but we're saying there are cheaper ways to reliable motoring than leasing/hiring.

And now we're just all going around in circles.

but the discussion started out about cheap reliable motoring didn't it?

[quote=wrecker ]

It's really not - I mentioned my figures above, to lease what I currently own for 3 years would cost almost twice the amount I've paid all in.

I've already had my car over 3 years - if it dies tomorrow I'm already thousands of quid up. The figures I'm working on are what it's cost me over 3 years compared to the cost of the lease - the difference is more than 2 major repairs (and I'm already including DMF/clutch replacement in my costs), you'd have to be [b]really[/b] unlucky to lose out on that basis.

[quote=Rich_s ]New cars tend to be much safer than old ones too. At least for the occupants!

Depends how old you're talking - when I bought mine it was the current model, and I doubt it's much different now, given the update since was only a facelift. I don't know what others are comparing with, but I'm basing my comments on second owner cars bought at 2-4yo which are the ones people paying for leases have paid for all the depreciation on. It's a long time since I've bought a car which wasn't a current model.

[quote=Drac ]Stato has it and you still have to insure and tax that depressing Focus you posted as well as MOT, servicing and general running costs such as tyres. You won't get £2k for that in 2 years I bet £1.5k at the most.

If you buy from ling you'll still have to insure it, pay for servicing (which you'll have to go to a main stealer for, so will likely cost more than servicing an older car and getting it through an MOT) and tyres. The current valuation on a 2 year older one of those is £2.6k Private poor condition, £3k trade in, so you're way out - I expect you'll easily get over £3k in 2 years if you look after it (and if you don't it will cost you less than not looking after a lease car), hence £2k loss compared to £4.8k for a lease. The only way it isn't much cheaper to run that is if you use dodgy figures - do you really think a 5yo car loses 2/3 of its value in 2 years? 😯

Leasing @ £250/mth for 5 years and you're in for £15k plus any remedial body work that needs sorting before you hand back.

You still need to insure both.

So you've gone from 2 years to 5 years, while you're right in 5 years that car will be needing all sorts done. Never had to do any work yet.

Insurance is included. You don't have to go to a min dealer not for about 10 years.

I don't buy from ling.

[quote=johndoh ]I guess it depends on whether you want to save money or have a new car.
We could all save lots of money by buying perfectly good second-hand clothes and shoes. How many of us do that?

Did somebody mention apples and pears before? You're talking a way different order of magnitude there - the whole point is that people choose to spend a lot of their money on having a shiny box to drive around in.

"in 5 years that car will be needing all sorts done."

Such as ?

[quote=Drac ]So you've gone from 2 years to 5 years, while you're right in 5 years that car will be needing all sorts done. Never had to do any work yet.
Insurance is included. You don't have to go to a min dealer not for about 10 years.
I don't buy from ling.

I think the point is that people often keep s/h cars for 5 years, so you have to look at how much a lease costs over that period.

I'm betting you still pay more for your servicing than I do for mine including MOT - you can't put that one down as being more expensive for an older car.

My apologies - ling was being touted as good value upthread - where do you get yours from which is much better?

You're talking a way different order of magnitude there

the whole point is that people choose to spend a lot of their money on having a shiny box to drive around in.

point is that people often keep s/h cars for 5 years, so you have to look at how much a lease costs over that period.

Do they really.

NHS Fleet Solutions.

The difference? The ready availability of a wide selection of good quality s/h cars directly equivalent to new ones. I wouldn't know where to go to browse good quality s/h shoes or clothes - people don't tend to lease those so there isn't lots of availability of s/h ones with little wear.

Though my main point was about the amount people spend on cars - if it was similar to the amount people (who aren't fashion addicts) spend on clothes then it would be a much less significant thing. There's a point though - owning a new car is much like being a fashion addict, and getting rid of it before it goes out of fashion 😈

I wouldn't know where to go to browse good quality s/h shoes or clothes

Any town centre in the UK as the only thing left is Charity Shops. 😀

[quote=Drac ]Do they really.
NHS Fleet Solutions.

Well I tend to keep mine a lot longer, but I understand some people change that often. So you're comparing with an option not available to the general public? Without going into details, would you care to comment on how you're paying a month, and how much the same thing would be on ling so we can compare?

I already did. The question was who leases a car and I replied.

No idea what Ling charges or others as I don't use them.

Any town centre in the UK as the only thing left is Charity Shops.

I note that the Skoda Yeti 1.2 deal has gone up by £10 a month since yesterday!

I'm curious as to how the Skoda direct deal is less than half the price of similar deals from other leasing companies for the same car.

[quote=Drac ]Any town centre in the UK as the only thing left is Charity Shops.

I must have missed the ones where you can see some shoes you like and ask for a pair in your size.

Ah, sorry I missed your reply - so you're paying £7.2k over 2 years - if we knock off £1.2k for the insurance, servicing and tax (which is a bit more than I'm paying) then if you spent the £6k on a s/h one instead you'd have a £4k asset at the end. I still don't see how it is cheaper.

Thanks for all the replies...just read through every one of them, even more confused now though..
I do less than 10k miles a year and the car would be sat outside the house most of the week as I ride my bike to work 99% of the time and the wife doesn't drive..
The old V reg Astra we have now does the job we need to a certain degree, and any long trips we do, say a 200mile round trip to lakeside in Essex/Kent from Portsmouth I always hire a car from budget for about £50/60 plus fuel for the weekend,so I get to drive a new car every once in a while and yer it is nice to do that so maybe that's where I got the idea of leasing from as I don't have the immediate funds to buy outright and like I said at the start I'm not in favour of 2nd hand car dealers..
I've had decent cars in the past (mostly golfs) but had to sell my last one to reduce my outgoings and I was without a car for 6months which was bloody hard, the Astra came up from a friend so I bought it as I knew the history of it and only paying £600 I couldn't really lose, had it 2 years now and never let me down it just looks old now and maybe time for a change
Cheers

I must have missed the ones where you can see some shoes you like and ask for a pair in your size

Have you lost your sense of humour?

Ah, sorry I missed your reply - so you're paying £7.2k over 2 years - if we knock off £1.2k for the insurance, servicing and tax (which is a bit more than I'm paying) then if you spent the £6k on a s/h one instead you'd have a £4k asset at the end. I still don't see how it is cheaper.

Don't forget other be genral running costs. I've never claimed it was cheaper that buying a old car but if you want new it's a big consideration.

Dubber you fit the secondhand market better than new so I'd look at that option.

[quote=dubber71 ]I don't have the immediate funds to buy outright...

had to sell my last one to reduce my outgoings

Hence the discussion on whether leasing is good value, because it seems that whilst you like the idea of a new car, the bigger issue is your lack of funds.

There is no way it's actually "cheaper" to lease a car than buy a similar model that's 3 - 5 years old.

If you really want to pick up value for money cars, you can always take a "risk" and go to a car auction. They are full of 3 year old ex-lease vehicles.

I've bought 3 cars at auction in last 10 years and they have all been bargains.

if your subject to cashflow issues id be very wary about signing up to a lease for 3 years - you cant just flog the motor to get out of it .

some do have buy back clauses written into the contract but from what ive seen the consumer is the one that takes the hit.

[quote=Drac ]Have you lost your sense of humour?

😳 but, but, you forgot the smiley

Don't forget other be genral running costs.

Such as? I presume you still have to pay for fuel? 😉

I've never claimed it was cheaper that buying a old car but if you want new it's a big consideration.

Ah, well maybe we don't disagree all that much - you confused me by seemingly agreeing with STATO:

[quote=STATO ]The cost of leasing at that purchase price (and return) is not much more, so the safety net of no extra cost lease is seen as worthwhile.

Such as? I presume you still have to pay for fuel?

Yes. I presume your car has tyres and other such gubbins?

Stato is making the same point, I didn't think he might buying a cheap secondhand.

[quote=Drac ]Yes. I presume your car has tyres and other such gubbins?

I presume lease cars do as well - does your deal include tyres then?

Stato is making the same point

He's saying it's not much more - presumably almost twice as much falls within his definition of not much. We're not talking really cheap or really old here - depreciation of a 3-4yo car is only ~£1.5k a year.

depreciation of a 3-4yo car is only ~£1.5k a year.

Really?

Most cars lose at least 50% of their value in the first 3 years.

You can pick up an average mileage BMW/Mercedes for about half the original price - 3 yr old 520d about £16k. Other makes depreciate more. So a typical £20k family car, will probably be worth £8 - 10k, which is at least £3.3k per year.

Really?

Most cars lose at least 50% of their value in the first 3 years.

You can pick up an average mileage BMW/Mercedes for about half the original price - 3 yr old 520d about £16k. Other makes depreciate more. So a typical £20k family car, will probably be worth £8 - 10k, which is at least £3.3k per year.

He means when a car reaches 4 years old it will only *continue* to depreciate at £1.5k a year thereafter.

OK. Thanks for that, I wasn't sure what point he was making.My mistake. 😳

I agree depreciation isn't a lot on older cars.

My point was that if a person [u]feels [/u]they can get a lease deal for the same net cost over against a s/h car over 2 years, then that's why they will move to lease over buying. Clearly if your car doesn't break down and you can keep it for 5 years you will win (apart from not having something new), but peoples expectations of astronomical repair or service costs make them believe this is not possible.

Possibly because the sort of person to lease is the sort of person who uses dealers or quickfit for servicing, again for same reasons as leasing such as peace of mind of a large chain and not having to deal with problems like dodgy back street mechanics (lets ignore the dodgy quickfit stories for now!), so the expected costs of s/h motoring for the average leaser is much higher than the reality of a confident amateur mechanic or person who is happy to hunt out and haggle with a private garage.

Modern cars (ie. within last 10 years) are very reliable, and the chance of a £1k plus repair being required is low, but there are still costs and not knowing how much a full brake service is, or why they might need a new CAT scares people.

My Dad has been running cheap s/h cars my whole life. His big Jeep broke recently (again, its a running joke but he loves it) so he just went out and bought a s/h astra for peanuts to go to work while the Jeep was fixed, he has had it 6 month now and we worked out its probably paid for itself in reduced fuel bills, but otherwise is solid as a rock. Heater is crap mind.

chance of a £1k plus repair being required is low

Ah fair enough - I was misinterpreting you by picking out one quote and ignoring all the stuff you've written I agree with. I'm assuming most people on here are more at the mechanical savvy end. I would claim I don't do most car stuff any more, but then I do my own oil changes and a lot of minor stuff most people would throw at a garage - eg the bonnet cable on my Mondeo which is a common fault and would probably have cost over £100 in labour. As mentioned above I've had the £1k DMF/clutch repair, but then I was expecting that and factored it into my costs when I bought.

I shouldn't complain, as it's the people getting leases who supply the market for the cars I buy (my last 3 have been ex-lease I think).

aracer

As I said in the very first post, I now have better wages, by £120 per week, I sold the car I mentioned over 2yrs ago to reduce out goings.
There is no bigger issue on lack of funds but thanks for the post anyway

I'm very mechanical savvy and have access to people who could help me with stuff, but I'd prob still get a lease can as I can't be arsed with the time. Time short money rich (relative) as they say. Only reason I've not is I'd wreck one puttin muddy shitty bikes and kit in it (oh and I don't have a licence 🙄 )

I presume lease cars do as well - does your deal include tyres then?

I pay for fuel and the lease that's it.

dubber, I have to say that (irrespective of the debate raging all around) in your particular position, leasing a car to sit on your drive seems a hell of a waste of money. Your money, your choice but your current system already works well from what I can see, have an old banger for occasional use, and don't be scared to splash out on a rental when you've got a big trip. You can do that a lot for the cost of a lease car.

More generally, bangernomics really is a good way to go for someone who doesn't need a reliable comfortable car for daily use. Once you need it for a commute, of course I can see the appeal of paying a bit more for reliability and comfort, but it's not a position I've ever let myself get into. My two vehicles cost £4400 in total to buy (plus a significantly smaller amount on maintenance) for ~10y use so far, I only got rid of the first because I emigrated, and the second looks like it will keep going pretty much indefinitely so long as I'm not scared to spend a few quid every so often.

This thread is daft.

If you want a new car, and you can beat the depreciation by leasing - do it.

If you want to own and justify a second hand car - great. But it's not a new car and doesn't have the benefits of.

I've had loads of s/h cars. They have always lost loads of money and cost a fair bit to run in terms of servicing and wear and tear. That doesn't mean you won't pick up a bargain every now and again. But it will be the subject of market forces in terms of value.

It should actually be about leasing versus buying.

[quote=rone ]If you want to own and justify a second hand car - great. But it's not a new car and doesn't have the benefits of.

Is there something other than shiny? Dead easy to justify, because it's significantly cheaper.

I've had loads of s/h cars. They have always lost loads of money

Well of course they do, all cars do, but the biggest hit is the first couple of years people leasing pay for.

Why anyone in their right mind would pay £xxx a month to rent a bland and dull Eurobox is beyond me! Oh but then it's new I guess? Sh*t but new!

Including maintainence, the extra fuel, insurance and depreciation (now minimal) the 9 year old RS4 avant we have works out cheaper per month than if we leased something new but boring like a Passat or Mondeo estate. Know which one I'd rather be driving. Each to their own I guess.

My experience of s/h is limited but my last was a Focus that I'd had new, sold to my Mum, then bought back some 5yrs later. It was a great car and well looked after and never missed a beat until an unexpected £800 MOT bill which I paid. Around the same time the clutch began to slip, it was due a belt change and it had started to struggle to start when cold. A mechanic friend had a look and narrowed the problem down to 3 or 4 things. He said it could be a cheap fix, or far more expensive. At this point I traded it in as it was going to cost far more than it's value to fix and I didn't have the cash to take the chance. It went to auction and someone will have bought a very tidy looking car for £1500ish that was about to cost a lot more.

We got my wife a 3yr old car a year ago for 12.5k. Had no end of problems with it, luckily fixed under warranty but it still wasn't just right (Had clearly been treated horrendously from new) and the Mrs lost faith in it. Just got rid at a fair old loss but before the warranty ran out. She's now in a new version of the last car and is very happy.

Some of the s/h cars bought by workmates are always in the garage (A4's seem the worst, especially around 10yr old). One had to replace the engine which then also blew a month outside the warranty!

You can be lucky with second hand but there's plenty of trouble waiting for you, especially after 6/7/8+ years old.

As much as new costs more it's worth it for us to have a couple of cars that need no thinking about, are great places to sit for 10k miles a year and turn in to another new car just as the gloss is fading. We've gone for PCP but same rules apply for lease.

If you're happy in your old car then great, just stop trying to convince us it could pass for a new car or that the chances of a decent bill are slim. Modern cars cost a lot to fix when things wear out.

Oh, and having been in my brother in laws Berlingo I'm happy to pay the extra to not make the 20 mile work commute a soul destroying experience. 😉

[quote=chestrockwell ]If you're happy in your old car then great, just stop trying to convince us it could pass for a new car or that the chances of a decent bill are slim.

I'm not - I'm suggesting that functionally there isn't a difference even if it's not as shiny, and that the amount you save is more than enough to pay for a few big bills. We're talking thousands a year difference in basic cost.

and that the amount you save is more than enough to pay for a few big bills.

From my experience the money I saved would find a way of being spent so the big bills can cause a problem. I prefer the predictable monthly payment with no surprises route.

Lots of people couldn't care less about their car and that's fine. I do so would prefer to pay a bit more for a new one because new cars are ace. 8)

It also depends which lease car you're comparing to. You can get them for around £100 per month if you want something basic.

Leasing needs to be compared buying new not bangers.

Everyone has different attitudes to spending money, and experiences with cars. All I can say is that historically, based on the eight cars my wife and I have owned over the last 20 years (all second hand, typically 3-4 years old when bought, sold after 2-4 years), we saved by not leasing. We're very happy with this, even happier to have used the money saved to help pay off to mortgage.

You can be lucky with second hand but there's plenty of trouble waiting for you, especially after 6/7/8+ years old.

Depends if you buy well, research on common faults and then actually look after the thing once you get it. Most people just don't have a clue when it comes to this.

I always buy performance cars and normally you'll find that the owners of such cars care more about msintainence and looking after the thing than more mundane metal. You can easily spot the owners who don't. In over 20 years of buying performance machinery in the 5-10 yr old age range I've never yet broken down or had a horrendous bill that you couldn't consider routine maintainence or unexpected. And I've saved 1,000's over the years by driving rare and special cars, when I could have spent a lot more and had something bland and boring on lease.

You can't compare leas g to running bangers, but it does compare well I think to buying something around the £8-10k price point assuming that you need some sort of finance to buy that car.

The bank loan for our 330 plus VED and MOT would have been more expensive than leasing a GTi at the time we bought it. With hindsight maybe I should have leased something.

If the intention is to keep a car for a long time then buying is the way to go, if you get bored and want to change every few years (I guess I'm the latter) then leasing suddenly looks pretty attractive because the monthly cost is fixed and you beat depreciation.

In the case of the OP, I'd stick with your old car if it spends most of its life on the drive not being used.

I'm enjoying the fact that lease cars are all brilliant and perfect, and then the day you hand them back they become unreliable heaps of crap that will cost thousands of pounds a year in repairs. I didn't know that.

I'm enjoying the fact that lease cars are all brilliant and perfect, and then the day you hand them back they become unreliable heaps of crap that will cost thousands of pounds a year in repairs. I didn't know that.

We'll that's what the industry would have you believe - they need to sell cars after all, and what better way to sell a new car than to convince someone that by spending £1,000's on a brand new lease arrangement (that's carefully split into manageable monthly chunks to hide the true cost) that they're making a financially prudent decision and avoiding the certain financial ruin that a 'catastrophic' few hundred pound repair bill on a risky and unreliable 3 year old motor might bring?

[quote=wrecker ]

and that the amount you save is more than enough to pay for a few big bills.

Well I suppose you could get a lot of big bills, but it's extremely unlikely - because you're saving thousands a year.

[quote=Drac ]Leasing needs to be compared buying new not bangers.

There is of course a middle way, which is what I'm comparing to - my car certainly isn't a banger (though it was on the cheap end of 3-4yo cars).

[quote=mindmap3 ]You can't compare leas g to running bangers, but it does compare well I think to buying something around the £8-10k price point assuming that you need some sort of finance to buy that car.
The bank loan for our 330 plus VED and MOT would have been more expensive than leasing a GTi at the time we bought it.

and when you'd paid off your bank loan you'd have an asset sitting on your drive, which you could continue to run, or sell if you want to. As discussed above, the ling price (if you want me to use anything else for comparison you'll have to give a link or provide prices) for a basic Focus is £200 a month, so £7200 over the course of 3 years. Here's a 2yo one: http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201510077602808 - the PX on a 5yo one of those is listed at £5k - so that's a £3.6k ownership cost (including VED) + cost of MOTs, leaving you £3.5k to cover those expensive bills. You'd have to be very unlucky to get anything like that on a 2yo car.

Dracs calculations are exactly where we got to with our Family car (Kuga) replacement decision. Notwithstanding accidental damage caused by the kids, the cost of getting a decent small estate / xc60-a-like vs lease for that purpose doesn't stack up. We'll be in the same "asset" position in a few years as we are now - we have an 8 year old no better than good condition Kuga in the garage which is worth £7k PX on a 2yo replacement.

Fine, but you'll have a second hand car with the associated maintenance. In any other area you'd expect to pay more for a superior product. A new car is superior to a similar second hand so will cost more. If you are happy to pay it, good. If not, great.

I'm enjoying all the people insisting that second hand cars never go wrong while ignoring all the examples of second hand cars that have gone wrong. 😐

Depends if you buy well, research on common faults and then actually look after the thing once you get it. Most people just don't have a clue when it comes to this.

Not necessarily. On the face of it my old Focus would have been a great buy as it had been in our family from new and been fully maintained. It was almost spotless inside and out. The clutch would be obvious to anyone with half an idea but the other issues could easily be missed.

To be fair our Kugas maintenance issues amount to one Alternator at £330. It kind of outweighs the lease costs - granted I may have been lucky...

Leasing needs to be compared buying new not bangers.

Wrong, leasing was purely devised as a way by the car industry to boost sales figures for the manufacturers.

It allows people who couldn't otherwise afford to buy a new car, yet feel that they simply must 'keep up with the Jones' to now drive around in a new (probably white) car and feel good about themselves. Until of course after a few months of ownership, the car is now not quite as white as when it left the showroom, and the Jones new nanny across the road has leased a new Mini that comes in an even whiter shade of white than her dazzling white teeth (which she's still paying off monthly), and certainly several shades whiter than your now 6 month old car. Damn and Bug*er !!!!

New cars never go wrong chest.

I have as many anecdotes for family and friends brand new cars going wrong terminally or worse - dealers refusing to fix their new cars on the warrnety ,,, as i do for second hand cars

You can get a brand new lemon as well.

As for your focus . It was at an auction - thats the clue to impending bills.

Dracs calculations are exactly where we got to with our Family car (Kuga) replacement decision. Notwithstanding accidental damage caused by the kids, the cost of getting a decent small estate / xc60-a-like vs lease for that purpose doesn't stack up. We'll be in the same "asset" position in a few years as we are now - we have an 8 year old no better than good condition Kuga in the garage which is worth £7k PX on a 2yo replacement.

One of the reasons we decided to change the car we got a year ago was that we got it at 3 years old, got a 9k loan over 5 years (12.5k paid) so at the end of the loan the car would be 8 years old with 100k+ on the clock and we'd be looking to replace it again. The value of our asset once the loan had been paid would realistically be around the amount we'd want as a deposit on the next so we'd be looking at a similar priced car (12.5k) with a similar loan required.

The new, higher spec version version costs about £100pm more than the loan but for that we get a much nicer car that we know the history of and one that should need minimal money spent on it during our ownership. The old one whould need more spending on it (Tyres, MOT's, belts, etc) during the 5 years so that eats in to the £100 saved. Money well spent in my opinion.

As for your focus . It was at an auction - thats the clue to impending bills.

Only because it was too old to go on the franchised deal forecourt. It will have been bought, put on any number of second hand forecourts and sold on. It will have looked great polished up at the garage but further costs were on the way.

New cars never go wrong chest.

I have as many anecdotes for family and friends brand new cars going wrong terminally or worse - dealers refusing to fix their new cars on the warrnety ,,, as i do for second hand cars

Really? As many as second hand? If that's the case you have some very unlucky new car buying friends.

Wrong, leasing was purely devised as a way by the car industry to boost sales figures for the manufacturers.

It allows people who couldn't otherwise afford to buy a new car, yet feel that they simply must 'keep up with the Jones' to now drive around in a new (probably white) car and feel good about themselves. Until of course after a few months of ownership, the car is now not quite as white as when it left the showroom, and the Jones new nanny across the road has leased a new Mini that comes in an even whiter shade of white than her dazzling white teeth (which she's still paying off monthly), and certainly several shades whiter than your now 6 month old car. Damn and Bug*er !!!!

I'm sure you didn't mean it but that post gives the impression you're sat behind your computer turning greener than the Hulk. Great generalization btw. 😉

No i have alot of friends that buy/rent/ new cars every other year......or at least used too... I imagine that kind of frivolity will be stopped now that the oil price is depressed.

Hence its skewed in the new cars non favour...