How to Lease a Car and Get the Best Deal
Leasing a car lets you drive a new vehicle without paying a large sum of cash or taking out a loan.
To lease a car, you simply make a small initial payment — usually 3 or 6 times the monthly rentals followed by the monthly payments for the term of the lease. When the term expires, you simply return the car lease deals .
Leasing a car has some drawbacks, however. Among them:
You don’t own the car when your lease expires. You essentially rent, not buy, the car. So you don’t have equity in the car to use toward the purchase of another vehicle.
Over time, say 10 years, the cost of leasing several cars will likely exceed the purchase price of a new or used car.
Lease terms can carry big penalties. You may have to pay charges if:
You exceed the number of miles agreed in your lease contract.
You fail to keep the interior and exterior of the car in good condition.
You drive the car hard and inflict significant wear and tear on the car’s performance and appearance.
You wish to return the car before the end of your contract.
Does a lease make sense for you?
Leasing is more beneficial than buying when you:
Don’t have the cash to buy the car.
Want to drive a vehicle that’s out of your purchase price range.
You are unlikely to exceed the mileage cap in the contract.
Can take good care of the car’s exterior and interior,personal car leasing paying particular attention to avoid nicks, dents, spills and other cosmetic damage.
Expect to lease another car when your vehicle’s current contract expires.
Exceeding the mileage limits on your lease can typically cost you between 5 to 15 pence per mile. The lease company will inspect your car just before the lease expires, and you’ll also be charged for excessive wear and tear.
How to Lease
Leasing a car is often easier than buying one. But to get the best lease deal on the car you want, you must still follow these steps:
Step 1. Choose a type— What kind of car do you want? Better yet, what car do you need? A convertible? A saloon? An MPV?
Step 2. Pick your models— Make a list of car types in your price range. You can reduce non-lease costs by including models with favourable fuel consumption, high dependability, top safety features and low insurance premiums ( get an insurance quote for a list of vehicles that you are looking at).
Step 3. Compare car lease deals— Check deals in the press and on the internet, calculate the deals on offer and figure out how much you can afford to pay monthly.
Step 4. Keep an open mind— Take a look at other makes of car you may not have considered if you were buying. Sometimes you can get a much higher value car for the same monthly rental if you look at other makes. It is not unusual for a £30K Mercedes to have a cheaper lease payment than a 20K Ford for example.
Step 5. Paying the Lease— The larger your initial payment, the lower your monthly rental will be. Work out the true cost of the deal over the term including all payments. With today’s marketing tricks cheap monthly rentals are of hidden behind a big initial rental over a 2 year deal. As with any bill, you’ll face penalties if you fail to make payments on time. Turning in your leased car early, before the term ends will typically result in a big penalty.