Car Leasing Special Offers

Car leasing, also known as Personal Contract Hire or Business Contract Hire, is a way to fund a brand-new car or van, in which you pay an initial rental followed by an agreed number of monthly rentals for a set time. At the end of your contract, you will return your vehicle to the lease company – you never own it. Car leasing is like a mobile phone contract, however, unlike a mobile phone, you do not own the handset (or in the case, the vehicle) at the end of the agreement.

Once you have found your perfect car or van, you will need to confirm the following features of your contract, which will determine how much your lease will cost.

• Mileage - How many miles are you likely to travel over the course of the contract?
• Contract length - How long would you like to drive the car or van for? Typically, contracts are between 24-60 months.
• Initial rental - This is usually a multiple of the monthly rental shown. The most common options available are to pay 3, 6 or 9 times the monthly rental upfront. This is part of the total cost of the agreement. It is not a deposit and will not be returned to you at the end of your agreement. The more you pay for the initial rental, the lower the monthly rentals will be.

All these figures are then sent to the leasing company, along with your personal details needed for a credit check to be performed. The broker will ask you to provide the documents needed for your finance application and credit check and submit these for you. If your application is accepted, the lease company will buy the car on your behalf and your new car will be delivered to you, activating the start of your agreement.

Lead times vary from 1 week to 20 weeks. Factory orders generally take between 8 weeks and 20 weeks to be delivered to you. In stock orders can usually be delivered between 7 and 14 days because the vehicle is already physically built. These lead times can vary between personal and business leasing and if there are any mandatory cooling off periods relating to the finance contract.

Your lease car will go through a number of steps before its delivered. Here at Rivervale, we can confirm your delivery date once your vehicle has arrived at the dealership, then all vehicles will go through a Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI) at the dealership prior to delivery. Once this process has been completed, you will be contacted via mobile to set a convenient time and date for the delivery of your vehicle. It usually takes up to 5 workings days for vehicles to go from the dealer and arrive with you. You will also get an email confirming the details of your delivery.

With fixed monthly payments, many people find leasing easier because it makes budgeting simple. Lease deals allow you to drive a vehicle that you could not afford to buy outright, because the cost of the lease is typically based on the amount of depreciation expected over the length of your agreement. This works both ways, as you could lease a car that has a fast depreciation, but because you do not own it, you simply hand it back at the end of your lease agreement.

Leasing also means you will always be driving a brand-new vehicle, enjoying the latest technology and safety features. Finally, you can change your car frequently, so you could be driving a brand-new different car every two years!

If you like driving a brand-new car or van every few years, want access to the latest technology and safety features, plus don’t want to worry about the hassle of depreciation, choose leasing. However, if you want to own the vehicle, leasing is not for you because you will not own it. If you are worried about damaging the vehicle, buying might be better for you, as you will need to return a lease vehicle in good condition. Maintenance is your responsibility for both buying and leasing, but you can include the cost in your lease deal.

Buying or leasing depends on your circumstances and only you can make the final decision. Some things that you should consider include are ownership, annual mileage, wear and tear of vehicle, depreciation and maintenance.

If you want to own the vehicle, a lease deal is not for you because you will not own the car or van when your agreement ends. The more miles you drive, the higher the cost of your lease, so consider your annual mileage and see how it impacts your monthly rental costs. Closely linked to annual mileage is wear and tear – the more you drive, plus certain types of driving, can increase the chances of damage. Lease vehicles need to be returned in fair wear and tear condition, so you need to look after the vehicle.

If you want to buy, make sure to find out how your vehicle will depreciate and know its residual value. With leasing, you do not need to worry about selling your car or van as the depreciation is factored into your monthly payments.

Finally, maintenance costs need to be considered. In a lease agreement, you can include maintenance costs in your monthly rentals or arrange maintenance yourself. Whichever you choose, you must ensure the lease vehicle is maintained correctly. If you buy a vehicle, maintenance is totally your responsibility and cost.

Personal and business leases are similar in that both allow you to access a brand-new car or van (or fleet for a business) without the responsibilities of ownership. You will pay fixed monthly rentals for a fixed time. At the end of the contract, you return the vehicle back to the leasing company. However, business leasing is different because you can claim back the VAT if you are eligible.