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Original poster

Do you own or lease your cars?

129 replies

Turkeycondundrum · 11/02/2019 22:22

We currently own two cars. Both bought second hand with cash when we had some spare. They are not fancy cars, one is 4 years old, one is just over 10. We want to replace the older car, it's got high running and maintenance costs and we need something bigger as we now have two growing kids. So, we want to trade it in and get an estate. This time round, we have no spare cash and don't want to deplete our savings.

My DH is desperate for a 'nice' car and has worked out that we can afford to lease a fairly decent car. So we pay a monthly fee and then after 3 years, we just hand the car back and get another one.

I think we would be better off buying a decent second hand car on finance. But the monthly repayments are higher and the car isn't so nice. But at the end of it, we at least have an asset to our name.

DH is convinced lots of people lease their cars - and why their cars are much fancier than ours. I'm not sure he's right!

So anyway, long story short, do you own your car/s or lease?

OP posts:
scaryteacher · 13/02/2019 11:44

Angels Both our Saab estates are petrol; dh's 9-5 is an automatic, and my 9-3 is manual. You can get so much stuff in them - one Christmas I had all my shopping, my Mum's luggage for staying with us, all the presents she was bringing, and we managed to get most of the contents of ds's room in Hall in, as he was on a termly contract. We managed not to open one of the doors or the boot til we got home, which was fun at Dover and the hotel we stayed at overnight.

AngelsWithSilverWings · 14/02/2019 15:06

@scaryteacher we managed to get a really great lease deal on a petrol Mercedes e class estate ( boot so big I think you could actually live in it!) It was cheaper than the Nissan X Trail we had originally planned to get.

Can't wait to see how much of our camping gear we can get in it! Hoping to do away with the trailer completely.

Need to update my previous post about not being charged for any damage. Got a letter today asking for £300 for the car that was collected on 31st Jan but we successfully disputed the charge for a (non existent) dent and they and they reduced it to £50 with no fuss.

FelicisWolf · 14/02/2019 15:39

What's the difference between PCP and lease hire? I thought I had my car on lease, but I seem to remember the dealer saying something about PCP. I thought it was the same thing!!

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scaryteacher · 14/02/2019 15:47

*Angels8 My dh sleeps in his Saab sometimes when he is off in Germany pursuing his sport.

I am always amazed by the sheer volume of stuff we can get in the boot of either Saab...it's surprising how much of Sainsbury's can fit in mine when going home to Belgium from the UK.

SherlockSays · 14/02/2019 15:58

We own our cars - both on finance.
I've seen many horror stories of the charges when returning a PCP car.

Zwischenwasser · 14/02/2019 16:01

PCP is a massive scam.....You have to get the car serviced in the method they specify. Except PCP requires several k more upfront, and higher monthly payment

Not strictly true. We have had several PCP deals, never paid much of a deposit, Lower payment than any loan or lease. Including a supposedly amazing salary sacrifice scheme DH work Oh, and we get our local garage to do the services, for a fraction of main dealer cost. If they use genuine parts it isn’t an issue.

The trick is you really have to shop around very aggressively. And trade the thing in BEFORE the end of the deal.

The other thing to bear in mind, whilst there seems to be a certain amount of pride/ inverse snobbery on Mumsnet in driving an old car, and the assumption that if you want a new car it is because you want to show off, actually newer cars are massively safer in a collision. There’s a whole load of angst on here too about the relative merits of various car seats, but people seem to overlook the affect of the big metal box it is sitting in.

If you are looking at the cost vs benefits of lease vs running an older vehicle you really need to factor safety and survivability in the event of a collision into that somehow. And whichever way you decide to go, get the highest safety rated, newest car you can reasonably afford.

icklekid · 14/02/2019 16:10

Depends if your bothered about a brand new car. If you are people are right and depleciation probably does mean leasing is worth it. We've always had older cars (currently 4 years old bought a year ago) and then the biggest drop in value is done. We will use it until it is done/no longer economic. I know a lot of people who just see it as another monthly expenditure but they would also buy furniture on finance and pay it back where as I save until I can afford. Just a different mindset...

wowfudge · 14/02/2019 16:10

I'm only switching to a PCH because the manufacturer I have had a number of PCPs with has over egged the residual value of cars and has therefore made its PCPs more expensive on a monthly basis. If you have no intention of buying the car at the end of the contract term, just pick whatever's cheapest for you. It's an affordable way of having a reliable car within warranty without the worry of repair bills.

redcaryellowcar · 14/02/2019 16:45

I think leasing is worth considering, especially if it's the sort where you pay a monthly fee, and get all servicing, repairs etc included. Do be careful on mileage though as they seem reasonable but often mileage is set very low.
We bought our last car outright, but have worked out with depreciation and setting aside money each month to replace this car when it eventually needs to be replaced, that leasing is a viable alternative.

irunlikeahipoo · 14/02/2019 16:53

Lease we lease all three of our cars a X1 a Volvo x60 and a Mercedes CLK
If you don’t do huge mileage and aren’t fussy on colours and interior spec then leasing Is great
Despite the horrific website she has we have leased with lings cars for many years
Don’t go to a main dealer for a lease I’ve always found them to be twice the price

My DH Mercedes was £270 more and 4 times the deposit from a Mercedes dealer compared to Lings car leasing

irunlikeahipoo · 14/02/2019 16:55

My DH put down 1150 deposit on his Mercedes which inc a admin fee and it’s a three year lease inc road tax

M0reGinPlease · 14/02/2019 17:07

Lease.

After years of driving crappy, unreliable cars we leased a good quality family car and also pay a monthly maintenance fee which includes absolutely everything from breakdown recovery to unlimited tyres, to lightbulbs. All we pay on top is insurance.

It's not really accurate to say leasing is a waste of money. A car is a rapidly depreciating asset- the minute you drive a brand new car off the forecourt it's value has gone down. Work out what you'd pay on a lease vs the depreciation of a brand new car, or the maintenance of a second hand. It's actually a very cheap way to drive a new car.

Juanbablo · 14/02/2019 17:23

We own my car which I inherited from my dad. DH's car is a company car.

ArtisanPopcorn · 14/02/2019 17:27

I've always just bought cheap old cars. What happens if you damage a lease car? What's the least per month you can pay for a lease? I know nothing about leasing!

I bought my car for £1200 and am paying £200 back in to my savings per month so it's all done in 6 months.

Delatron · 14/02/2019 17:30

Lease. Every time now.

We had such a bad run with cars, quite new, bought outright but then breaking down, new engines needed etc. Then the dramatic depreciation means I just don’t think cars are good assets to own.

I love leasing, never had any issues, if there are they are covered under warranty. The poster who mentioned safety is right. After being in a crash with a lorry I am happy to pay more to lease a new, safe car than to cobble together the money to buy a second hand car that will only go down in value and not be as safe.

Wendywoo1000 · 14/02/2019 17:44

If i earned enough per month id lease. My car is 4 yrs old and great and I was given money to buy it.

But maybe one day i will. I drive a lot at the moment. Last 12 months i did 14,000 miles. Once the older 2 drive themselves im hoping to lease

Decormad38 · 14/02/2019 17:48

Lease. I need a totally reliable car. It has been. Previous owned cars gave me no end of expense and bother.

Delatron · 14/02/2019 17:53

Reliability was a factor for us to lease too. It got to the point where I’d get in my previous car (owned) and be unsure if it would even make a long journey we had so many problems. Cost a fortune.

BagofTeeth · 14/02/2019 17:55

We own. A friend lost out a lot of money with a lease as they made her pay through the nose for every single tiny bit of damage (and she's a very careful person so didn't think it was bad other than a couple of little scratches from other people's car doors) and told us to avoid doing it at all.

Howmanysleepstilchristmas · 14/02/2019 18:04

Lease is a nightmare. The garage we had to use refused to service ours before the 2 year mark, though it was due based on mileage. We weren’t allowed to take it elsewhere.
It broke down to a tune of £10,000. We were told we’d be liable as it wasn’t serviced.
We thought all repairs and maintenance were covered by lease, but couldn’t have the maintenance done and the repair was apparently not covered.
I’d never lease again! At least if you owned it you could choose to repair or sell as is.

paranoiamumma · 14/02/2019 18:09

I lease a car, reason for this I work community based and often need new tyres or services etc , these are covered in the lease , plus my insurance any repairs I feel it's no different than renting a house I am due my new up grade in April. It works for us we have a busy family and rarely massive savings ( we always have some but not huge ) I don't have to worry if something goes wrong I ring a number they collect and send me a courtesy car.

flowerycurtain · 14/02/2019 18:12

Do any lease options work for high mileage. Like 20000 plus a year?

paranoiamumma · 14/02/2019 18:13

@flowerycurtain mine is devised between business and personal i probably touch 20000 nearly

Lookingforadvice123 · 14/02/2019 18:20

We have always owned but now lease a brand new Ford Kuga for £230 a month. To own the same car would've cost a lot more a month in a loan (would never be able to buy a car outright!) and by the time we'd finally paid the loan off (with interest, obviously) the car wouldn't have been worth anywhere near as much.

It's not the same as renting property - a car loses value as soon as you drive away. Never own anything that moves.

Stupomax · 14/02/2019 18:45

We lease two and own one outright.

Last year, the one we own cost more in repairs than either of the others did in lease costs.

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