AIBU to ask if anyone leases a car instead of buying?

[QueenArnica]

Prior to having kids we had great, reliable cars between us.

Since the kids we've been really unlucky and have ended up losing money as they were so crap (worst was a Vauxhall Zafira that cost a fortune as kept going wrong and eventually got scrapped for £15

We have a lovely old Audi now which is fab to drive but the suspension is going and the repairs aren't worth doing.

Guy at the Audi dealership mentioned leasing, does anyone do this and are you happy with the arrangement? Am guessing you don't need to pay for upkeep or road tax. Do you have to buy a different kind of insurance? What happens if you have an accident?

Thanks in advance!

Something like 85 % of new car purchases are via lease arrangements, much higher than it was even 5 years ago. Some pros and cons here. There are different types of lease and you should always think carefully about any finance deals.
www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/leasing-a-car
The absolute cheapest way to buy a new car will always be with cash and keeping it for a long time. Depreciation always highest in the first few years. However with leasing you don't need lots of cash upfront and generally if you change your car every few years you will probably avoid significant repair bills at the 5-10 year point (especially true for diesel engines).

We had a lease car for two years and have bought one when that ended. It was good for us tbh, we didn't pay tax or anything extra for maintenance (we rolled the dice a bit and thought a brand new car should be ok although I know people who do add that in to the price). We just paid for servicing and that was just the first year as we returned it just as the second was due.

Only downside was it being another monthly bill as we had owed our cars outright before. It was low hassle really as we only had to pay a small charge in return for a scuffed alloy.

Insurance was normal with no issues but we had to state that the leasing company were the owners. We didn't have an accident so I'm not sure about that. We've only bought a car outright as we had the means now and have increased our mortgage so it was good to have rid of a monthly bill.

My Son-In-Laws do and for them, it's the cheapest way of having a new car, they both got a Kuga.

If you have an accident then you just go through your insurance as usual. You just need to tell the person giving you a quote that you are leasing, my Son-In-Laws aren't paying any more for their insurance because of that.

There are T&C's about repairs and when you come to swap, money is knocked off the value, if it's in a bad way. So for even a small bump, you have to go through the insurance, but I supposed that you'd want to if you've got a new car, anyway.

My Sister had a lease car for a year, but decided that she didn't want the monthly outlay, because having a new shiny car wasn't important, so got rid of hers.

We have 1 bought and one on lease. My husband drives the lease, however he had to set a number of miles he wouldn't go over each year, and at the end of the 4 year lease has to pay 6p per mile over the agreed amount. This has became a problem as only 18 months into the lease he's got a new job which is an extra 3 hours driving, 5 days a week. He's now either going to have to pay more per month to accommodate the change, pay £££ at the end of the contract for the extra miles, or swap cars with me to bring the mileage down.

I don't like driving the lease though (Audi) as I'm paranoid that it gets scratched/banged - whereas if something happens to my older car it's fine 😁

Fluffy he can always purchase the car at the end of the lease, which is what I like about leasing.

DH and I both lease cars. We love it. We couldn't afford new cars so this was the best solution as he has the kids a lot and I travel a ton for work.

To prevent Fluffy's scenario check the T&Cs, both my Son-In-Laws could pay a one off premium so they could Taxi, in their Cars.

They had to change jobs part way through the lease because of redundancy.

I lease and get the option of a new car every three years though I've just had a new one after two years. It's easy, hassle free and reliable for me. I only pay for my fuel, everything else is included in my finance payment. You can insure yourself, but the quotes were the same. Each year they send a letter renewing your insurance so you don't have that hassle either. Best thing I ever did, especially as I need a reliable car for my job. You pay excess if you go over mileage but I barely touch the mileage, think it's 6,000 a year, I did 5,000 in two years.

Yep - I lease.

£220/month for a brand new A3. Audi are really into keeping customers so it's cheaper than my A1 which I leased before (£280).
promptly got pregnant with DD after 8 years of trying and the bloody thing was too small

I love knowing how much my car is going to cost me every month, car allowance from work covers it, fuel and insurance and my mileage is low so my payment is too.

And a new car every 4 years, though in practice it works out every three with the way they time speaking to you.

Peugeot do a 'just add fuel' deal where it's literally everything included bar fuel. Keeps it simple

I do, because work pay for it. It's about £110 a month and the car is covered by manufacturer's guarantee if anything goes wrong.

When I paid for cars myself I'd buy something about 10 years old and drive it into the ground. When something broke, or when it came up for MOT and would need expensive repairs to pass, I'd buy a new one. Works out much cheaper than leasing.