To lease or not to lease?

Never heard of it. But bumping this as I can think of at least one person who could possibly be interested in doing the same thing.

I think there are probably two types of leasing. One being a sort of long term rental but I have no idea of any costs or benefits but Ford at least have been doing a bit of a different scheme which I suppose is a cross between leasing/rental and long term HP - they did call the scheme Options. As far as I understand the car is initially down priced to something like half - you pay a leasing fee for an agreed time. -used to be three years - at the end of that period you either change cars and have an agreement for another car - walk away or pay the other half of the money for the car or take out an HP agreement with a bank etc. Our friend has been doing this for the last year or so and the scheme is still much the same - he gets servicing etc and any repairs in with his deal but he has damaged the door of the car and this has to be fixed at his expense. All the costs of the agreement are upfront and that will include any part exchange given. When we had our Ford serviced her in France a couple of months ago we asked for details about this scheme and this is what I understood it to be. But we still thought it expensive.

Interestingly when we bought our last car and paid upfront for the car I noticed there were a few conferences going on behind the scenes - we actually paid using our debit card - the salesman told me we were very unusual paying for a new car and no one did it - they were all leased or HP - so I would think this is why your son has said this. You would need to be sure though that you could make the monthly payments out of your budget - that is the bit which worries me and why I prefer to pay upfront if we can - or we have to wait a while!

As far as I know You don't ever own the car, unless you pay a lump sum ( decided by the garage ) after 3 years and I thought paid monthly according to the maximum OTR price. I also understood ( from those who do have this scheme) that the car has to be in perfect condition when returned and there is a milage limit. Although I expect all schemes are not the same.

You have no asset to sell, should you wish to change the car.

There are loads of bargains on nearly new cars, some almost half the OTR price. I've just bought a 2 year old car, under 10,000 miles with loads of extras and manufacturers warranty, at less than half the OTR price of a new one. I expect it to last a good few years!

Just IMO, I'm sure other opinions will be given by people who are in a scheme.
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We used the options scheme some years ago as my husband worked for Ford.

As long as you can afford to keep up the monthly payments you will always have a new car but that is money lost as you have no asset at the end.

You are better off looking around for a 0% finance deal on a new or used car. At least then you will have an asset at the end of the time.

There are lots of deals around on 0% finance as N&G suggest,also remember to look around for X demonstration cars there is usually a deal to be done and don't be affraid to offer well under list price as you may just have your offer accepted as I did when I bought my last car,it was just before new registrations came in and I got 2K off the list price.

A lady I know has been caught up in one of these schemes (never again she says) and she has now decided she doesn't like the car but is stuck with it for three years. If she changes it will cost her a lot of money.

Many thanks to all you lovely people for all your advice

Friends leased through the Ford scheme but in the end summoned up the courage and the finance to get out of it. You are tied into the scheme for ever unless you come up with a large lump sum after 3? years. They did say never again.

I would go for the 0% finance to buy your own if possible.
Or try to buy a second hand one with low mileage from a reputable dealer. The best time to buy is when the new registrations come out and people are anxious to trade in their cars for new ones - some people like to have the latest regos! There are then some good cars for sale which are not that old but a lot less pricey than a new one.

Can you not buy a new roof for your present convertible?

I had a really old one many years ago and bought a new roof for it after it leaked and I had ice inside it in the winter!

We lease our car as once the monthly payment is made there are no other bills to be paid or saved for. Part of the agreement is that the insurance is included together with any servicing or new tires. My car is my 'freedom' and we found it to be cheaper than buying our own car with all the bells and whistles that I need to be able to drive myself.
You pays your money and makes your choice really and I suppose it is 'horses for courses'. If you do your sums right then you just have to work out what it is worth to you personally.

Hi jalima did get a quote for new roof, two thousand pounds!! That's more than the cars worth, I nearly fell through the roof!!!

Make sure you are happy with the total price if you go for a 0% deal as whatever the publicity says about discounts etc you pay the top price for the car with no discount. We had advertising letters come to us from the garage we had bought a new car from a couple of years earlier and at first glance their prices etc looked good but if you multiply the monthly payments of the 0% deal it is the full list price.

I think my new roof was £30 which shows how long ago it was!

I have leased in the past. My deal was- pay a deposit then a monthly payment for 3 years. After that there was a choice, you could pay the balance or continue to lease with a new car. The final payment was agreed at the start of the deal and depends on your use and the condition of the car e.g. If your annual mileage was agreed at 10,000 mph and you have done 15 then you will be penalised. Deals will differ from garage to garage, We didn't get tyres and servicing but part of the deal included us having the service at a registered dealer, We would have used them anyway with a new car.
We were happy with this arrangement at the time but now we have decided that, as cars are so much more reliable these days to go for second hand. You can use savings so you can negotiate a better deal and put the 'payment' back into your own account. It depends on interest rates.
Buying a car is like booking a holiday, very unsatisfactory, one always feels one could have done better!