Danny B

I'm thining of buying a new 2003 WRX, can't decide between bank loan over 48 months or PCP contract hire.
What do the majority of you have? (except for the flash sods who paid cash)
Lombard Direct are doing 7% apr on a loan which is good.
Cheers

Sennadog 93

If it looks too good to be true then it usually is. I shied away from PCP for that very reason and mates who have gone down that route have regretted it.

Leasing can make sense if you have your own business or short of cash but remember you are really only renting it at the end of the day and you won't be able to modify it either.

I'd go with a loan, which will cost you more in the short term but at the end of the repayment schedule, you'll not only own the vehicle but in the meantime you'll be able to upgrade it if you wish.

austen_wrx

I lease my MY02, and i'm very glad i have when you look at the deprication since the blob eye was released! I got mine for £250 + VAT on 18K/year. No deposit, no worries about selling and i know i get a new car in 2years time (another scoob or maybe a evo8?). My last car (passat), i lost 3 grand on it in 12months, it was 2 years old when i bought it and was a load of hassle to sell. If you want a new car every couple of years leasing is the best IMOA. You can modify the car, as long as it doesn't devalue it, you can always take the mods off when you hand it back, i had morrettes added to the lease, but wished i had bought them. Plus you never own it so it doesn't matter if you thrash the living daylights out of it, and if you have maintance included (i didn't, but wish i had!) you can shread your tyres and not give a monkeys!

Also you may own the car at the end if the payment term if you buy a car, but how many people keep a car longer than the payment term? I never have, so you are always paying a monthly fee, so why bother trying to own the car as you never will?

[Edited by austen_wrx - 2/17/2003 10:43:52 AM]

Wannabe

i own my car but that leasing lark sound bloody good

beano

I leased my MY99 5 door wagon, 3k deposit £390 per month including payment protection, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Possible equity in car at end for deposit on another (APPARENTLY!).
GFV was 11k....But, according to dealer recently, trade in value around 9.5/10k!!!
Appeared to be a good way to have a new car at the time.

The contract runs out this month, the vehicle has to be handed back in road worthy condition, including MOT and Tax, plus meeting the mileage and service(for warranty) criteria.
I missed the last interim service, and require 2 rear tyres, plus some body work damage to be looked at, in all I reckon £1000 to spend to hand it back.

I have therefore decided to purchase it and mod it, and try and sell later on in the year to hopefully accumalate some of my outlay. Mileage is only 23k over 3 years and I know how I have driven it etc.

I would not consider the PCP route again, mainly due to the service intervals and the high costs invloved with it being a performance vehicle! Although UK service interval now 12monthly?!

Try a loan.
Tesco offer excellent rates.
M&S offer a Purchase plan loan, whereby similar to Leasing in some ways. i.e 20k loan over 5yrs, 6k is deferred until end of agreement, pay it by selling car or increase loan for new vehicle. Equals low monthly payments, but in the long run you are paying a lot.

I would do your homework and shop around for the best possible finace/deal, look at imports, car supermarkets etc...this may help you clinch a deal with Subaru/IM?

Hope this helps a bit

Danny B

Thanks very much for all your advice, seems to be mixed opinions on leasing.
I'll do some more research first.

beano

Austin_wrx,
Did you lease through Subaru/IM or a seperate leasing company?

Danny,
I would also add that I don't think PCP is a bad thing (just didn't work out for me).
If you intend to keep the car for 4/5 years then purchase, as you can only lease from Sub/IM for a max of 42 months, and at least you may see some return for all that outlay over the years.
If you only intend to have the car for 2 years, beter to lease, you won't be hit by depreciation and the bigger services.

austen_wrx

Indepent company. I did loads of searching and bartering. The difference in prices was unbelievable! prices ranged from 250-350 for exactly the same car/miles/servicing. Subaru were close and were prepared to drop the prices, but the service was pretty shabby, and couldn't go as low as what i got in the end. Can't remember who i am with, i will have a look if you are interested.

beano

Austin,

Yeah, I'd be interested, but won't be looking until later in the year, due to way things have gone.

The only issue, is if you do this through Subaru/IM you have to follow the service intervals etc...otherwise they'll hit you with the costs when taking it back, I didn't even releaise I had to MOT (until recently, that is!) it before handing it back after the 3 years!

A mate of mine leased a Z3 through an independent, he didn't service it at all in 3 years and handed it back with a dent in it...no questions asked!!

So it must work for some!!


Cheers

Steve001

iTrader: (7)

I am on a lease with IM at the mo, a good deal at 260 per month.

this is my 4th car on lease

with a view to purchase, give the lease co. a bell towards the end of the lease and ask how much they want for the car, it can be quite suprising. last time i had a Vauxhall sri (yeh yeh i know ) and the least co. wanted 2k LESS than BOTTOM book price for it. a bargain if i wanted to keep it.

beano

Steve, thanks for that closing advice...I thought about trying that with IM, but didn't think they'd budge considering the price is a Guarenteed Future Value!

I'll let you know what they say!

My fingers are crossed!

Scooby Snacks

Guys - what IM that you keep referring to?

breezer

Just for a view from the other side of the coin ('scuse me for being a "flash sod" as you put it), I bought mine in cash cos

a) It was either that or a house deposit, and what's the point of having the money (lucky enough to get share options from previous employment) if you can't enjoy it - job wasn't certain enough to go buying a house yet, and I'm glad I didn't. As I've been told, you can live in a car, but you can't drive a house (although don't try living in a car, really don't). And if it comes to it I can sell the car quicker and with far less hassle (and probably less losses if I sell soon after buying) than moving house.

b) I still had to save cash, had a car I was happy with for the while previously to my Scoob (again bought outright - a hell of a lot less, my 1st car). Every month I didn't spend the cash, my money rose (back when interest rates weren't that bad in an ISA), and the scoob model year I was wanting got cheaper. Let someone else take the depreciation and be patient! I'm also not paying a finance's company's wages.

c) No monthly repayments to worry about - just running it. That's expensive enough without another 250-odd (or whatever) per month to allow for.

I plan on keeping the car for a few years, like my last one, so it makes sense to me. Just feel happier knowing it's actually mine and not partly/wholly owned by anyone else, and I don't have any other responsibilities to other companies for it.

(edit to correct the quote)

[Edited by breezer - 2/17/2003 6:14:56 PM]

superdon

I just got a great PCP deal through RAC Personal Leasing.

I was looking at leasing, but at the end of the day, the PCP costs the same per month and I have the option to buy it at the end if I want it.

StickyMicky

im busy waiting for the final checks to be done on my lombard direct loan so i can buy this wrx im after

apaerntly there a day behind with employment checks or sumthing, seams to be taking ages and ages
all i want is to pick up the wcoobs that i left my dam deposit down on ffs!!

7.9% apr i was qouted on a 10k loan

Dave P

Beano, sorry mate but you are confused. You have a Personal Contract Purchase. This differs from the lease that Austen has.

PCP you pay a deposit (normally 3k ish). Pay monthly installments and can either buy the car for the Guaranteed Future Value or just walk away. The car is registered in your name (or at least my last scooby on PCP was).

Leasing, you put 3 months down. Then pay a lease for, in my case 24 months at £290 per month. The car is registered in the finance companies name, they send you your road tax (got mine today) and at the end of the term you hand the car back. There is no option to buy unless you can strike a seperate deal.

I leased via my dealer who got me a very good price of £290. Finance by IM, International Motors the importer.

Austen, I paid for my very small mods for cash so I can take them off at the end of the lease.

The advantage of the lease is it locks up your losses. You know what the cost of the car is over a certain period. On my PCP last time where you can technically get a deposit towards your next car, I believe dealers got so badly burned that the GFV will rarely allow you to take much profit into your next car.

My thoughts.

Dave

beano

Dave P,

A sort of Yes and No?!!! And I'm red faced!

I think I worded my first posting wrong, mentioning leasing rather than PCP, but I’ll try not to dig my self in any further.

I was answering assuming PCP (the way I see it, a lease or rental) contract hire was private/personnel, which I think Danny was looking at, over a 3/4 year period

I thought Leasing was geared to the Business user, possibly where my confusion came in!! Or can private customers now go down this route over 2 years?

If so... Is Road tax included for both years, do you have to service the vehicle, or have you maintenance included in the £290 which covers all this?

I could be tempted down this route if it is favourable over a 2-year period, espcially if you know what your outlay will be!

Cheers

austen_wrx

I was going to contract hire mine through my company, but reimburse the company from the wages i pay myself, so not to fall into having a company car (errhh?). Anyway, what i found was that a lot of companies do personal contract hire, which is exactly the same terms as a business contract but you have to pay the VAT. Some companies charge a little extra for the personal (about £10/mnth) but some dont. I am with Contracts unlimited in stratford upon avon, but also try Scorpion. £249 +VAT (3+23 payments) over 2 years, 18k, no maint. Not sure how much an MY03 would be though. Makesure you hunt round and do some bargaining, they will discount it, and check out the servicing costs compared to the maintance agreements. I think Contracts unlimited wanted about £50 per month extra, looking back on it now, i wish i had taken it out. I dropped the car in for its 10k service last night £139!!! Its only £90 at TSL, but its a 200 mile round trip for me! Also i need a new set of tyres (£300), plus the £45 1k service and assuming £139 for the next one that is more than £600!