Car Leasing Blog

The first step with walking into the daunting world of car leasing is gather your quotations from various companies and brokers.

Once you have gathered your quotations, start to order them by merit. This doesn’t always mean by price, the following factors should be built into your filtering process.

Very importantly, MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS IN WRITING ! Thats the last time I will say it, if it goes wrong - dont post it here if you dont have it in writing.

1. The validity of the quotation - Check the smallprint for how long the quote is valid for.

2. The validity of the supplier - do they have a consumer credit licence, data protection licence, company reg number, etc,etc,etc. Alot of the industry is built up of part - time brokers and you may have to ring them while they are at work doing their real job.

3. Who is funding the deal - this should be a well know financial institution such as lex,lombard,lloyds,etc.

4. Who is supplying the deal - the exact dealership your car will be coming from.

5. How long - what is the delivery date, do they have a courtesy car provision if its late?

 Once you are perfectly comfortable with the provider of your quotation, its time to go ahead and complete a proposal form.

next time..

Car leasing has been prominent in the states for years, and is now becoming more and more popular in the uk. You can even lease a car personally, for private use in the uk.

 Haven’t heard about it yet?

There are several good reasons for that, prominently due to the power that car manufacturers and their respective dealerships have, but rest assured its a very real and efficient way of getting a brand new car.

Because this section of the blog is supposed to be the ‘idiots guide to car leasing’ I am going to run through the basic steps to obtaining a personal lease in the uk.

1. Try not to decide on an actual vehicle you require - you will get much more success obtaining a personal leasing special offer if you dont restrict yourself.

2. Set yourself a budget - And dont break it! no matter what the salesman says, stand by your guns.

3. Set yourself a timeframe - try to allow at least 6 - 12 weeks before you want your new car. With leasing, giving the company enough time to get the order and special offer in will only benefit you in the long run.

4. Stay away from the dealerships - they have much higher overheads than your average car leasing company, and you will pay for them.

5. Get a leasing broker - predominantly advertised on the internet, leasing brokers have low overheads and a high volume of vehicles so the prices are usually alot cheaper. Make sure you pick a reputable firm, even ask to see a copy of their Consumer Credit Licence if it makes you feel better.

6. Once you are happy with the leasing company and the quote, make your proposal. This will involve completing a personal proposal form. If the company are doing it right, they should ask you to prove your ID - Normally by faxing a copy of your driving licence and utility bill. This is a great way of preventing ID fraud.

7. When you get the finance descision, its time to order the vehicle. Dont be tempted to now start applying everywhere, this can seriously damage your credit file and wind you up with no offers of finance.

8. Once ordered, alot of leasing companies tend to loose interest, keep calling to get updates. They should be providing you a decent service, after all this is the second biggest purchase most families make.

9. When your new car is delivered, check it over thoroughly. Once you have signed for it, there is no come back. So make sure you do it yourself, dont leave it to a neighbour or friend.

10. Enjoy your new car

If anyone has any questions relating to this post. Please Please dont hesitate to ask. I am more than happy to tap away at this laptop if it helps you to get through the process.