Car Leasing Blog

Do you get excited about going down to the dealership to look for a new or used car?  Everybody loves spending a weekend afternoon with a high-pressure car salesman, right?  More and more consumers are foregoing the trip to the lot and getting online instead.  The internet offers a multitude of car buying options, and buyers are taking notice.  In fact, nearly a third of automotive transactions now take place online. 

Shopping online increases selection, helping the consumer find the exact car they desire at a price they can handle.  The problem is that the perfect car might not always be located right around the corner.  Some sites may offer shipping (at a premium or otherwise), but often the customer is left to ponder shipping on their own.  When choosing a shipping method, the buyer must take several important factors into consideration:

Timeframe: Auto shipping can take awhile.  Pencil in about a month of advance planning.  Keep in mind that it will take you some time to properly prepare and inspect the vehicle before shipping.  Document any previous damage and ask the transporter if there is anything special you should do to get your vehicle ready.

Budget:  Do the math!  Consider how you might ship your vehicle before you buy.  If you spend too much on shipping, it may negate the savings from buying online.  Don’t assume that the first quote you get is also the lowest.  Shop around and you could save yourself a substantial amount of money.

Reliability:  If you use a shipping company, make sure to do your homework.  Ask for references and check the company’s insurance.  You should always get a written contract and review it thoroughly.  This will be critical if anything happens to go awry during transport.  If you don not have the terms of your shipment in writing, you could be left with no legal recourse.

Alternatives:  Can you pick the car up and drive it home?  Maybe you can pay someone to drive it for you.  Get creative!

Next time you’re in the market for a new car, don’t be surprised if you find yourself sitting in front of your computer instead of wasting your Sunday haggling at a dealership.  Don’t panic when it comes time to ship your new ride.  Do a little research and you’ll be behind the wheel in no time at all.

Written by Adam Greenspan of uShip.com, an auction style marketplace for Auto Transport.

A fully maintained lease offers complete peace of mind and financial security as the monthly figure you pay incorporates the total cost of routine servicing and maintenance. This way all servicing, tyres (normally excluding punctures), brakes and exhausts are covered with no additional cost. Should you go over your mileage allowance the pence per mile penalty will also incorporate maintenance. Therefore you should have no unexpected costs over the duration of the lease.

This is extremely beneficial to high mileage users, typically 20-30k per anum.

Lower mileage users, up to 20k per anum, should also consider non-maintained contracts on their own financial merit. This is due to one main factor:

Recent changes in European law (Block Exemption) mean you have the right to take your vehicle anywhere you choose for servicing. Providing the servicing garage use OEM parts and adhere to the manufacturers servicing schedules.

This greatly affects lower mileage leasing customers as dealership prices can be higher than other smaller or local garages.

Therefore my advice would always be to measure up the money saved from having the vehicle maintained yourself, to the peace of mind of a fully maintained contract. Higher mileage users may find the convenience aspect of a maintained contract appealing, whereas lower mileage users would see benefit in the money saved.

The latest new car P11d Values dave now been added to this website for download

Enjoy!

Company car users have for a long time got confused over the differences between P11d values and OTR values, so I am going to give you a hand

P11d Values

The P11d value of the vehicle is the taxable (company car tax) value of a vehicle. Any extras you add to the vehicle (alloys,sat nav,etc) is then added on at list price to this value

OTR Value / Purchase Cost

This is the price you (or the leasing / contract hire company) has paid for the vehicle. The obvious view is that the inland revenue dont care wether you ‘got a deal’ or not, or how much you paid for an ex demonstrator, they still want their pound of flesh

I hope this gives some clarity on the subject

Bye for now