5 Common Car Leasing Mistakes

October 23, 2009
Leasing Options

There are many car leasing opportunities for people in the UK today. This could be one reason for the popularity in vehicle leasing but if you’re going to do it yourself, you should first be aware of some of the common mistakes that people make when leasing a car or van.

Not properly comparing quotes. While it’s smart to compare quotes, some people don’t do it on a like-for-like basis. This is like comparing apples and oranges. The price doesn’t matter when you’re not comparing the same things. Make sure you’re clear on this before comparing quotes.
Avoid enhanced deposits (unless that’s what you’re looking for). Often companies will enhance the initial deposit to make your monthly payments appear lower. You’re still paying the same amount but you’re paying a lot of it upfront. Your deposit should normally be about three times the monthly payment.
Not noticing an extended lease. An easy mistake is to get suckered in on is a lease that has been extended past the norm to make the monthly payments look lower. The idea car lease period is 24 or 36 months. For van leasing, you will also see 48 months. Anything more than this is considered an extended lease.
Non-accredited company. When choosing your car leasing company, be sure to find someone who is properly accredited with the BVRLA. This is a competitive industry and those who are accredited will be held to higher quality and service standards.
Falling for “unlimited mileage” scams. These types of deals are basically Finance Lease options and there is no direct excess mileage charge. This works on a residual balloon figure so there is not really “unlimited” mileage. This can be a very risky contract to get into.

Now that you know about these five common car leasing mistakes, you can take the proper steps to make sure they don’t happen to you. Car leasing can be a very rewarding and pleasant experience. Don’t ruin it by making a mistake when you sign that contract.