Jeep Buyer

In this day and age cars are a necessity in everyone’s life, if you are relying on public transport then you should expect being late to anywhere you go. People these days want to have extravagant cars to drive around in and they end up causing a fortune.

But is it really worth buying a new car these days? Let us see the reason why I do not really like this.
1.)  New cars are not made to last in this day and age; the manufacturers are very clever and only build cars for a certain lifespan so a new one has to be purchased.
2.) Even if the cars were built to last people are spread out all over the country, so basically people cover a lot more miles than they used to in the old days.
3.) Service parts for a vehicle cost a fortune.

I think back to when I first got my drivers licence, it was an amazing time, but I was driving a car that had been built in 1985 and done a huge amount of miles but never let me down. Nowadays I purchase newer cars and they are forever causing me a life time of problems.

Most people decide to purchase their vehicles on finance so by the time they pay them off the car would be dead anyway and then they would have to go and buy a new one, the manufacturers are very clever.  So in my opinion car leasing is probably one of the best options you pay probably less than you would as a monthly rate for finance, then when your term is up you hand the car back and get a brand new one, plus avoiding all of the cost of repairs and break downs.

Great Mercedes car leasing or BMW car leasing.

Just how far has the car industry come in recent years? From being a luxury way back in the 1930’s to the cheap affordable way you can buy them now using car contract hire it is amazing just how far they have come.

The best way for me to explain how far they have come is to talk about games. I’m going to go back to the days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or SNES for short. I really could perhaps go back further than the SNES but as it was really the first proper console I played it is best to cover the changes after this. F1 pole position was really the first driving game I had ever played and for 1993 it is a brilliant piece of gaming.

Four years later and a huge difference can be seen between the the last game and the newer version on the next Nintendo console. The graphic jump between the two is simply astounding. The 2-D to 3-D jump that took place between these two games was huge and it shows. The next jump skips the next generation of consoles and forms itself onto the PS3 and Xbox 360 as some of the graphics on the driving games on these consoles are so realstic it is truly unreal.V.

Of course this hasn’t just happened in the gaming world, many things have been tried and failed or been made into a huge success over the last few years. Without a doubt the best invention to come to the industry of cars has to be the Hybrid car. When the world's oil supply runs dry Hybrid cars will most certainly be one of the main solutions to solve the problem, at least in the car business. As well as this recent technology enables them to run for longer by putting charge into the vehicle whenever you break.

Some of the other technology in the car is fantastic such as the touchscreen's and the never to be forgotten tomtom system.

The Hyrbid car is only going to increase in sales (after the recession that is) and will certainly be the car of the future, but for nowl, you need a car that is both decent and afforable. Leased cars can work out a lot cheaper? The Audi contract hire looks pretty good as well as being as little as £214 a month.

Car leasing, personal contract purchase, contract hire, lease purchase and car loans are all different ways to finance the cost of cars and vans. The variety of vehicle financing options available today can be confusing so I thought I would focus on ‘contract hire’ and explain how this technique works.

Leasing a car basically takes care of one of the biggest financial issues associated with acquiring a new vehicle which is depreciation. As soon as you’ve been handed the keys to your brand new motor its value falls through the floor.

When you take out a new car lease the residual value of your chosen car or van will be calculated by your supplier. This is the estimated value of the vehicle at the end of the agreed lease period, usually 2 or 3 years, based on your expected mileage in that period. The calculated residual value of your chosen vehicle is then deducted from either the current manufacturers retail price, or a value agreed with the leasing firm, and you will pay the remainder through your monthly lease payments. So the higher the residual value in comparison with the current value, the less you will be paying each month.

Contract hire is a vehicle financing method that has maximum benefit for customers who are registered for VAT, so it is most suitable for businesses and the self-employed. If your vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes you can reclaim 100% of the VAT. Even if you use your car or van for some personal use you can still reclaim 50% of the VAT.

A contract hire agreement means that you have actually hired the selected car or van for an agreed period, usually between 1 and 5 years, during which time you will pay the agreed rental, based upon mileage. At the end of the agreed contract hire period, as in the case of car leasing, the vehicle is returned to the supplier. You will not encounter any painful surprise disposal or depreciation costs.

Contract hire can optionally include full vehicle maintenance which may include routine servicing and replacement tyres. Up to 100% of your contract hire rental charges can be offset against your taxable profits and minimal capital outlay is required.

It’s no surprise that contract hire is the favoured vehicle financing option for many businesses and self-employed people.

For cheap car leasing I recommend Nationwide Vehicle Contracts.

From April 2009 it has been announced that there are new rules regarding tax relief on business cars. This would make quite a difference to the capital allowances so it may be more practical to change your car sooner than you had anticipated.

This Pre-Budget report details allowances are based on the vehicles carbon dioxide emissions. The ones mainly affected will be those acquired after the 31st March 2009 for companies and for sole traders and partnerships this will then apply after 5th April 09.

After April it will only be cars with co2 emissions that are up to 160g/km that will attract allowances at just 10%. Therefore buy a vehicle before April and keep the higher rate of relief.

It is beleived that even the more upmarket cars with emissions up to 160 g/km may be a better proposition to buy now. At the present time if you are thinking about buying a car which costs more than £12,000 writing down allowances will be curtailed to £3,000 a year. However you will be entitled to a balancing allowance when you get rid of it. Ultimately the entire capital cost of the vehicle is allowed for tax in its lifetime.

These new rules will remove the £3,000 limit and the allowance. In the case of the expensive car which will normally lose its value much quicker than the rate of capital allowances, this will mean that there could well be a shortfall in allowances as in comparison to the cost of the car in its lifetime.

Under these new rules it appears that businesses that lease cars that are expensive should indeed benefit. The restriction on tax relief on lease rentals for cars above £12,000 will be replaced by 15% disallowance of lease rental payments on cars with co2 emissions that are above 160g/km. This will be regardless of their cost.

Some of us choose to purchase our vehicles but some of us choose to lease them. The question is which is best, lease or buy?

Look upon a car lease like a long term rental. In fact you do not really own the vehicle and at the end of the lease you will then return it and pay any end of lease cost that is due, to complete your contract.

In contrast When you buy a car and pay for it with a loan, the car is still your property at the end of the loan period. If you then wish to buy a new vehicle it will be up to you to trade in or sell the old one.

Most new cars will lose their value just as soon as you drive out of the sales room! It also depreciates with age and as the mileage is larger.

Lease payments will cover just the portion of the cars value that you use during the time you drive it, the depreciation and not its complete cost. Finance charges are added on to your payment.

When you purchase a car with a loan you are liable for paying its full cost, plus finance charges. Depending on your deposit or the value of your trade in vehicle, this can result in higher payments than for a lease, even if you get a long term loan.

At the end of the lease you may be liable to pay excess mileage fees. A maximum number of mileage is usually stipulated that you can drive during the lease period. It is policy that you would normally repay a charge per mile for every mile driven over that limit. You can often buy extra mileage at the beginning of the contract at a cheaper rate than you would pay for the extra mileage at the end!

As regards damaging the car, the leasing company would naturally expect a degree of wear and tear. The car will be inspected for any damage or excessive wear and tear when it is returned at the end of the contract.
A fee would also have to be paid should you choose to end a car or van lease early.

The car lease company will not take responsibility for the maintenance of the car during the contract period. You will be responsible for the costs of maintaining the car, just as if you owned it.
Warranty on the car will be covered whoever owns it. Usually you will find that lease terms end before a vehicle goes out of warranty.

The best way to try to get an idea as to the deal that would suit you best is to work out how much you are actually prepared to pay to buy a vehicle. Add up all the payments you would make on the car, then compare that to the value when the payments cease. Owning a vehicle does not usually make money unless maybe when buying a classic car.

So, is it best to lease or buy?

Leasing:

A car lease might be best if you need a new car every two to three years.
It would be preferable to drive a new car but cannot afford to buy one.
On average you drive 15,000 miles or less each year.
You would not be using the vehicle in such a way that it would cause excessive wear and tear.
You are not in a position to make a large down payment.
You use the car for business and can legitimately write off your lease expenses.

Buying:

You plan to pay off the car and keep it to avoid loan payments.
You are in a position to pay for repairs after the warranty period has passed
You put more than 15,000 miles a year on a car
You have credit issues and sometimes if this is the case it will be easier to buy than to lease
You may intend to trade it in for another car in less than two years

With car leasing you get all the benefits of owning a car but without a lot of the downfalls, fisrtly you don’t have any huge upfront costs to pay with car contract hire, you may have to pay a small deposit but nothing compared to what a new car would cost you, usually all maintenance costs will be covered in the lease plan as well as any warranty so if anything goes wrong it wont cost you a penny. Road tax! its keeps getting more and more expensive but that’s also included in the cost of your lease agreement. Also you can drive away a car that you would have never normally been able to afford, there are some great deals out there for expensive cars so look out for things like Audi contract hire where you could drive away a flash car for just a small monthly fee. You get a brand new car every 2 to 3 years which means you always have the latest model. Also a car is not like a house, it loses its value over time so if you buy  anew car in 5 years time it will be worth a fraction of the cost meaning that you lose all the value you payed for. There are a few jargon terms that you may here if your looking at leasing a car so here’s a couple to keep your ear open for.
this is the reduction in the car’s value caused by age, mileage and condition. The depreciation of a vehicle is greatest during its first year. The make and model of the car can also have a huge bearing on the depreciation value.
Residual Value – this term refers to the predicted value of your car when it reaches the end of the lease agreement. This amount is very important as the monthly repayments will be based on the difference between the selling price and the residual value.