Car Leasing News

Fiat has announced a complete range of comprehensive service plans, which includes all parts and labour costs associated with vehicle servicing. The Fiat Service Plans allow customers to spread the cost of car servicing on a fixed term monthly payment and budget accordingly.

The plans are based on how many miles the customer is doing and therefore how many services the car will need. Once this is worked out a cost is then calculated. For example a customer with a Fiat 500 1.2 could add a three year 27,000- mile plan for less than £13 a month.

The Value Service Plans are also available for low mileage users and for older (more than three years) vehicles. The programme also offers a courtesy car or local collection/delivery free wash and vacuum and 10% off all Fiat accessories. Or if you are thinking of leasing a new Fiat 50o you can of course opt for full maintenance contract hire which provides exactly the same facility.

Used Car Expert Magazine has revealed the top 5 best and worst performers in 4X4 vehicle depreciation over a three year period. Depreciation is the biggest cost to a motorist and when you buy your vehicle this is something you may not really consider.

That is why contract hire is such an attractive option as the risk on depreciation is with the leasing company, not you. This is also why a car that costs more to buy may actually have a lower rental on contract hire.

Here are the findings from Used Car Expert:

Autoquake.com, one of the UK’s leading used car auction sites selling ex-fleet cars, has announced that according to their figures, that used car prices are falling faster online than on dealer forecourts. A car which would have sold for £10,000 on Autoquake.com a month ago is now typically listed at £9,312.

Fredrik Skantze, Autoquake.com’s Co-founder said “After months of rising prices, we’re seeing signs that the used car bubble has burst. Values at auction have begun to slide and our prices are lower than they were a month ago”.

One thing is for sure, when you a buy a car rather than contract hire, you are liable for all the used car depreciation. So before you buy it is worth considering car leasing as an option.

The top ten Autoquake.com average percentage prices reductions last month are below. 

Golf Special Offer

Another attractive business car leasing offer that has been loaded on to the site this month is a Volkswagen Golf 1.4S three door hatchback. The car has a manufacturer list price of £13,400.50, a CO2 figure of 149g/km and a combined mpg of 44.1.

The terms are as follows;

- Non-maintained business contract hire (car leasing).

- Three year contract at 10,000 miles per annum.

- Rental profile of three in advance followed by 35 subsequent rentals i.e. 38 in total.

- Businesses that are VAT registered should remember that only 50% of the VAT is recoverable on the rental above.

- Metallic paint is available at an extra cost per month.

All Volkswagen car leasing offers can be found at the £ Shopper. Just enter Cars, then tick Volkswagen, choose your budget range, select business contract hire and then proceed to see all the Volkswagen cars available.

BMW 116i

The least expensive BMW offered on Comparecontracthire.com, following the latest pricing downloads, is the BMW 1 Series 116i 2.0-litre three door hatchback.

This car offers a combined mpg of 46.3, a CO2 figure of only 143g/km and has a manufacturer list price of £15,555. And for only £1 more per month plus VAT you can step up to the five door version, that lists at £16,080.

Using the £ Shopper price guide is great way to find a bargain. Just select Car, then BMW, then your price range, then business contract hire and finally press the proceed button to see all the results.

You will be surprised at cars that actually cost more to buy, may cost less when contract hiring. On the  example above, the difference between the manufacturer list price is £525 but the rental difference for the more expensive BMW is only £1 a month more, (i.e. £38 paid over the contract life).

The terms are as follows; 

- Non maintained business contract hire car leasing.

- Three year contract at 10,000 miles per annum.

- Rental terms are three in advance followed by 35 subsequent rentals (38 in total)

- Metallic paint will be an extra cost.

Don’t forget that if you are a normal VAT registered business, only 50% of the VAT that is added to the rental can be recovered. If you are a sole trader and do not pay VAT then you should add the full VAT to the rental above as this is what you will pay.

Suzuki Rear Eye

Suzuki has launched a snazzy new Rear Camera Display RCD) as an accessory option for the Grand Vitara, three and five-door models. The vehicle has a wide-angle camera mounted in the rear bumper that displays a camera picture on the rear view mirror once reverse gear is selected.

The transmits a high resolution image to a 3.5-inch screen and provides additional safety when reversing, especially in a larger vehicle. The accessory costs £459 including VAT and fitting so if you are thinking about contract hiring your next your Suzuki, this would be a great road safety feature to consider.

BMW 325D SE

Most of the Partners have now loaded their pricing and one “with maintenance” BMW car leasing special offer really stands out from the crowd. From only £311.00+ VAT, Arval is offering a BMW 325D SE 4 Door saloon manual.

Business car leasing (contract hire) terms as follows;

- Full maintenance business contract hire including routine servicing, mechanical repair, tyres, batteries and exhausts for the contract term.

- Three year contract at 10,000 miles per annum- other mileages and durations are available.

- Payment terms are three rentals in advance followed by 35 subsequent rentals.

Don’t forget if you are a VAT registered business you can only recover 50% of the VAT, on the finance element of the rental and 100% on the service element.

This car has a manufacturer list price of £27,305, a CO2 figure of 153g/km and a combined fuel consumption of 49.6mpg. This BMW car leasing special offer is an attractive package and if this car is not for you there are plenty of other maintenance contract hire offers on the site.

Fiat van deal

Fiat Professional has supplied more than 350 Fiat commercial vehicles to Scottish Southern Energy (SSE). The leading power supply provider will take delivery of 273 Fiat Fiorino 1.3 MultiJet SX and 79 Fiat Doblo Cargo 1.3 MultiJet SX vans, on a full maintenance contract hire arrangement over five years.

All the vehicles have a bespoke newly designed racking system and the Fiorinos come with passenger airbag and larger 15-inch alloy wheels, Michelin energy saving tyres, parking sensors and panelled bulkheads. Some of the Fiorinos will also come with Fiat’s Comfort Matic semi-automatic gearbox for use in London. All the vans are painted in solid blue and half wrapped in SSE logos.

DVLA 50

The coveted 5 0 vehicle registration plate has been sold to a mystery buyer for £87,853.75, at the DVLA Personalised Registrations autumn sale.

Other plates sold included 1 0, 2 0, 3 0 and 4 0 with the total being £566,344, all of which goes to the Treasury.

The final three-day auction 2009 will start on December 2nd at Tankersley Manor Hotel in Barnsley, Yorkshire, where 6 0 will be featured.

If you also plan to lease a contract hire vehicle you are allowed to fit a personalised registration to the vehicle as well.

30beats

Hyundai is running a competition called “30beats” to try and help the nation’s bedroom DJ’s win a car by using the Hyundai i30 as their instrument. After many late nights, 27 DJ’s have mixed and loaded their tracks onto YouTube and submitted them for a public vote.

Entries have come from across the country and some have used sound samples from the i30 and some their own extra layers of music. Voting is taking place for one month (ending on the 31st October 2009) and the winner will get a car worth over £11k. 

If you want to place your vote visit www.30beats.co.uk/entries/ . The Hyundai i30 is an excellent value for money car and Hyundai Contract Hire is also offering an excellent car leasing special offer on the Premium model.