Lock-In: Deals on Wheels
Series 2, Episode 5
Hosted: 30/09/2020 06:00:00 pm
On the 5th episode of the series, we took a look at the different ways that members can take advantage of our partnership with Dreamlease. Car leasing’s not something you’d usually associate with LNPG – it’s really a cherry on top of our membership, so don’t think of it as a car – imagine a house on wheels.
You can view the full webinar above, but if you’ve only got a few minutes, then scroll down to read the key talking points.
Brake it Down
There’s a lot of acronyms and jargon involved in getting a new vehicle, so let’s get that out of the way first. Before we go into more detail of what the webinar involves, here’s a quick break down of some of the recurring terms in the industry.
| Term | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
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PCP
|
Personal Contract Purchase is when an initial deposit fee for the vehicle is paid followed by monthly payments over a fixed contractual term (usually 2-4 years), with the option to buy the vehicle outright at the end of the contractual term with a final ‘balloon payment’. |
|
|
PCH |
Personal Contract Hire/Leasing is when no deposit fee is paid but usually a few months rental costs need to be paid upfront. Monthly payments are made over a fixed contractual term (usually 2-4 years) but there is no option to buy the car outright at the end of the term. |
|
|
HP |
Hire Purchase operates in the same way as a bank loan, monthly fees paid back at a variable APR rate dependent on the lender and your credit history. |
|
|
BCH |
Business Contract Hire is when no deposit fee is paid but usually a few months rental costs need to be paid up front by the business. The business pays a set monthly payment over a fixed contractual term (usually 2-4 years). The monthly costs tend to be cheaper than PCH because corporation tax and VAT are not factored into the cost. |
Suffice to say, leasing is what interests us in the webinar – as the old adage goes: buy what appreciates in value, lease what doesn’t.
A Deal of Dreams
You would expect that the best deals on new cars come from the people that make them, but sometimes the world just isn’t that simple. Quite often, manufacturers are restricted by a bottom selling price to customers that mean they cannot compete with bespoke leasing company. In Dreamlease’s case, we were shown a breakdown of the hire section (excluding balloon payment) of a PCP with Land Rover and the equivalent lease from Dreamlease. Despite Dreamlease acquiring the vehicle from Land Rover in the first place, they still came out over six thousand pounds cheaper; that’s not to be sniffed at!
Road-runner or Shop-runner?
Whatever contract you sign – be considerate of the amount of mileage that you actually need. Are you realistically doing some long-distance drives in the vehicle or do you simply want to arrive in style to do your weekly shop?
The contract lengths that you choose are usually between 2-4 years, calculate how much you drive in an average week and then gradually extend this quantity. Going over your mileage limit will result in additional charges, these can vary but if you find yourself always on the road, you won’t be happy with the bill at the end of the term. On the other hand, if you have over-estimated the mileage, you aren’t getting value for money.
Electric Avenue
Being eco-friendly is moving on from a mere trend, nowadays it is encouraged with financial support from the government. For cars that are priced under £50,000, a £3000 grant is provided. The cars do not power themselves though! A £350 grant is also put towards the chargers needed for the cars, the key charger brands that were name dropped in the webinar were: Chargemaster, Ecotricity and Padpoint. Save the planet and save money!
At Peace With A Lease
This webinar really brought about the benefits that can come from using Dreamlease to lease a car in general, but you could be thinking – what does this have to do with LNPG? Well if you use Dreamlease, they actually pay your tier 1 membership fee for the next year. compared to the total costs that come from leasing a car, any reduction in your costs that you have as a landlord is a huge benefit, particularly if you are in need of a vehicle anyway.
And don’t forget, its not always expensive sports cars, Dreamlease offer Business Contract Hire leases, and also vans which can could really come in handy moving things from property to property. If there’s a better deal to be had, Dreamlease will find it.
And that’s your lot! You can learn more about Dreamlease here.
