Anyone know anything about lease cars - esp NHS?

I have leased my last 2 cars and plan to do it again for the next one.

However I lease privately and not through my work.

On both occasions I ahve decdied on my car and approached a number of companies for PCH (Personal Contract Hire) quotes. I have paid 3 months upfront and then pay a monhtly figure. At the end of the lease (you can choose the length but it's usually 2 or 3 years) you just give the car back and as long as it's not done more miles than you are contracted for then you just walk away.

I do mine on 3 year leases and have always done 10000 miles a year, this time though I am over on miles and will probably be about 5000 over by the time the car goes back. In that case I pay 5p for every mile I over over the contracted figure.

If you wanted to keep the car there is a balloon payment stated in your initial contract which you can pay at the end of the contract and keep the car.

I have recently been looking into my next car and have approached the dealer direct which I have never done before (always using leasing companies perviously) which has been quite sucessful as dealers seem very willing to do deals such as £99 deposit and will barter on monthly costs at the moment, I guess thanks to the state of the economy maybe.

It is I guess money down the drain as you never own the car, but by leasing new you never pay MOTs and usually you don't have problems such as chargeable breakdown callouts etc so save money on those sorts of things.

I'd always get my cars on lease now.

Hi,

I have an NHS lease car.

All trusts work it differently though although what is standard is the more work miles you do, the less the car costs you.

Your budget holder has to agree a lease car is going to be right for them cost wise too. And in fact if you do over a certain amount of work miles, they ask you to have a lease car as it works out better for the budget holder financially.

I have to give 3 cars for quotes when renewing mine. I have feree choice of car as long as it is not a soft top.

you have to quote how many business and how many private miles you will do per annum, the more work miles and less private the better value it is.

As an example i will break down my costs for you.

I have a Peugeot206 SW 1.4 deisel.

I quoted 10,000 private miles and 5,000 business miles a year

I pay approx £90 a month, it breaks down roughly to

£40 to lease

£30 to insure

£20 some tax or other, plus it affects my tax code, for the worse.

I then get business mileage at 14p a mile.

Sometimes with some companies your estimated business mileage is averaged out over the year and is taken off your payment, so you pay out less, but do not get a return on your mileage every month, it works better for tax purposes or something.

I do not pay for road tax, breakdown cover or servicing, or repairs that are no fault of my own like engine trouble or new tyres.

I do have a hefty excess though, i pay nothing for a first claim, £100 for a second, £500 for a third.

I can have extra drivers on my insurance, they have to be over 25 and it costs £15 a year.

I have been having lease cars for 12 years and it suits me as i get a new car every 3 years, do not have to worry about services repairs breakdowns or road tax.

The bad bit is it is not a perk but you get taxed as though it is one. the companies are very strict about any ding on its return and i have had rows about what constitutes fair wear and tear.

You won't know if this useful or applicable to you until you have a good idea of your mileage.

i hope that was not too waffly and is of some help.

SAme as girls already said.

My husband runs a lease business so PM me if you want any more info or a quote. If you give me tel no I'll him/someone to call you to discuss whether it would be good for you or not. He works with NHS so should have direct experience which may help!

Emma.

Thanks for all the info. I spoke to somebody and he more or less said the same as you've told me - that the more business miles I do the more the Trust will contribute. Trouble is I have no idea how many I will be doing as I will be doing different placements every year, plus my home to base mileage is 50 miles, so I'm not sure whether any of my mileage will count as business mileage or not as it will be generally less than this!

I know somebody else on my course has had one agreed though, so it might be feasible.

Keep in mind that you need to stay in the contract for 3 years or pay a hefty penalty (from experience this is very hefty so if you aren't 100% sure you will stay with the NHS for 3 years don't do it).

You are totally right that the more business miles you do the better it works out but you do need to give an accurate figure otherwise you might need to pay something towards the difference. Also if you go over your personal miles they will make you pay when you hand the car back after the 3 years and this can be a lot (again from experience).

I don't feel the lease scheme is nearly as good as it was and the prices have really shot up so look at both leasing and buying to see the price differences including the extra tax you would pay before deciding.

I should be there for 3 yrs because I'm starting a 3 yr funded doctorate (trainee clinical psychologist) so unless they boot me off the course I will be tied in for at least 3 yrs.

I think I'll need to weigh up all the pros and cons. I really need a new car though and I'm struggling to afford a decent one at the mo, but mine is on its last legs!

That takes that worry out of the decision then which is good. As far as I am aware if you would normally do 50 miles home to base but only did say 20 miles home to placement then you wouldn't be entitled to claim any business mileage expenses. Better check with your local trust though just in case they have different rules.

Interesting topic