Hi, first post on here so please be nice 
I’ve tended to take my cars on a PCP deal these days but when my current deal runs out I wont be making the balloon payment. This got me thinking that really PCP is just another form of leasing and whether i should just be doing that instead - i don’t really know much about leasing though and the best way to get a good deal
Are any leasing pro’s able to offer some advice on the pro’s and cons and maybe even suggest some of the good brokers?
Cheers!
Hi Yorkie and welcome 
I’ve done all 3 - bought outright, leased and PCP’d. In the order of (my) preference it would be PCP, buy outright, Lease.
Financially, buy outright is best followed by PCP and lease. The reason I say this is (despite the usual, and rapid depreciation with cars) you have something at the end of it - like to keep, sell or use as a deposit on a newer car. With leasing it’s literally gone and if you can’t afford to buy outright you’ll be back into paying a large deposit on the next lease one.
Also consider hidden costs with leasing. The car is not registered in your name (unlike buying & PCP) - it is the leasing company that own it. So if you speed or get a parking ticket, the authorities send the paperwork to the leasing company who then pass it onto you, along with an extra administration fee. Personalised registrations can also be ‘extra administration’ fees too - both to put on and take off, in addition to the DVLA retainer cost to take off.
Of course, each person’s financial position and preference will be different but in my experience I’d avoid leasing.
There are an infinite number of vehicle leasing companies in the marketplace and some will offer better deals than others. I’d recommend putting time into researching the available options so you’re well prepared if you choose to lease.
Bit of a ‘non-answer’ this, but it’s a big and subjective subject!
thank you!! appreciate the advice, I think i may stick to PCP
I am at a similar conjecture here and wanted some advice from the Forum. I only have about 16 of 49 payments left on my car. I don’t intend to go till the end and provide a balloon payment as i don’t think i will have the money for it (plan to put it on the house)
My 4 years will be up in 2024 July. Right now I have the typical 3 options of either giving it and walking away or upgrading to a newer version of the car or giving the optional final payment and keeping it which i do not want to do
Giving it back and walking away means I will not have access to a car and this would make me lose more capital buying a smaller second hand car and i am not sure i want to be spending more money than my current outgoings right now
Upgrading to a new car - just wary that i have done over the mileage i was allocated and i do have two small scratches on the car and i am not sure if they will charge me for this if i swap for another car with the dealer
Is the best option in this current climate just to keep paying it for the next year or so?
You have a couple of other options…
You can part-exchange the car against any other car (if they take part ex) or private sell the car. In most cases, be open about it that the finance is on there, and the people buying will pay the finance off first, and give you the rest.
You’ll need to get a settlement figure from the finance company, and then see what you can sell it for. The difference is yours to keep! 
In the current climate, I would strongly advise against just handing it back, as you’re throwing that potential positive equity away and down the drain for the car company to benefit from!
You don’t have to even trade the car in against another car, you can try westealanycar.com and see if they’ll offer you sensible rates.
The key things you need, to help guide your decision is:
You can literally walk into a dealer, feign interest in a car they have, and ask what they’d give you for yours, they’ll run some numbers, and come back to you, and then you can run away & think about it for a while.
Don’t feel pressured into any decision you make, and if you’re not happy, you still have a car! 
This is what Jag have given me, i requested the settlement figure. I’ll have a look at the resale value and see if there is something i can get here based on equity
I got the car on a 3.9% interest rate back in 2020. Just don’t want to rush and end up paying deposit for a newer car along with a higher interest rate to go along with
Haha yea. So realistically you can have £5k as a deposit on another car.
As you said, switching cars can be expensive now with increased interest etc. a personal loan may be cheaper than pcp finance depending on the car you’re after.
The other option is keep your car. Get a personal loan at the end of your current term, pay it off & then you keep the car etc 
I am leaning towards your advice about keeping it for now, if the interest rates start to go down by the end of the year, I’ll think about swapping it. not sure if i want to own a car in the end, PCP seemed to be the best option
You read a lot of bad things about We Buy Any Car but I had a great experience with them. Not only was the valuation good but the price that their system offered me after inspection (the person you deal with looks the car over and then fills in an online form) was actually greater than the valuation.
This is exactly the experience I had with them too in December.
That said, I’ve found the dealership that bought the car from WBAC and they’ve had to reduce the price multiple times. It’s still not sold, and they’re only going to make the slimmest of profits at the current price. Not my problem though, I’m the winner here.
I have just entered in to a PCP agreement and I’ve been told that all is approved ahead of collecting the car in the next few days. I am surprised though that I wasn’t asked any details about income? Is this the new normal?!
When I swapped cars for a new deal recently they crossed through the income bit and said they were no longer allowed to ask. They still do a credit check.
Maybe because the dealer was denying them if they weren’t over X amount? Could be seen as unfair
Seems crazy they don’t ask for income anymore.
For our most recent Stellantis finance deal they asked income. That was about nine months ago I think. But it was asked quite late in the process so maybe they don’t use it for the main decision.
I should clarify this is… (edit to remove this actually, so if you know you know)
Doesn’t really sound like responsible lending. What if you got a Cayenne on a £20k income and struggled to pay back? I suppose they can take the car so may be less concerned?
I used to work alongside a car finance department and a significant minority of people would finance a car they couldn’t afford and then try to haggle for a deal. Ths most memorable was someone with a very recent purchase of a £100,000 car offering £1 a week as they thought it might make the recovery people go away for a bit. As you said, they just took the car.
: since i assumed that’s what you meant and not westealanycar haha