| Is there much advantage in leasing a car as a private individual? You won't get the VAT back and you still get battered for tax, though I'm not an accountant so maybe talking rubbish.
I lease a pickup but I put it through my company books, as it's classed as a LGV I get 50% of the VAT back and I get tax benefits on the lease payments as it goes against company profit. Commercials get treated on a much lower rate to cars as a benefit for personal tax. I couldn't justify the cost of leasing a car, it was a load more expensive and too much complication.
With the deal I've got I get a new truck every six months which means I never hit the first service on the vehicle so no real maintenance costs (it's new so under warranty anyway), 24000miles p.a. as standard and I'm only tied in for six months, after that it's one month's notice for cancellation. The downside is that the company only offers certain vehicles so I couldn't get what I wanted (I wanted a Nissan Navara but ended up with a L200 instead), the usual handing it back in good condition clause (doesn't really matter to me as it's not getting any abuse) and I can't modify it (I'd like a towbar & hard-top on it).
Another thing to remember is that insurance companies may not pay out the full replacement value if it's written off or stolen. I'm still debating whether or not a gap insurance policy is worthwhile, though it's only another £60 or so.
Cheers,
Stuart
__________________ "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me" Hunter S Thompson http://www.snp.org |