09/07/2026
My experience of leasing a car personallyš
Yesterday, my 2-year personal lease agreement came to an end and I had the somewhat sad experience of handing a car back that I had grown fond of over the last 2 yearsššš»
There are a lot of videos on social media about how a personal lease agreement is a āmoney drainā, i.e you would be better off buying a car (most likely second-hand) and then saving/investing any monthly savings instead of leasing a brand new carā¦
Letās face it, there are lots of financial reasons for or against leasing a car, all of which you can find on Googleš
so, in this post, Iām going to talk about my personal experience. Not just from a financial perspective, but from a life perspective too.
So, having just had a personal lease car, what do I think? What are the pros and cons based on my personal experience?
Pros:
ā
Before I started the personal lease agreement, I wanted to pass on my previous car to my sister for less-than-market value. Therefore, I couldnāt raise quite as much capital to purchase a different car outright. This meant a lease agreement was more financially viable at the time.
ā
Equally, I didnāt want to/couldnāt commit a big lump sum in purchasing a new car as I was saving for my first home, so most of my capital was tied up in a Lifetime ISA.
ā
Convenience was important for me - maintenance, tyres and road tax were all included in the lease agreement. And I liked the peace of mind knowing that if a tyre punctured, this would be covered for freeā¦ and this happened no fewer than 3 times during the lease!š² also, the car didnāt need to have an MOT!
ā
I āhadā (but didnāt āownā) a car that I loved the look of and liked how it felt while drivingā¦ and there was no way I could have afforded it newš
Cons:
ā Yes, the high monthly payments started to irk meā¦ especially as Iām a huge advocate of trying to keep your monthly direct debits down as much as possible. Also, as a personal lease, it was all paid from post-tax incomeā¦
ā Having a brand new car was not all itās cracked up to be - the car had several electrical issues early on, one of which was particularly bad/annoying. Plus, the horn and the cruise control didnāt work for most of the leaseš¤£ (however, these things were all covered by the manufacturerās warranty which is very valuable).
ā I was, particularly towards the end of the lease, worried about hitting the car! I purchased an additional insurance policy for chips and scratches but, even so, the car got chipped a couple of days before the end of the lease leaving no time for it to be fixedā¦ again, annoying as I might be charged for this!
Other thoughts:
ā I went nowhere near the agreed annual mileage but, had I not had a 3-month period where I mostly worked from home while on an Academy programme, I might have and this would have resulted in further charges.
ā I didnāt need to cancel the lease early but, if I had, this also would have resulted in further charges.
ā All around customer service, from the Lease company and the company that arranged the lease, was excellent. But you donāt need any of that if you own your car!
Overall, am I pleased that I personally leased a car? Yes I am!
Would I do it again? No, unless I canāt afford to buy a car outright in the future or itās a company lease car!š¤£
