New cars are so expensive that leasing looks more and more irresistible
Mike Rutherford thinks leasing is the answer for those looking for a new car on a budget
My advice to anyone thinking of purchasing a brand-new car in an uncertain, inflation-ravaged Britain in the final months of 2025? Don’t. No need.
Currently, buyers typically have to make an upfront payment of between £40,000 and £50,000 for the right to buy and own an average factory-fresh model. That’s my idea of a big, instant, financially painful hit for a private motorist paying his or her own bills. And think closer to £60,000, if high-interest loans are taken out via banks and other financial institutions.
If you don’t have or can’t borrow this sort of money to spend in one hit, you’re not alone. You are the many, not the few. Fact is, for too many years, wages haven’t kept pace with new-car inflation. And that’s why so many consumers are now forced to abandon the idea of buying and owning. Instead, they’re leasing and becoming short, medium or long-term rental customers.
Go for it, I say. But you must, must, must shop around and spend within your means. Study the small print very carefully. Choose your preferred length of lease and likely annual mileage (for example 24 months/5,000 miles). Be flexible and open-minded about makes, models and colours. Look beyond the headline-grabbing monthly payment figure. And never forget this: the figure that matters most is the one spelling out the total cost of your chosen lease period – from day one to day 730 (if you opt for a two-year deal).
If you want a mid-sized, non-premium SUV, you might well make an initial payment (including a broker fee) of about £5,000, followed by 23 payments of, say, £400 a month. The total cost, in round figures, is £14,200 – or about £19.50 daily. Not bad, but not great.
Me, I’m a bit of a tightwad. So I’d only be prepared to pay about half as much. Furthermore, I’d want a larger than mid-sized car for my money.
And without having to look too far (the car-leasing deals section of the Auto Express website), I found that vehicle: a Vauxhall Grandland 1.2 Hybrid 145 e-DCT6 GS with a surprisingly high spec, metallic paint and officially capable of 50mpg-plus, which is impressive for a boxy, spacious barge of a load-lugger that’s almost 4.7 metres long.
Admittedly, it’s not the greatest or most exciting big SUV. But thanks to its modest initial payment of £2,547 (including fee) followed by 23 monthly payments of £192, the total cost for the entire two-year lease is just £6,970. That’s equivalent to around £9.50 a day – for the exclusive use of a big, new, credible, well kitted-out workhorse SUV.
Motorists who insist on buying outright – and have the financial means to do so – face a recommended retail price of almost £37,000 (plus likely interest charges) for this petrol-electric Vauxhall. But those willing to lease it for two years can do so for less than a tenner a day. I rest my case.
You can lease a new car through our Buy a Car service. Click to find a great deal, or check our some of the best options below...
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