pay 23k in one lump sum or have a new van on your drive in 3 weeks for less than a grand and ongoing monthly payments of £215?ill take the lease thanks....
I've done both. The famous Doblo I got on what I call lease purchase and I paid for it on a balloon payment and then finalised it with a peppercorn sum after four years.
The Hyundai was 16.5K in a lump sum which I arranged an overdraft for but made sure it was paid off in twelve months.
It is interesting how time changes people's perception of things.
At one time, probably 40 years ago, a large portion of TV's in peoples homes were rentals.
Now I don't believe that its not even possible to rent a TV. Everybody buys them - usually on their credit card.
Leasing was orginally for businesses needing to spread the cost of a necessary expense over a longer period. Basically, a lease is renting a vehicle's depreciation with a bit of profit (interest) in it for the finance house. It was made easy to get into the leasing schemes but had a long term goal of getting a customer into a cycle he couldn't afford to get out of without lowering his standards. (In other words, if you are used to driving a new car every 3 years, are you going to cancel this and drive an old banger to cut costs?)
Once you are drawn in they generally have you back for repeat business. You are on their 'treadmill.'
For you, your purchase lease meant the the Doblo was an asset on your books. Had you taken the Doblo on Contract Hire, its not an asset on your books. To make big business look more healthy, having less assets makes the company appear to be more successful, especially if your company is on the stock exchange. If you are a LTD company then this could be an important consideration for putting company cars on Contract Hire, but not working vans.