[bravo20]

one thing i didnt know before i started leasing my van was the RFL attracts VAT!so i pay £320 a year at present including VAT......

RFL doesn't  attract VAT.
The leasing company pay the road tax and its classed as a service when they recharge it to you so they have to add the VAT.
The road tax is £265.

[Spruce]

They always find damage with them when you return them I’ve heard that story many times,you’ll get a far better deal buying 1 through your bank.

This is why its important to get a booklet from them explaining how they determine the difference between fair wear and tear and actual damage.

If they won't give you this info then its time to find another finance house that will.

Quite a while back my late brother in law rented a luxury 4 x 4. Their criteria to determine damage was using a 20p piece. If the damage, say a stone chip was smaller than a 20p piece then it was classed as fair wear and tear. But we only found that out by asking for the booklet.

For example; Leaseplan provide a detailed 'fair wear and tear' guide for cars and a separate one for vans.
https://www.leaseplan.com/en-gb/my-lease-vehicle/return-your-vehicle/

I used to deal with a finance house who were absolute sticklers for charging for every stone chip. It was cheaper to call in a chip and dent repairer to fix them before returning the car to save their customer money. It was all a money making racket as most of the returns went directly to auction.  A couple of stone chips wouldn't have made any difference to the auction price.

The other trick is on hand over to make a point of visibly taking detailed hi resolution photographs of every panel of the car/van when handing it back.  Also take detailed photos on the interior and instrument panel with the engine running and mileage indicated.
Take a photo of the vehicles service book with each service completed.

Once the vehicle is out of your sight then you have no recourse. They can however claim for stuff they later 'find' in their 'workshop' missed at the initial inspection.

Personally having worked in the trade I would  certainly hesitate to lease a vehicle as a sole trader. I would most certainly not take a vehicle on Contract Hire because the risks are too highly loaded against me.

[NWH]

Give it take a bit of interest even if it’s a 1000 more if you buy a van through a business loan you can pay it back over you’re terms ie duration,if you are going to keep the vehicle 5-6-7 years I’d get a business-bank loan and own the vehicle at the end.

[Spruce]

Leasing is attractive as the final balloon payment makes for a lower monthly payment.

We often used to query the amount of the final payment as it was more than what we felt a 3 or 4 year old vehicle was worth at that age. They purposely made that payment higher to push the lessor to take on a new vehicle lease. You see, the finance house would use additional bonuses granted to finance houses against the new vehicle leased by the manufacturers to offset that final balloon payment.
That final balloon payment was supposed to be what the expected market price would be of the vehicle at the end of the contract.

[dazmond]

They always find damage with them when you return them I’ve heard that story many times,you’ll get a far better deal buying 1 through your bank.

This is why its important to get a booklet from them explaining how they determine the difference between fair wear and tear and actual damage.

If they won't give you this info then its time to find another finance house that will.

Quite a while back my late brother in law rented a luxury 4 x 4. Their criteria to determine damage was using a 20p piece. If the damage, say a stone chip was smaller than a 20p piece then it was classed as fair wear and tear. But we only found that out by asking for the booklet.

For example; Leaseplan provide a detailed 'fair wear and tear' guide for cars and a separate one for vans.
https://www.leaseplan.com/en-gb/my-lease-vehicle/return-your-vehicle/

I used to deal with a finance house who were absolute sticklers for charging for every stone chip. It was cheaper to call in a chip and dent repairer to fix them before returning the car to save their customer money. It was all a money making racket as most of the returns went directly to auction.  A couple of stone chips wouldn't have made any difference to the auction price.

The other trick is on hand over to make a point of visibly taking detailed hi resolution photographs of every panel of the car/van when handing it back.  Also take detailed photos on the interior and instrument panel with the engine running and mileage indicated.
Take a photo of the vehicles service book with each service completed.

Once the vehicle is out of your sight then you have no recourse. They can however claim for stuff they later 'find' in their 'workshop' missed at the initial inspection.

Personally having worked in the trade I would  certainly hesitate to lease a vehicle as a sole trader. I would most certainly not take a vehicle on Contract Hire because the risks are too highly loaded against me.

thanks for that spruce my golf GTD is with leaseplan.....ill be handing it back and getting another one next year so that booklet could prove handy!

[KS Cleaning]

Give it take a bit of interest even if it’s a 1000 more if you buy a van through a business loan you can pay it back over you’re terms ie duration,if you are going to keep the vehicle 5-6-7 years I’d get a business-bank loan and own the vehicle at the end.

Cheapest way is to take a personal loan over as short a term possible, the longer the term the more interest you pay.

[hotsteam]

Thanks for all the replies, hopefully we have learnt something from it !   

[NWH]

Give it take a bit of interest even if it’s a 1000 more if you buy a van through a business loan you can pay it back over you’re terms ie duration,if you are going to keep the vehicle 5-6-7 years I’d get a business-bank loan and own the vehicle at the end.

Cheapest way is to take a personal loan over as short a term possible, the longer the term the more interest you pay.

Who cares if you are earning the money you can ok pay more interest but have a better van  you can pay it over a longer and make the payments what you want each month,when I change my van I’ll probably be spending between 25-35k I keep my vans longer I’d rather do that than have 2 Vivaros in the same time.

[KS Cleaning]

Give it take a bit of interest even if it’s a 1000 more if you buy a van through a business loan you can pay it back over you’re terms ie duration,if you are going to keep the vehicle 5-6-7 years I’d get a business-bank loan and own the vehicle at the end.

Cheapest way is to take a personal loan over as short a term possible, the longer the term the more interest you pay.

Who cares if you are earning the money you can ok pay more interest but have a better van  you can pay it over a longer and make the payments what you want each month,when I change my van I’ll probably be spending between 25-35k I keep my vans longer I’d rather do that than have 2 Vivaros in the same time.

Who cares? Are you serious ? I would have thought anyone with the first clue on financial matters would care how much interest they pay on a loan.

[NWH]

Give or take over the course of 4-5 years it peanuts extra per month over leasing a van,I could buy the van I want or lease it over 2-3 years but that’s gonna cost me 5-600 quid a month and I’m not gonna own it.
I’ve looked into leasing-renting a van I’d rather buy 1 if I don’t want to pay out for a couple of years after I’ve owned it I don’t have too,I can continue to buy the same sort of van coz the exchange will give me more of a down payment as they hold there money more the VWs with all the bits on.

[Tristan R Clean]

A  VW Transporter for work is definitely a luxury.
A few of my mates have bought and run transporters for work. Nice vans feel solid to drive but you certainly pay through the nose for the prestige element.
They have still payed out on things that have gone wrong + usual wear and tear.
My last 2 vans have been Vivaros I had a clutch replaced on one and a drive shaft on the one I own now.
I paid £9500 for the one I have now 6 years ago.
I looked at Transporters but for work I think they are a luxury and not a business decision.

Tris

[NWH]

I do a fair bit of driving during the course of the week next time I’ll go for the DSG version,imo it’s worth the extra money I spend more time in my van than I do a car and I get nothing back for the car at the moment although we are looking into that as well before we change it.