FAQ's - Can I have extras fitted to the vehicle?

Yes you can, but be aware that most extras add nothing to the value of the car at the end of the lease, so the cost for a £500 extra will be over £20 per month on a 2 year lease, or around £14 per month on a 3 year lease. In some cases over specifying a car can actually devalue it – for example those nice wide carlos fandango wheels make auction buyers run a mile as they assume (probably correctly!) that the user was a boy racer and the car has been thrashed within an inch (2.54cm for anyone under 40!) of it’s life.

On certain prestige vehicles, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as metallic paint or automatic boxes. On some of these models the car will be almost impossible to sell at the end of the lease without certain extras and the lease rental will reflect this by making it cheaper to have the extras than not!

Extras are one of the vehicle manufacturer’s most loved sources of profit, and my advice is don’t stack your car up with them, unless you like burning money as a hobby!

I was silly enough to ignore my own advice on my last new Saab Aero and ticked the box for the Upgraded 13 speaker Stereo and Satellite Navigation. Total cost around £1,800! Result – I am now deaf cause the speakers are so loud and have bought a £200 Tom Tom portable sat nav because the Saab sat nav system is utter crap!!

So if you must have a flash set of alloys or similar why not buy them yourself, and then when the car goes back at the end of the lease refit the original wheels, and you can sell the alloys on e-bay, saving you £££££’s

Insuring you vehicle

Your contract does not include insurance and you must maintain fully comprehensive insurance for the duration of contract. Not all insurance companies will insure a leased vehicle, as you do not have title to the car and it is not your name on the registration document as the registered keeper. Try popping “lease car insurance” into Google, and you should find plenty of specialists that will insure, and it should not cost any more!

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