The Pros and Cons of Leasing Vs. Hire

What are the biggest factors you would consider when you buy, rent, or lease a car? Cost, model, miles, locations?

Recently I have been thinking about the benefits of perhaps lack of benefit to using a leasing service as opposed to a rental firm.

Well in the end it might not necessarily be one that is obvious. A large number of people are opting to book their travel or transportation online. Its always important to consider that your time is money and ensuring that you use a service that is both quick and intuitive should obviously be in your best interests. This should be double true for web pages. There is nothing more frustrating then attempting to give a company or agency your money only for them to apparently go out of their way to make it as time consuming and confusing as possible. More so when its a computer you cant reason with for something that should be simple.

Even after you get through the stage of finding and booking the right service for you, there is the pros and cons of leasing a Car vs Renting one. Car Rental and Van Hire provides a number of benefits such as the insurance cover, not having to worry about cleaning or upkeep of the engine, as well as having no long term obligations.

Leasing is much more of a long term system like renting by the month. Paying the leasing company monthly for the best running two or three years of the vehicle’s life. By the end of that you bring it back to the dealership and lease another new one, or not.

A downside to the lease though is that the maintenance falls on your head, the vehicles condition must be maintained inside and out. If not you are liable to pay excess wear-and-tear charges that would crimp any savings. So leasing is not the ideal choice for those who are messy or if you have kids.

There is also a limit to the number of miles in your lease contract, typically 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year. If you drive more than that, you’ll have to pay an excess mileage penalty of 10 cents to as much as 25 cents for every additional mile. On the other hand, if you drive too little, you don’t get credit for the unused miles. Lastly if you break the lease contract before its end you could potentially be indetbed in the thousands, for early termination fees and penalties-all due at once. Which could be equal the amount total had you stuck with the lease for its entire term.

It’s important to consider these pros and cons very carefully.

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