Buy or lease?

[jonn]

Hi,

I am considering whether or not to buy or lease a new Mercedes but cannot decide whether it is a good option.

The cars i am considering is a new Mercedes SL350. My intention is to have one for only a year or 2 so the question is buy 2nd hand one for about £27,000 and then sell or do the lease.

Roughly how much would a SL350 depreciate in 1 year? And does anyone know the benefits of leasing?

Thanks

 

[Ratz]

This has been discussed quite extensively before if you do a search for it. The most basic way to look at the cost is where does the risk lie? If you lease/lease purchase/contract hire/PCP the risk is with the finance company, but you know exactly how much it will cost. Buying outright the risk is with you so will most likely be cheaper but then there is uncertainty.

Take a look at www.contracthireandleasing.com to get some idea of competitive costs. To get an idea of depreciation go to www.autobytel.co.uk and choose your car the in top right had corner of resulting page you can chose to 'finance this car', choose to do it by PCP. The resulting page then details monthly payments etc, but more importantly you can choose the term and you are given a GFV (guaranteed future value) which gives a rough idea of depreciation. However, be aware that this value is bottom dollar because the finance company looks to make some money on the vehicle and the end of the term.