Your Essential Guide to Personal Car Leasing and its Real Benefits

Car or vehicle leasing has become the choice of many more individuals today, firstly because it is less expensive and doesn’t cause too much of a dent in the pocket compared to buying a car or other vehicle. But leasing has other benefits as well. When you lease the vehicle, you don’t have to deal with the vehicle’s depreciation at the end of your lease term – all you have to do is return it to the car leasing company, and then you can lease another car if you want and enjoy the new car’s benefits once again. But if it’s your first time considering car leasing, it pays to get as much information about it as possible so you know what you are getting into and can make a well-informed decision. Here, then, is your essential guide to personal car leasing and its real benefits.

How it works

Car leasing is essentially a long-term agreement (from 24 to 48 months) where you can drive a vehicle exclusively for the period specified in the contract. Car leasing comes with a fixed price per month, and it is basically a less costly alternative to purchasing a vehicle outright. At the beginning of the lease contract, you will only have to settle an initial deposit or rental, which is often equivalent to about three or four monthly payments, depending on the car leasing company. You will then have to settle payments per month to the car leasing provider for the duration of your leasing agreement, and at the contract’s end, you will simply hand over the vehicle to the provider without any other obligations.

Personal contract hire: the most common car leasing agreement

If you are thinking of vehicle leasing for personal use, you are most probably thinking of a personal contract hire (PCH) agreement. Personal contract hire is the most common leasing agreement for private individuals, and with this, you are basically ‘renting’ a vehicle for a specific duration (as mentioned, from 24 months to 48 months).

What you can expect from PCH

With personal contract hire such as that offered by companies like www.genusleasing.com, you can expect a number of things. First of all, you will have to pay a fixed fee per month for use of the vehicle, and you can also take advantage of maintenance options, so you don’t have to worry about the vehicle’s maintenance during your lease contract. A car leasing provider will calculate your monthly rental based on the vehicle’s cost, the period or duration of the contract, the vehicle’s anticipated value (how much the vehicle would probably be worth at the end of the agreement), the allowance for mileage, and any extra options, such as a contract for maintenance and repairs.

With PCH, you will never be the actual owner of the vehicle – throughout your lease term, the vehicle is owned by the car leasing provider. But this is a good thing because you don’t have to deal with the vehicle’s depreciation at the end of the term and you don’t have to worry about how to dispose of it, either. You can simply return it to the provider once your contract ends.

The real benefits of personal contract hire agreements

• It doesn’t require a high initial deposit or rental.
• You are assured of a fixed rental fee throughout the duration of your contract, which makes for easier budget planning.
• You can benefit from flexible terms which can adhere to your financial situation and even your driving requirements and habits, as contract durations can be variable, and the terms of the mileage can be flexible as well.
• You don’t have to worry about the vehicle’s maintenance if you choose to have this covered by the company in your monthly fees.
• It allows you to make use of a vehicle you may not otherwise be able to afford to purchase.
• When you return the vehicle to the provider at the end of the contract, you don’t need to be concerned about depreciation or the disposal or selling of the vehicle.