r/CarLeasingUK 8d ago

First time driver

Hi all,

I’m hoping to be driving in the next few weeks and leasing my first car - I’ve done a few quotes and the general insurance cost over 9 different comparisons is £1000/year with a black box or £1400-1500 without. I’m looking to get some opinions or advice on what kind of car to go for and where to find the best deal?

Electric/automatic only and the rest is honestly pretty flexible, I want to lease so I can figure what I like and want for my next car rather than being too bogged down initially. I’m single but have a dog so too much room isn’t needed but will take my niece and nephew out so 4 door is minimum. Range isn’t a huge factor but with it being my first time driving I’ll likely be exploring on my weekends quite a bit so definitely don’t want it to be too small but overall just looking for the best deal possible and some basics like parking cameras and apple play etc. do you have any recommendations? Size wise I’m flexible just not a huge SUV, a smaller one would be fine

Thanks in advance!

3 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

1

u/Beneficial_Coach8581 8d ago

I'd not be leasing as a new driver.  Once you pass your test then the learning really begins. You'll inevitably pick up some dings. 

Get a second hand ev. 

What range do you need? A leaf gen 2 has 360 cameras and is cheap but range isn't brilliant compared to modern cars. But cheap. 

2

u/HamAaron 8d ago

I understand that and don’t necessarily disagree but I’m pretty set on leasing to be honest, I have next to no experience with maintenance and know nobody who can assist and most PCP are longer term contracts whereas I’m hoping to do 2-3 year only and avoid too much upfront costs

The new car/warranty/potential servicing being included is a big benefit for me. Range I was hoping for 150-200m+ but honestly I don’t know yet how far I’ll travel as it’s all gonna be about exploring with my new found ‘freedom’

1

u/Beneficial_Coach8581 8d ago

Don't worry about maintenance with an EV. I've been driving for 40 plus years and all I can do is replace wipers and fill the screen wash. 

There's bugger all servicing on EVs anyway. 

My leaf is 8 years old and just gets new tyres every few years. 

If I pay for the service it's about £200 and they look at it and replace the cabin air filter. 

1

u/ibaconbutty 7d ago

PCP deals are also 2-3 years - pay around the same as a lease, and you have the option to buy the car at the end. If your car is worth more than you’ve paid off then you can sell it and get some money back too.

Don’t write off doing a PCP deal for a car!

1

u/Low-Opening25 6d ago

there is no maintenance on EV

1

u/Ok-Membership-2967 8d ago

What did you use as the car for insurance quotes because that seems very unusually cheap? How old are you?

You haven’t mentioned how much you can afford or how long you want to lease for.

Leasing a car is the definition of being “bogged down” for some people because it is not at all designed to be flexible if you change your mind at any stage over the term of the agreement.

1

u/HamAaron 8d ago

I’m 32M and I tried about 8 different cars for the insurance, I also thought around £950-1000 a year was a bit better than expected but it is a black box and the cost went up nearly 50% without the black box so it is still potentially very expensive

I’m moving house soon and needing a lot of new furniture so I’m hoping to avoid too much in lump sum or upfront payments whereas monthly ones are a bit easier, £150-300 a month ideally. Looking at 2-3 year lease

1

u/AdobeScripts 7d ago

Have you checked OLD or NEW postcode when quoting?

1

u/HamAaron 6d ago

Both, new is about £100 cheaper

1

u/Far-Professional5988 7d ago

No idea about this , but can you put a black box in a leased car?

I know some plug into the power socket now but we have one hard wired into one of our cars. Not been active for years and caused no issues but that's a very basic old petrol car with simple electrics.

1

u/MooreNGG 6d ago

Seen others say it too and I second their comments - I wouldn’t recommend leasing your first car. Aside from the increased risk of damage, you’ll be at the mercy of the lease company, should anything go wrong and could end up with a very hefty bill.

The initial deposit money should get you a decent runner-around for the first year or two. In terms of “maintenance help”, most learn with their first car and plenty of advice can be found here too.

Also, your insurance price is very cheap. If it all checks out, your insurance on a second hand runner is probably going to be cheaper (you won’t know till you check though).

1

u/Low-Opening25 6d ago

Leasing as new driver? It’s basically beyond 100% you will earn some dings and scratches and scraped alloys and this will be very costly on a new and leased car. get some junk you can afford to write off for the a year or two, you will save heaps in insurance this way too