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How To Choose The Right Car For You To Lease

When it comes to car leasing, the low cost of entry means that there is a huge number of cars available for you to choose from. Suddenly, all of those vehicles that you thought you could never afford are within reach and it can become overwhelming. We recently covered our picks for the Top 7 cars to lease in 2020, but those were our choices. What about you?

How do you know which car out of the myriad available is the right one for you? Hours, days even, can be spent crawling through all of the different lease sites out there to see what is available. You could look at every single lease deal and make notes about each one so you can compare costs and other factors, but you’ll still not be 100% sure which car is right for you.

After all, you’re about to sign up to what is typically a 3-year contract for a vehicle; you want to make sure you are going to be happy with the car you get. So, how do you choose the right car for you to lease? Here are our tips!

Pay Attention To Budget

We are going to start with the most obvious consideration first, just to get it out of the way. Your budget is probably going to be the biggest deciding factor in this process – or, at the very least, it will be the first filter to cut down the list of cars that you can look at.

However, you need to think about more than just the monthly payments. You need to consider things like the insurance costs of the car as well as the running costs. If you go for that big SUV with the 4-litre engine, whilst the monthly repayments might be cheap, can you actually afford the increase in insurance prices or the extra petrol it would need?

As a car lease deal is a medium-term commitment and a financial agreement, you need to ensure that you can actually afford all aspects of the car’s cost. If you can’t, then you will have to find a different vehicle to go for. Unfortunately, this may mean that your dream car becomes unobtainable, but there are so many out there for car leasing that you’ll be able to find another to fall in love with.

However, there are still a number of other factors that you need to take into consideration when choosing the right car for you to lease.

Decide On A Fuel Type

As we have already touched upon, one of the added costs that you need to budget for is fuel consumption. However, what that cost actually comes out to be will significantly change depending on the fuel type of the vehicle you choose.

For example, choosing a Diesel car means that you’ll be paying more per litre at the petrol station, but it might last that bit longer so you don’t need to fill up as much. Of course, with the future ban on Diesel cars here in the UK, it might be best to simply avoid these altogether.

So, that really leaves you with three choices for fuel type; petrol, hybrid and full electric.

Of the three, the most cost-efficient is definitely full electric. After all, not actually having to pay for petrol is a huge money saver. However, using a fully electric car does come with its own issue; you need to make sure you are able to charge it regularly. This typically means that you will need to plug your car into your mains at home, so your electricity bill may increase slightly.

When it comes to petrol cars, we all know what we are getting ourselves into. Decades of petrol cars being driven around mean that we don’t really need to go into much detail.

However, when it comes to hybrid cars, you actually get a really nice middle ground. You can run on the electric motor when it is charged so that your fuel costs stay low. But then, when it is low on charge, you can switch to the petrol engine to keep going and get your car charged back up.

So, as you can see, it is important to work out which fuel type you are going to want, and which you can actually afford.

Determine Your Mileage

The next thing that you need to really pay attention to is your mileage. As lease deals typically put a limit on the number of miles you are allowed to drive each year, it is important that you actually calculate how many you do.

Don’t rely on guesswork or estimates either. If you get it wrong and go over the limit, you’re going to have to pay an extra fee for each additional mile! So take the time and actually calculate it. The best way to do this is to look at how many miles you have done over 12 months in your previous car. That will give you the most accurate representation of your mileage. Your MOT certificate will be a great indicator, for example.

From there, you can narrow down the list of available cars to choose from by filtering out those not available for your necessary mileage.

Consider Your Lifestyle

Okay, so we have already filtered out a number of vehicles based on monetary aspects. Now it’s time to move onto the less-obvious things that you really need to think about when choosing a car.

The first of these is definitely your lifestyle. Once again, getting a car on a lease means that you will be tied to that car for 3 years or so. That means that you need to ensure the car is right for your lifestyle. So, you need to look at what you do every day and what you need your car for.

For example, do you have a long commute? Then you’ll want to get a car with high levels of comfort. Or perhaps you have a large family, so you’ll need a lot of space. There are so many different variables to consider when it comes to your lifestyle.

Compare What You Want With What You Need

When it comes to looking at your lifestyle, you need to be realistic with yourself. We all have those ideas and dreams that we want from a car, but if that car isn’t going to be suitable for what we need it for, then we shouldn’t be getting a car lease deal on it.

It is really important that you create a list of things you want compared to aspects that you actually need. Doing that can be quite challenging, as emotionally you “need” all of them, but in reality, that is because you want them.

Take A Look At The Features

Next up, you need to look at which features you really need to have in your vehicle. Now, we’re not talking about whether you want a CD player, as they are pretty much standard across all vehicles now. Instead, we’re talking about the more modern technology that cars come with.

For example, do you travel to new locations for work on a regular basis? If so, then a built-in GPS system on the dashboard could be extremely useful. Perhaps you like to listen to podcasts when you are commuting and a Bluetooth connection could be suitable. Basically, you need to look at your driving habits as well as the needs and habits of your family to determine which features are a must for you.

Then, you can filter down the cars available based on which ones meet your requirements, which ones don’t, and which exceed your requirements. From there, you can revisit the last point and see whether the ones that offer more than you need are worth it in terms of cost versus your desire for that additional technology and gadgetry. If not, then that’s another filter added and you’re quickly getting closer to finding the right car for you to lease.

Think Engine Size

This next step sort of goes back to the idea of additional costs associated with a car. We spoke earlier about the fuel consumption and insurance prices that vary depending on each car; well, part of that variation is led by the size of a car’s engine.

Typically, the bigger the engine is, the more you will pay for both fuel and insurance. This is because a larger engine needs to use a higher level of petrol or diesel in order to function, effectively guzzling through it compared to smaller cars. On top of this, bigger engines mean more power; more power means you can accelerate and drive faster. That is, of course, a concern for insurance companies and that’s why the insurance premium can go up.

However, there is another side to consider apart from money when it comes to engine size. You see, cars with smaller engines tend to be city cars like the Smart Car or Toyota Aygo, so if you are going to need something with more comfort for commuting then you’re going to want to avoid the smaller engines. Either way, you need to determine what engine size would be best for you, in terms of both finances and lifestyle. Doing that will help you to avoid getting a car that you can’t afford to run or doesn’t work with what your daily life requires.

Consider Boot Space

The penultimate aspect of a car that you need to consider is probably the most mundane of them all; the boot. This is probably something very few of us actually bother to think about when initially looking at the variety of cars available to us. After all, it’s the least exciting part of a vehicle. However, it is one of the most valuable.

Having a large enough boot space to fit everything you need on a daily basis is imperative. For example, if you have young children, is there going to be enough room to store a pushchair, your gym bag and weekly shopping?

If you really don’t need that much boot space then this isn’t something you really need to worry about. However, it is important to consider this.

So take a look at how much stuff you put in your boot on a regular basis. Oh, and make sure you keep in mind the fact that you’ll probably have to store a spare wheel in there as well, since they don’t come as standard anymore.

Look At Your Commute

Finally, we’re going to take one more look at your commute. After all, this is when you are going to be spending the most amount of time in your vehicle. However, we’re not talking about how long you are driving or how many miles you travel. Instead, we need to look at things like where you are driving and what the traffic is usually like.

If you’re typically driving down long stretches of the motorway, then something that is comfortable with cruising at consistent speeds would be best. On the other hand, if you need to travel through a number of housing estates or city streets, you’ll want a car that is nimble and easy to turn. With a commute, it isn’t just how long you drive for but what you will encounter when driving that is important.

So sit back and think about your most common journey; what obstacles do you need to deal with? Is the traffic particularly bad or can you let loose a little bit? Each of these aspects will have an effect on which car is best suited for you and your lifestyle needs.

Choosing The Right Deal

Once you have gone through all of those different filtering methods, you’ll have a list of cars that meet all of your requirements, meaning that you are one step closer to choosing the right car for you to lease. The next step would be to compare all of the deals available for your shortlist of vehicles.

However, you don’t need to start going through thousands of different car lease deal websites and noting down every deal you find. To make everything much simpler, you can check out a wide variety of car leasing deals right here, filtering by your shortlist and comparing each deal with ease. So why not take a look and finally choose the right car for you to lease?