Contract hire?

VSS

Well-Known Member
Well, our third LR Discovery has come to the end of its road. We just wear them out.
Now, before anyone starts on with a load of Landy jokes, I'll just say that we've found them to be extremely practical, and ideal for our situation - part family car, part work vehicle. But we do work them hard and do a lot of heavy towing and I'm not that hot on maintenance.
Trouble is, what to do now. MOT runs out on Tuesday, and the next few weeks are our busiest with sheep sales, so need to be able to tow. To put this Disco back on the road would cost substantially more than the vehicle is worth, and would take a couple of weeks to do, so that's a non-starter, and there's no funds in the kitty for a replacement vehicle of any sort.

So, I'm looking at contract hire options. Seems a no-brainer in a way, as the monthly payments would total in a year no more than we've currently been paying in mechanics bills just to keep the disco going. Plus the benefit of a brand new vehicle - no MOT etc.
Trouble is, most of the suitable vehicles I can find available on these schemes at affordable rates are double-cab pick-ups, which I can't stand! But that's a minor point - I'm sure I could get used to driving a horrible looking vehicle if it wasn't costing me too much!

Would be interested to hear of anyone else's experience of sourcing their vehicles in this way - good points / bad points, and any recommendations.

Also, what about finance lease (where you end up owning the vehicle)? I don't think this is really an option for me as I wouldn't be able to afford the final payout, but would be interested to hear the pros and cons, and how it compares financially with contract hire.
 
Check the small print depending how many miles u o a year, if over 10-12K got quite dear. Also depending how ruff u are with them bashes/scratches etc i think they can fine/charge u for it.

Did look at them but i thought it was a dear way of having 1 esp if high mileage
 
I have been contract hiring vans and 4x4's for 9 years. The positives for me are a new vehicle every 3 years, reliability of a new vehicle, no MOT, no depreciation and fixed monthly costs. The down sides are. ....Estimate your yearly milage correctly as extra miles will cost more at the end of the contract and keep the vehicle damage free as this will cost when you return it.

I recommend giving Tim at Aire vans a call [FONT=arial, sans-serif]0113 225 9047 he has given me the best deals (and I've shopped around) he will also give you the info on contract hire compared to finance lease.

ATB
Day
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As above and secondly do the have what you're after kicking about ready to contract hire within a week ? My experience is usually not my pals been waiting months for his landy pick up .
norma
 
Check the small print depending how many miles u o a year, if over 10-12K got quite dear. Also depending how ruff u are with them bashes/scratches etc i think they can fine/charge u for it.

Did look at them but i thought it was a dear way of having 1 esp if high mileage

Correct. We got seriously stung when we tried to hand back three vehicles that an ex employee had taken on lease. The small print (which he clearly hadn't read) was a minefield. They wouldn't even let us buy them which would have been cheaper than paying the excess mileage, paying the remainder of the lease payments and having them fully refurbished just to hand back the keys!
 
The quote i got for doing 25K a year was massive u could of paid it up on finance for a lot less, and atleast u would own it at the end. I struggled to see why anyone could afford a lease at the money i was quoted.

Could u hire 1 for the busy period?? SHB hire 4x4's not sure wot other companies do
 
I lease everything now

Currently I run:

Jag XF 3.0V6 Lux costing 380 a month 10K a year

Toyota Aygo 125 a month 10K a year millage

Fiat 500 1.2S £90 a month 10k a year

Nissan NV200 Tekna van 170 a month 10k a year

Excess millage on them ranges from 5p (Fiat500, Jag Toyota) to 15p (Nissan van)

So 10K a year excess millage will cost £500 a year? Not a big deal and doing it this way you pay for exactly the miles you do

Every way i did the math I was better off. My last car purchase was £33,000 on a Shogun which I sold four years later for £9000

So I lost 24k in four years or £500 a month ignoring any money lost on fronting the 33K

I can lease a LOT of car for 500 a month
 
Thanks for all the replies - very helpful.

Chasey is right - the sums do make sense. Our current Discovery is a 2003 TD5. We paid £7000 for it four-and-a-half years ago, and it's cost getting on for £2000 per year to keep it going (spares, repairs, servicing, MOT etc). It's now worthless (unless anyone wants it for parts), so our motoring has cost us about £280 per month.
For £165 per month we could have a brand new LR Defender for 2 years, which would satisfy all our towing needs, not require MOT, and road tax is included in the price. What's not to like?
The mileage might be an issue - we're currently doing 18k in the Disco, and the hire would be based on 10k. However, we've got a little van we use as a runabout, so we could make more use of that to help keep the mileage down.

Countryboy - the fact that we wouldn't own the vehicle at the end is something I see as an advantage, not a disadvantage. Owning a vehicle is a massive drain on our finances. The depreciation alone would be eye-watering if we were to buy a vehicle on a finance deal. And you could bet you bottom dollar the ******* thing would break down the day after it became officially mine! I don't have much luck in that respect.
 
I'm seriously thinking about PCP. I've got a Disco and a Peugeot van. Neither of them great shakes. The running costs of two old and tired vehicles is steep especially as one is a commercial and the other a car so they require separate insurance policies.
I'd go for a single cab 4X4 pickup with a hard top. It would have as much if not more load carrying capacity as my van (though with a higher load height) and cover all my towing and 4X4 shooting needs. I can't stand double cab pickups. They're just very big, heavy thirsty cars with a boot with no lid on it. A covered single cab would be genuinely useful. But it looks as though that means an L200. Quite fancy the new Ford Ranger or the new Izuzu but everything except L200s seem to be double cab.
My typical mileage is about 15K. I wouldn't buy it. I replace it or hand it back. My reservation apart from the mileage is that as a builder my vehicles don't stay clean. The cab gets particularly dirty and its unavoidable. Wondering how much that would cost me.
 
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I'm seriously thinking about PCP. I've got a Disco and a Peugeot van. Neither of them great shakes. The running costs of two old and tired vehicles is steep especially as one is a commercial and the other a car so they require separate insurance policies.
I'd go for a single cab 4X4 pickup with a hard top. It would have as much if not more load carrying capacity as my van (though with a higher load height) and cover all my towing and 4X4 shooting needs. I can't stand double cab pickups. They're just very big, heavy thirsty cars with a boot with no lid on it. A covered single cab would be genuinely useful. But it looks as though that means an L200. Quite fancy the new Ford Ranger or the new Izuzu but everything except L200s seem to be double cab.
My typical mileage is about 15K. I wouldn't buy it. I replace it or hand it back. My reservation apart from the mileage is that as a builder my vehicles don't stay clean. The cab gets particularly dirty and its unavoidable. Wondering how much that would cost me.

The only wy to find out is to get a few quotes, wa a few years ago when i got a few and almost fell of the seat it wa so expensive, but if it works for other great.
I also don't appreciate motors so have no interrst in driving a new motor. Touch wood always been fairly lucky with repairs/breakdowns, but then again never owned a landy;)


Surely a double and single cab pick ups are almost the same, they are almost the same weight, will do same mpg, load capacity will also be the same just a smaller area. Also ur normal pickups are an ackward load space with a canopy on (double cabs are almost as bad) no matter wot u want it always ends up at the front so u have to climb in the back and clamber over the top of everything to get it.
Most companies will still sell noraml pick ups, just not so much demand and a lot cheaper on 2nd hand market than double.
Think double cabs are selling so well as such a good compromise, can get family/crew in motor but still got a decent area for tools at back which is seperate from cab so doesne get stinky.
Must admit i quite like double cabs apart from the ammount it costs to run the bloody things, every 4x4 (jimny's, l200 and navara) i've owned has been in the £30 per 100 mile for desiel/petrol, my wee scrapper van down to £12 per 100 and cheap to repair too etc
 
My little Peugeot van isn't that economical - though touch wood its been very reliable and owes me absolutely nothing. As its only me driving and I can only drive one vehicle at a time, my fuel usage isn't likely to change much by swapping to a 4X4 pickup. But I would save significantly by only having one vehicle to tax, insure and service.
There's quite a difference in available load space between single and double cabs. I can't get anything longer than 6' in the van. A single cab pickup would swallow that easily. I should get more load space and more weight carrying capacity than I've got now. All vans involve clambering unless they've got side doors. The only disadvantage I can see in a pickup is that they are higher to get into and even with a high-top canopy (which will add the better part of £2000 to a new price) they will have less headroom.
In an ideal world I'd have a van about the same size as the low-top SWB Transit but with high ground clearance and 4WD and painted green. And, unlike a pickup, you could get a full length roof-rack on it. Why does no-one make them? If you can have 4WD people carriers, why not 4WD car-derived vans?
 
In an ideal world I'd have a van about the same size as the low-top SWB Transit but with high ground clearance and 4WD and painted green. And, unlike a pickup, you could get a full length roof-rack on it. Why does no-one make them? If you can have 4WD people carriers, why not 4WD car-derived vans?

You're talking about Transit Connect or some such, not "real" Transit?

VW Caddy does come in 4wd, don't know about ground clearance but it's always a toss with individually suspended vehicles... and if you're gonna do anything with that 4wd I'd recommend an automatic transmission since a lowrange gear is likely not available...
 
Hi VSS
Looking for a disco for bits bud
How much do you want for it ?

Hi mate,
Someone on another forum has already asked about it, but you can have second shout. Haven't priced it yet, and will be taking some advice about the value.
It's actually in remarkably good nick, which is why I'm so disappointed that it won't get through the MOT without considerable expense. But anyone who's got some skill as a mechanic and can do welding would get it back on the road without spending too much. I haven't got that skill. I can mend broken sheep, but not broken cars.
 
Hi mate,
Someone on another forum has already asked about it, but you can have second shout. Haven't priced it yet, and will be taking some advice about the value.
It's actually in remarkably good nick, which is why I'm so disappointed that it won't get through the MOT without considerable expense. But anyone who's got some skill as a mechanic and can do welding would get it back on the road without spending too much. I haven't got that skill. I can mend broken sheep, but not broken cars.

Ha ha !
No problem VSS - please keep me in the loop if you dont mind
regards
jim
 
It's not looking so good now :-|

The missus spent all day on the 'phone yesterday getting quotes etc. Landrover Defender no longer available - they've stopped making them. (I knew that all along, but had forgotten :doh:). Lot's of places still advertising them at under £200 / month, but they don't actually have them anymore.
The only pickups with similar towing capacity (3.5 tonnes) would cost a lot more to hire. We can't get away with a lower towing capacity as our stock trailer weighs 1.7 tonnes, plus 50 lambs at around 35 - 40 kg takes up to - or even over - the limit.
Don't know what to do now, to be honest.
 
Few guys I know have got the Isuzu and are pleased with them. I did read your earlier post about pickups, but needs must when the devil drives. (Not sure if the pun was intended) The big toyota estate will pull the weight but is pricey. Also built to last.

Good to see you yesterday?

Best wishes,

David.
 
Sorted now. Thanks for all your input - much appreciated. Have decided to go for contact hire. Really, the only negative comments about C/H came from folk who'd never tried it. Most folk who've had hire vehicles said it was a brilliant system.
The downside is that we've now got a double cab pickup (yuck!).
The upside is that it's costing less than £200 / month, including tax, MOT etc.
Brand-spanking-new, straight out of the showroom - single figures on the clock!

A big thumbs up to John at Smithy Garage, Dyffryn Ardudwy. Head office told us it would be 3-4 weeks lead-in time, but he turned it around in 3-4 days so that we could get our rams to sale today. When we went to pick up the vehicle he'd even made up an extra numberplate for us to put on the trailer, no extra charge. Good old-fashioned customer service.
 
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