Buying a car that was previously a Lease Car?

I saw and drove a 156 2.4 JTD Multijet 20V this morning. The car drove well and with a few things sorted here and there, would be quite tempting. She's 3.5 years old but has done only 19,000 miles. One owner. But the owner was a Leasehire company.

Any thoughts?

How much?

I would say its ok, as long as it's the right price, and has been serviced as and when it needed to be.

Hi Nev, £10K (which I would probably try to get knocked down to about £9K).

I'll check the service history Symon, I assume it will have been serviced correctly as per schedule.

I have has lease cars before as company cars andt treated them as my own.1 of them was an Alfa.

It wouldn't worry me unduly.

I think that in years gone by the hire car companies used to pretty much trash their cars, let them deteriorate, keep them for 30,000+ very hard miles without servicing them and then flog them off after a quick tart up. Result was some right old dogs being purchased second hand and the (sensible) advice to avoid ex-hire cars like the plague.

In the last 5-10 years that's changed somewhat. Firstly most reputable hire car companies only run their hire cars for 10,000-20,000 miles before getting rid - and they also take reasonable care of them to ensure a good resale value (clean them, repair any damage and keep them topped up with oil). Secondly the increased speed cameras all up and down our A roads, B roads and Motorways mean that nowadays there are far less places for hirers to thrash the nadgers off the cars. Finally I think hire car users are much more picky than they used to be and therefore they will reject dirty, tatty and poorly maintained hire cars when hiring them hence the Avis/Hertz/Nationals taking much more care to ensure their cars are well looked after.

I recently hired a car for a weekend and put a little scratch in a door sill when I tried to squeeze through a too small gap. When I got back - despite arguing that it was barely noticeable - I lost my 100 quid excess on the hire and they whisked the car off to the body shop next door before I'd even finished the paperwork. Bad news for me, but reassuring for anyone who buys an ex hire car.....

If a car was low mileage for year, had been serviced and wasn't tatty - I wouldn't hesitate to get an ex hire car provided it was priced right (i.e. a bit off the normal price as undoubtedly one of the previous users had redlined it....) and was from a big hire car company.

To be honest - unless you know who's owned your car from new I reckon there's as many bad private owners as good ones and some who undoubtedly would have taken less car of the car than a hire company.

(I've just noticed you said ex "lease car" so I hope I've not wasted my typing on the wrong topic......)

Remember also that personal leasing is now popular. I reckon it'll be ok.

See if you send back a lease car in tatty condition and havent serviced it on time.....they have you by the nuts and charge like a wounded rhino, so generally they dont get abused.

Drivers pay enough in tax for the fekkers without getting charged on return for damage as well.

the only thing i would consider if the car was ok is the re-sale value when you try and shift it on.

Originally Posted by GT-Rich

the only thing i would consider if the car was ok is the re-sale value when you try and shift it on.

Shouldn't make any difference, it's a lease car, not a hire car.

Condition & service history are the most important.

If it drive & looks right, go for it

Don't forget the likes of HPi for a check or perhaps even an AA / RAC inspection which includes a history search.

Is it from a main dealer?

Good luck,

I'd drop 9K on it, no probs.

Lease hire is nothing like a hire car and (in the UK)
it'll have been treated well for mechanicals, and you
can tell by inspection how good/bad the cosmetics
are.




Go for it.




(FYI they treat company cars/lease cars like **** in France.
I would never buy one.)

Having worked for a leasing company, I'd say go for it. It would've been serviced on time, with every little niggle covered, as the driver wouldnt've had to pay, thats the whole point of a lease car. I actually bought a few ex-lease cars and all were fine. It's all about condition and the mindset of the previous driver, if the car is clean then it will make no difference to if it had been owned privately; however, if its a bit shabby (wouldn't expect this on an Alfa) then beware, the driver might not have given a t@ss about the car. I have to say that all the Alfas we had back (checking the cars at lease end was a part of my job) were in very good nick, the same couldn't be said for the Fords and Vauxhalls...

You should get it for a better price that a privately owned car....

My 156 was an x-lease car 74K miles FASH, in very good condition absolutely no problems with it all. Interior (leather) In A1 condition with only wear on the drivers seat. So if my experience is anything to go by x-lease are no problems motors. It cost me £7500 and is on a 05 plate.

Both my alfas' have been ex lease cars it doesn't put me off buying one .

I would try and find one with more miles for a bit less money personally, I think low mileage cars tend to do more short journeys and town work which are far more stressful per mile than sitting at a steady speed on a motorway.