In the world of business, appearances are everything, and this extends to the office you meet your clients in, the suit you wear, and yes, the car that you drive. If you want to take things to the next level with a really flash car, whether it’s an M3 to show your sporting side, or an S-Class to whisk away your clients, then you’ll need to figure out a good way of paying for it. Buying outright is rarely a possibility (and is rarely a good idea), but business leasing could well be a good way of funding things.
Business leasing means paying a monthly rental fee over an agreed contract. So you’ll choose the car you want, agree the mileage you’ll cover each year, the number of years you want the car for, and then be given a particular cost by the provider. At the end of the agreement, you’ll have to give the vehicle back, but then you can just upgrade to something newer. There’s a lot to choose from too, whether you want an Aston Martin or just a well-specified BMW.
Benefits
The main draw of leasing is that it’s generally a lot less than taking out a loan, and in some cases might be less than buying outright. This is of course because the finance company gets the car back at the end of the agreement, so things work for all parties. You’ll need to hunt round to find the best deal, but you can be sure that you’re not going to be paying as much as you would have if you’d taken out a loan.
There are numerous other positives too, including the fact that you can often have servicing and maintenance included with your package, which means you don’t have to worry too much about breakdowns and things like that, which might get in the way of the smooth running of your business.
Another good benefit is that if you’ve got a VAT registered business, then you may well be able to claim back some of the VAT paid on the car if you’re using it as part of your day-to-day management. This again makes things cheaper.
So if you want to get yourself a nicer set of wheels to impress your clients, or indeed if you need a better van or other utility vehicle, then consider that leasing might be your best option.