Guide to long term car leasing

A long term car lease can be a great way to save money on a brand new vehicle, but just how long can you lease a car for, and is it the best option for your bank balance?

As experts in all things car leasing, the team at Nationwide Vehicle Contracts is well placed to provide the answers.  

Most car leasing deals are between two and four years - 24 months, 36 months and 48 months - and each option comes with its own benefits. 

With a two year lease, you’ll have the option to get a brand new car more regularly, always ensuring you’re driving the latest model with the most modern features. 

However, on a four year lease your monthly payments will be lower, potentially making it easier to stretch the overall cost of the deal. 

Occasionally shorter term deals at 18 months and longer term deals at five years are also available but these are at the discretion of the finance provider and are only available on selected vehicles.

The length of your car lease deal will affect the price you pay for it each month. Each car has an overall cost which is then divided into monthly instalments. The longer you lease the car for, the more months its cost will be split between. 

If, for example, the overall cost of a lease deal was £12,000 and you leased it for 24 months, you’d pay £500 a month. If you leased that same car for 36 months, the monthly cost would come down to £333. 

If your budget can’t stretch this far we would advise taking a 48 month lease. Nationwide Vehicle Contracts also offers a range of cheap lease deals that start below £200 a month. 

Nationwide Vehicle Contracts car leasing deals let you drive up to 37,500 miles a year, but the more you intend to drive, the more you’ll need to pay. This is to cover the cost of the wear and tear that the car will go through, as well as any maintenance and servicing costs you include in your deal. 

There are two types of personal car leasing - Personal Contract Hire (PCH) and Personal Contract Purchase (PCP). PCH lets you choose a new car every few years, taking the worry of depreciation away from you when it comes to selling it on. PCP is similar but gives you the option to make a ‘balloon payment’ to buy the car at the end of your lease contract. 

If you don’t want to buy the car at the end of your contract, PCH generally works out cheaper. This is what Nationwide Vehicle Contracts specialise in, letting you return your car at the end of your contract with no further obligations (so long as you’ve stuck to your terms).

Read this guide about leasing vs buying to find out more about the pros and cons of each approach.

Nationwide Vehicle Contracts work with a range of the UK’s leading vehicle finance companies, to make leasing a brand new car even more affordable. We offer a range of leasing deals to suit your every need and have plenty of in stock lease deals for those who want to get on the road as soon as possible. 

You can also take a look at this guide to personal financing to see if this is the right option for you.