Type the words “car leasing” in to your chosen search engine, and you will find numerous suppliers offering every possible car or van, sometimes at prices much less than other suppliers, but are any of these offers actually genuine?

The devil is in the detail

Over recent months, I have seen internet leasing offers on vehicles that I know are impossible to honour.  There is a finite amount of discount available on any vehicle, whatever it may be, so those more scrupulous suppliers can spot a bogus offer from a mile off.  Various tricks may be employed, such as a very cheap headline rate boldly displayed, with the details of either a massive deposit or tiny annual mileage conspicuously absent. Unlike Hire Purchase, where regulation demands a full breakdown of charges and fees, leasing quotes have an in-built vagueness that can make deception easier for those who choose that path.

Who are you dealing with?

A slick website doesn’t necessarily guarantee an honest brokerage, but a very basic site may hint at the type of organisation you may end up dealing with.  A credit search of many of these suppliers show that they aren’t in too healthy a state, with several actually listed as non-trading! Will they even be there at the end of the first year of your agreement to remind you to service the vehicle? 

What to look for, what to avoid

Judging the validity of any offer can often be difficult, but if a supplier has a consumer credit licence, or is approved by their local Trading Standards office, they are far less likely to be operating in an unscrupulous manner.  The reluctance to provide a full, written quotation should start alarm bells ringing, as this may be an attempt to hide the true cost of a vehicle.  Avoid any company which requires a deposit when the order is placed, as most vehicle funders take any advanced payments by direct debit just prior to delivery.

Most importantly of all, don’t forget the old adage; if a deal looks too good to be true, it’s almost certainly is!