Ten Truths About Business Vehicle Leasing
Ten Truths About Business Vehicle Leasing https://wvl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Ten-Truths-About-Business-Vehicle-Leasing.jpg 1000 600 Anthony https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a9c4089fd91833b9d9ac3cd2423e0fcb?s=96&d=mm&r=gIf you’ve never leased a business vehicle before it can feel like a daunting idea – especially as there is so much misinformation around it! Read this post to get business car leasing explained and many of the most prevalent myths about car leasing debunked. (Think of it like a mini business car leasing FAQ).
Why is leasing good for businesses?
1. You don’t need a big deposit
The first crucial piece of info we need to get out the way to get business leasing explained is that you don’t need an enormous deposit. We realise these can be a really big blocker to making leased vehicle affordable so at WVL we’ll make every effort work around your budget and find a solution that works for everyone.
2. You can modify leased vehicles (in line with your leasing agreement!)
You might think that because the vehicle isn’t yours, you can’t make changes to it. But as long as they’re reasonable and agreed up front, you’d be surprised how flexible our leases can be. Whether you want to change the wheels, install a dash cam or add a tow bar, get in touch with us first and we’re likely to be happy to accommodate your changes.
3. Bad credit or low business value doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t lease a vehicle
We’ve had many instances where someone approaches us needing a small business car lease, but they’re either a new business or their credit history isn’t fantastic. In these situations, a larger leasing company might give you an outright no, but we’ll dig into the details to work out how we can reduce the risk for ourselves as the leasing company.
It could be that the smaller firm has a larger parent company we can use instead, or that we can credit check the company owner and agree to stack the risk against his or her personal estate. We’ll never turn down a lease before investigating every avenue, and more often than not there’s a way we can solve the problem to everyone’s benefit.
4. There are all kinds of lease lengths – with flexibility built in
Another of our ten truths about business vehicle leasing is that lease lengths can be much more flexible than you probably think! At WVL we’re able to offer short-term leases that start at 30 days and go up to two years. We can also offer even shorter-term rentals if you need a vehicle in a hurry (often because a fleet needs vehicles for a show, or a vehicle is off the road for maintenance reasons). Plus, we’re even able to extend leases at the end of contracts in certain situations (more on that in point ten).
5. More than just the named driver can drive a leased car
When we’re talking to a fleet manager, one of the ways we get the ease of business leasing explained to them is by saying “you won’t even have to talk to us – we’ll deal directly with the driver.” And it’s true, we can work directly with the person who’ll be driving the car to pick a vehicle that will suit their needs.
However, if you need that vehicle to be a pool car, that’s perfectly fine – it’s leased to your company, after all. So long as other drivers have the right credentials and the insurance conditions are all satisfied, more than just the vehicle’s named driver can drive a leased vehicle.
6. Not owning the vehicle can actually save you money…
One of the biggest reservations we hear about taking out a small business car lease is that it’s dead money. You don’t own the vehicle so you can’t sell it and recoup its value – the money spent has no return. There is, however, another way to look at it that turns things completely on their head.
Say you buy a vehicle for £35k and drive it extensively for two to three years. Depreciation means the vehicle is likely to be worth a third to half of what you originally paid for it! Now all of that is what we’d call dead money.
7. …and can save you a massive headache on maintenance and other logistics, too!
Not only that, but with an owned company vehicle you’re responsible for all of the vehicle maintenance costs, as well as having the headache of manually insuring, taxing, MOTing and maintaining the vehicle yourself – alongside every other vehicle that you own in your fleet. It might look better on your balance sheet having more property, but the real-world cost of having those depreciating assets soon adds up.
With big or small business car lease, you don’t have the huge up-front cost, you don’t need to worry about depreciation, and you don’t have the ongoing logistics to concern yourself with, since we’ll do all of that for you. You just set up the agreement, pay your monthly fee, then give your car back and get another vehicle at the end of the contract.
And with that, another major myth about car leasing is debunked!
8. Business car leasing can simplify your fleet management immeasurably
That last point about us doing everything for you also means that fleet management can go from something fraught and unwieldy to something that almost feels like it looks after itself. If you’re a fleet manager it can free you up to get involved in other areas of the business, and if you run fleet as part of your wider role, like HR or finance, it can give you the scope to focus fully on the part of your job you love the most.
9 and with our simplified process, it’s surprisingly straightforward to do
Setting up a vehicle leasing agreement is more straightforward and painless than you might fear. We’re part of the GKL group, which means we follow the same common-sense approach to vehicle leasing. We’ll discuss your needs, get you credit checked, give you a financial proposal and move to ordering the vehicle as quickly as possible – giving you the best chance of getting what you need in a climate where new vehicles are often like gold dust.
10. Have a long wait for your next vehicle? Our informal contract extensions can keep you mobile
As hinted at in point four above, as a more dynamic we’re smaller company we’re not hamstrung by the rigid end-of-contract policies that larger leasing firms often are. Especially in an era where vehicle availability is unpredictable, we’ll do everything we can to keep you mobile. If that means extending your lease until your next vehicle is available, we can in 99% of cases offer informal contract extensions to let you do exactly that. We deeply care about keeping you mobile, and believe that large or small, business car lease agreements should be as straightforward and hassle-free as possible.
So… is it worth getting a car on a business lease agreement?
Absolutely! As these ten truths about business vehicle leasing make clear, leasing rather than buying a vehicle for business purposes can take the headache out of day-to-day fleet management while meaning you never need to worry about vehicle depreciation or day-to-day logistics. Plus, with our corporate buying power and contacts, we often have access to vehicles that you might struggle to find available in the purchase market at the moment.
We may be biased of course, but we feel business car leasing just makes sense. Get in touch today to discuss how it can work for you.
