How long does it take to lease a car?
The simple answer to this question is that it depends. When you are researching a new lease car (or van) online you need to ascertain if the vehicle is :
· Stock – a vehicle which is either sat at a dealership, compound or UK port. Depending on where exactly the vehicle is, the delivery time is likely to be 7-14 days, depending on logistics.
As a vehicle must be PDI’d (pre delivery inspection), there will be some time delay as the vehicle must be fully inspected and cleaned before delivery.
Leasing a new car is not an instantaneous process. In addition, as a vehicle must be delivered directly to the customer, there will be some delay in organising a delivery driver to collect the car and drive it to the customer. Even if the vehicle is “stock”, there is no next-day delivery possible;
· Allocation – an allocation based offer is one in which a car is due to go into build or is already built and in a logistic process to the UK. Not all vehicles are manufactured in the UK, some will be built in Europe/America/Asia, which means that there is a time investment in building the vehicle and a further delay in organising the vehicle to be transported into the UK.
Many vehicles arrive in containers, which is not an expedient process.
While allocation style offers are very common, and cost-effective, they will take a certain amount of time. Often 4-10 weeks;
· Factory Order – this is for instances where a car (or van) is built specific to your requirements.
The length of time it takes for the car to be delivered relies wholly upon the demand on the manufacturer.
In some cases, if a manufacturer can build a vehicle relatively quickly, and the manufacturing depot is in the UK or Europe, it might not take a great deal of time to arrive. However, for some manufacturers, like Porsche, where the demand is particularly high and the vehicles are built outside of the UK, it is not uncommon to wait upwards of 6 months for a vehicle to arrive with the dealer. If time is of the essence, a bespoke factory order is not going to be right for you and so you may need to compromise on the car specification and/or engine.
Another thing to add to this analysis is the fact that CarLease UK is an online business and this means that we engage in “distance-selling”. For regulated customers, there are protections put into law to ensure that they are treated fairly such as the distance selling regulations.
For a regulated customer (individual, sole trader or small partnership) there is a 14-day cooling off period beginning on the day after the order form and/or finance documents are signed.
Because of these regulations many suppliers will not deliver the car unless the cooling-off period has expired.
In most circumstances there is no way to “contract out” of these regulations and it is at the risk of the supplier or credit broker as to whether or not they deliver the vehicle.
Read more car leasing help and advice here @CarLease UK or check out some of the most recent lease cars we have reviewed below and in our blog…
