Thank you to our personal car lease customer from Denton (Manchester) for visiting the CarLease UK team to collect their new car – the Audi A1.
As a young-driver, they were quite specific as to which car they wanted (some of which was due to insurance) and it therefore did take some careful consideration from our team. Like many drivers, the first query arose on fuel choice – should I have petrol or diesel?
While the 1.6TDI has been the foremost engine for the A1 (based on power/fuel efficiency), this does not mean that customers should blindly choose this engine. For our driver here, covering circa 8,000 miles per annum and the majority being shorter town driving, the petrol was the most practical route forwards.
The fundamental issue with a diesel vehicle is that because of the emissions it produces, the engine has a diesel particulate filter (DPF), which operates to reduce these pollutants. The DPF operates by heat, as it needs to become hot enough to clear the soot. For longer motorway-style driving this is not an issue but for the shorter start/stop drivers, there is a risk the DPF will become blocked.
In these instances, it is the driver who must pay for the DPF to be cleared; a warranty would not cover this driver behaviour problem.
Another point to consider was that the driver was a young-person. One of the main questions we get asked is – how old do you need to be to lease a car? As a credit-based agreement the minimum age is 18 BUT as this is a credit-based agreement, being 18 does not automatically entitle you to lease a car.
For many younger people credit is an obvious issue as getting a mobile phone contract/mortgage/car is a big financial commitment and many finance companies have certain criteria which means that some younger people are not always able to successfully complete the credit checking process.
Before you start to lease a car, get an Experian credit report (or Equifax), so that you understand how credit reference agencies do see you.
This will help you to understand your own credit before you make a decision e.g. where you are registered on the electrical register/any bad-debts, late-payments or CCJs. To help younger-people, some (but not all) finance companies will either allow a joint-application or a guarantor to help supplement the arrangement. In many cases there are restrictions on this for example the applicants must reside at the same residential address, there must a parent/child or guardian/child relationship and the younger person must be under a certain age (often no older than 25).
To be clear, it is not possible to a lease a car on someone else’s behalf. This is known an “Accommodation Deal” and this is strictly prohibited. We cannot offer this facility in our industry.
The other query, which is inherent with any younger driver, is that of insurance. A lot of drivers are now looking to obtain “insurance included” leasing products. At the moment, this is not something which is openly available; while there are some niche products offered by dealerships and certain brokers, these are often available on a restrictive basis i.e. the driver must be aged 21 or over. For many customers, car insurance is something which they must arrange before receiving their new vehicle. As such, after you have completed your credit process with Experian (or similar), you need to adequately research your insurance costings, as these will often exceed what you pay for the actual car. In the example here, the customer knew in advance that they could not procure a big-engine vehicle and so the search was limited to the smallest engine in the A1 – this was the 1.0 petrol option.
Think about insurance very carefully, as contract hire is a fixed term of 2/3/4 years, depending on what you decides, so you need to ensure this is an affordable proposition over the course of the contract
.
In terms of the car shown here, the Audi A1 Hatchback 1.0 TFSi S Line Nav 3dr S-Tronic (Auto) Petrol, this is based on the following configuration:
· Mythos Black Metallic Paint
· Aluminium trim
· Sprint cloth/leather – Black
· 17″ 10 spoke high gloss alloy wheels
As standard the car includes S Line suspension, SD car satellite navigation, 3-spoke leather multifunction steering wheel, air conditioning, acoustic park systems (rear), LED interior light pack, Bluetooth, electric adjustable door mirrors, 17” alloys, hill hold assist, heated rear windscreen, front floor mats, cruise control, 6.5” MMY display screen, body coloured ,mirrors, DAB radio, roof spoiler, S Line aesthetics, front fog lights, halogen headlights, Xenon plus headlights, first aid kit, front sports eats with “easy entry”, lumbar attachment for front seats and Thatcham Cat 1 alarm. In terms of additional factory options consider adding – front parking sensors, heated front seats and the comfort/sound pack for the perfect A1!
On the technical-side, company car and business users can note the P11d at £21,858.00 and CO2 at 103g/km. The 999CC 7 speed auto engine delivers 62.8 combined MPG, 95ps and 0-62 times of 10.9 seconds. The insurance group is 17E.
So would the Audi A1 be your select car leasing option? Or would the VW Polo, Renault Clio or Ford Fiesta get your vote?
Find the best deals for young people leasing an Audi A1 right here @Carlease UK, you can also check out other hatchback lease deals below…
