It was pleasure to hand-over the vehicle pictured, the Nissan Qashqai, over the weekend to one of our personal lease customers (a referral from our Leigh based customer).
An important aspect to this transaction was the discussion of maintenance.
With contact hire you have two choice – 1) Driver-Maintained; or 2) Funder-Maintained.
In the first option, you are agreeing to service and maintain the vehicle at your own cost, including any tyre changes. This means that you need to arrange servicing at the required intervals and change tyres when they have less than 2mm of tread remaining. In some cases, a finance company will allow you to service the vehicle at any VAT registered garage (using genuine manufacturer parts) but in others, you will have to take this to an authorised main dealer.
What confuses some customers is that they believe the warranty will cover these works; this is not the case. A warranty acts as a mechanism to protect against any issues which arise with the vehicle through no fault of your own e.g. engine defaults. By having the servicing carried out at the right intervals you preserve the warranty.
If you elect for the second-option (funder maintained) the cost of all servicing, maintenance and tyres will be included within the monthly obligation. Again, as we work with different finance companies, do speak with your credit broker as to the specific terms and conditions. i.e. some include breakdown recover FOC and others include any tyre punctures.
For genuine company car drivers, you need to ensure the arrangement is fit for purpose and not just fit for your budget.
In terms of the car shown here, the Nissan Qashqai Hatchback 1.2 Petrol DIG-T N-Connecta [glass roof pack] 5dr, this is based on the following configuration:
· Metallic Paint – Pearl black
· Cloth – Anthracite
· Piano black interior trim
· 18″ Bi-colour alloy wheels
As standard the car includes privacy glass, rain sensing wipers, emergency braking, hill start assist, around view monitor, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, lane departure warning system, rear view camera, push button starter, body coloured externals, 5” screen, sat nav, DAB radio, electrically folding and heated door mirrors, roof spoiler, climate control, leather steering wheel, ambient interior lighting, 18” alloys and alarm/immobiliser. In terms of increasing the specification, you need to “go up” in the vehicle range as opposed to adding additional factory options. As the N-Connecta is one of the main models, you can only opt for the Tekna or Tekna+ to get a better specification vehicle.
On the technical-side, company car and business users can note the P11d at £24,615.00 and CO2 at 129g/km. The 1197CC engine delivers 115ps, 50.4 combined MPG and 0-62 times of 10.6 seconds. Service intervals on the petrol Qashqai are every 12 months or 12,500 miles.
So would you select the Nissan Qashqai as your preferred leasing option? Or would you consider the VW Tiguan, Peugeot 3008, Seat Ateca or Ford Kuga instead?
Let us know your thoughts!!
Find the best leasing deals on the Nissan Qashqai available now @CarLease UK