Thank you to our young-driver and new leasing customer from Reading for sending through photographs of their brand-new hot hatch – the VW Polo GTi.
While the sportier, and quicker, cars have been on the decline due to insurance costs, for those who are willing to push their budgets there are some credible options to consider still; the VW Golf R, the Seat Cupra, the Mercedes A35 and the new Ford Focus ST are ones to keep on your list.
Leasing this type of car is actually a beneficial proposition as you can arrange a shorter term 2-year deal to have your fun and then return the car; the risk of the car’s valuation is passed across to the finance company. It is very rare that a customer would want to keep a car like this for a longer time period, particularly as needs and requirements change so frequently.
But isn’t there an age limit on leasing? Do you have to be 25 or older?
These are just some of the misnomers and uncertainties in our industry and those new to it definitely have queries. For the younger driver, the key point to note is that you must be aged 18 or older to make an application for credit.
Contract hire and leasing is a finance product and you MUST have a credit search before we are able to continue.
This is a credit based application and is not suitable for someone with poor credit. It doesn’t matter how much initial rental (deposit) you offer us, the ability to pay (credit) must be reviewed first. For a young person, the issue is that you have little credit due to your age and this can be present a problem in going further. While you must be 18, or older, this is not an automatic acceptance. Just so you are being practical, get an Experian report and you will see what finance companies review when you apply. Getting a credit card or mobile phone contact and paying this off on a regular basis will help provide some evidence of your credit management.
But can’t mum or dad just do it for me? Accommodation deals are prohibited in the UK. By this we mean that it is not possible for someone to take out finance in another person’s name. It would seem practical just to ask your parent or guardian to do it on your behalf but you could effectively be defrauding the finance company. Where some finance companies can assist in the leasing industry is that they can offer a joint application or a guarantor application. This is for limited scenarios only and you need to adhere to the restrictions – you must be live at the same residential address, neither or the applicants can have poor or bad credit and you cannot be older than 21. If you are middle-aged and living at a different property, this route just isn’t for you.
But how about insurance? Surely this is included?
While we can offer a funder-maintained contract, to include all servicing and maintenance, the insurance element of the car will not be included. This is something which you must arrange and, for some young-drivers, we ensue you research insurance quotes before finding a car. In some cases, your monthly rental of the vehicle will be lower than what you are paying per month for insurance. There are a limited number of insurance products but these have so many restrictions, they just are not really suitable for most young drivers. As a credit broker, not a lender or independent financial adviser, we cannot provide advice on insurance. We suggest that comparison websites should be utilised.
In terms of the car shown, the Volkswagen POLO HATCHBACK 2.0 TSI GTI+ 5dr DSG (Petrol & Automatic), this is based on the following configuration:
Flash Red Solid Paint
Jacara cloth – Titan black/red
Velvet red dashboard pad
17″ Parker alloy wheels with anti theft wheel bolts
In terms of standard specification the Polo includes velvet red trim, front and rear parking sensors, air conditioning, composition media pack, sport seats with lumbar adjustment, 17” parker alloys, 10.3” high resolution display screen, heated insulated tinted glass, post collision braking, hill hold control, front and rear carpet mats, adaptive cruise control, start/stop system, electrically adjustable foldable and heated door mirrors, battery regeneration during braking, dusk sensor, stainless steel pedals, LED daytime running lights/main beam headlights, leather gearknob, LED interior light, GTi styling pack, light and sight pack, 60/40 split folding seats, XDS differential lock, steel saver spare wheel and alarm with interior protection and immobiliser.
In terms of additional specification consider – Beats audio sound system, winter pack and 18” alloys.
On the technical-side company car and business users can note the P11d at £23,465.00 and CO2 at 138g/km. The 1984CC 6 speed auto petrol engine delivers 38.7 combined (WLTP), 200ps and 0-62 times 6.7 seconds. Service intervals on a petrol Polo are every 12 months or 10,000 miles.
So would the Polo be your select leasing option? Or would you be going for another car?
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