6 top tips for choosing a lease car for your business

How to choose the right vehicle for your business

Whether you’re new to business leasing, or you’ve been leasing cars for your company for years, it’s not always easy narrowing down what vehicle is going to be right for you.

Though many people will have an idea of the car they want after searching the internet or test-driving at a dealership, this isn’t always the case.

The leasing process can be a daunting one, especially if you’re used to buying outright, but our experts are always on hand to guide you.

We asked Tom, one of Carparison’s Local Business Development Managers, to give us his top tips for choosing your next business car lease.

Should I buy or lease a company car?

There are three main methods of financing a car:

• Buying outright
• HP or BCP contract with the option to own the car at the end of the deal
• Leasing (BCH)

You should carefully consider all three before choosing which is right for your business.

While buying outright and owning the asset might, on the face of it, seem like the sensible choice, leasing your company car might be the more cost-effective option.

Leasing can improve your cash flow.

By paying smaller monthly payments rather than a large sum upfront, you don’t have your working capital tied up into an asset like a car, freeing up money to be used elsewhere.

You can bundle in additional costs like maintenance, which not only helps you budget effectively but can also provide some peace of mind when it comes to fixing any issues that arise.

Depreciation is also factored into the cost of the lease, so you won’t have to worry about selling the vehicle on and potentially losing money on it.

Who is it for?

By considering who the car is for, you’ll be able to narrow down your search

If the car is for a director who mainly works from home, then an electric car is perfect to take advantage of the tax savings available and help your business become greener – especially if you have sustainability goals to reach and want to project a certain image.

And if the car is for someone whose job might change in the future – whether that’s their business mileage increasing or journey types changing – it’s worth opting for something now that will continue to serve them in the future.

There’s no point going for a city car lease if you could have multiple motorway journeys in your near future.

What are your needs?

You might have an idea of what sort of car you want in mind, but does it meet your needs?

Though your heart might be set on a fast coupe for your next car lease, this won't be very practical if you're also planning to use your company car for family life. There aren't many fast-growing teenagers who'll fit in the back of a Kia Picanto without an argument.

It's not just about the driver's needs either, but the needs of the business. This could include leasing a car to help reduce the business' CO2 emissions, which will narrow down your choices to either a fully electric vehicle or a hybrid.

What are your wants?

But it isn't just your practical needs that you need to consider. You'll be driving this car for up to four years, depending on your contract, so you want to make sure it's also a car that you want to drive.

Consider which brands are important to you, and which extras you'll want: is wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto important to you, or do you want something a bit flashier that looks impressive on the driveway?

It's also worth considering the ongoing costs of the car, including fuel, maintenance and insurance, and factoring these into your budget.

As Tom says, there's not really a bad car on the market these days, with the technology – especially in electric vehicles – having advanced so much over the last few years. Cars that you may never have considered previously might end up ticking all of your boxes.

But if you’re after a particular brand, your wants will always come first when you're working with our team.

Your initial conversation with Carparison will highlight these needs and ensure that you end up in both the car you want and the car you need. The more information you can give us, the more we can help you narrow down your choices.

Your other priorities

Once you’ve narrowed down what you need and what you want, you should think about your other priorities.

Is safety a big factor for you? Is your budget flexible? Is fuel efficiency important?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help Tom and the Business team help you. There is no such thing as too much information when it comes to narrowing down which car is going to be right for you.

And there’s a good amount of stock around at the moment, which – while a great thing because it gives you a lot of choice – can sometimes be detrimental because there is almost too much choice.

But the Carparison team, with over 300 years of combined industry experience, aren’t new to the leasing game and can help you sift through the available offers to find that needle in the haystack.

Should you lease an electric car for your business?

With the 2030 petrol and diesel ban impending, you might be thinking about going electric.

This is something that Carparison can help with, but Tom warns that – although we are strong drivers of the transition to electric – an electric car lease isn’t right for everyone (yet).

It comes back to your needs: if you need something that can travel hundreds of miles every single week carrying equipment around, an electric car might not be what you’re after unless you can plan to stop and recharge as often as you’ll need. 

A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) might fit your needs a little better.

With the rate the technology is changing, by the time you come to lease a new car a few years down the line, there might even be something on the market that can do the miles you need on a single charge.

But if an EV does fit your needs, wants and other priorities, then it’s an excellent idea.

An electric business car lease can offer advantageous tax savings, such as lower Benefit in Kind rates. These are fixed at 2% until 2025, then will increase by 1% each following year until 2028.

EVs also have cheaper lifetime running costs and boost your business’s green credentials.

How can Carparison help?

Our team will never sell you a car that doesn’t suit your needs.

We will always work with you to find a car that suits you, not a car that suits us.

As vehicle procurement specialists, we can offer nearly every make and model of car currently on the market – so there’s bound to be something that fits your business and your budget.