noregrets

I just wondered if contract car hire exists in OZ - I have tried loads of websites but I just keep comming up with 'holiday' car hire which is charged by the day.

thanks george

Quokka

What is it? Long term hire?

noregrets

yes - or lease hire, Hubby and I have done it for years here in the UK, brand new car every 18 months and no bills or depreciation - admittedly its not for everyone but it suits us - just wondered if there was anything like it in OZ??

Quokka

Yes, would be called leasing here.

Try searching:

http://www.yellowpages.com.au/

Question for you:
What would be costs for this sort of arrangement over shorter term, say 6-12 months. Just wondering about it for a planned extended visit to UK next year.

Amazulu

I do this in the UK. 1 year is the shortest lease you can usually get. I currently have a new Renault Scenic on a 1 year deal, GBP400 deposit then 11 payments of GBP99 plus vat. You usually need to be self employed or have a limited company, but I think this is being relaxed now.

Quokka

30 quid a week, thats a pretty good deal
Does that include service costs?

Would there be any costs at the end of the year if you handed the car back?

noregrets

No thats the beauty of it - I dont understand why it isnt more popular.

Quokka

Just noticed this link at bottom of page. I presume the links are different in UK

http://www.finlease.com.au/vehicles.html

Can you recommend a UK lease company I could get some info off?

ABCDiamond

Contract Hire is the leasing of a vehicle, normally to a vat registered business or company, for a set time and mileage at a fixed monthly rental.

The monthly rental is determined by the cost of the vehicle, the period and mileage covered as well as the resultant depreciation.

Maintenance packages are often included within Contract Hire agreements, but are not obligatory.

http://www.contracthireandleasing.com

Amazulu

Try http://www.whitehouserenault.co.uk/ or google Renault Business Leasing. I have a limit of 10000 miles/year then about 7p a mile after that (I'll do much less than 10k though). No service costs as I'll be doing less than 10k miles, If I did more then I'd have to pay for routine service. Road tax is included as well, only need to insure the vehicle.

I'll never buy a new car again.

PS another site to try is:
http://www.contracthireandleasing.com/

noregrets

Me neither - the same kind of thing does not seem to exist in Oz though So we might have to !

Quokka

Why the sad face. Cars are cheaper here - even Euro cars
Petrol is less than $1/L = 40p

spalen

If you are working and employed (ie as a salaried/waged employee rather than self employed) you can often do something called salary sacrifice to fund a 'lease' car.

This means you pay for the car from your pre-tax income . You agree a set figure each mth to fund petrol, insurance, car payment, servicing etc, and a term - eg 12/24/36/48 mths. A leasing company provides the car of your choice (even second hand ones etc, buy your own off you and re-lease it to you, or brand new). You save because you're paying for petrol out of your pre-tax salary isntead of your after tax salary so at 48% top rate of tax you're getting petrol 48% cheaper doing it this way. (Or something like that )

You pay fringe benefit tax on the car lease. So what you do is you assess before you start if the FBT makes you worse off or better off overall and decide if you want to do it. Generally its a good thing to salary sacrifice but has become less attractive as the tax rates have just been adjusted for 2006-2007-2008 in the new budget.

Your employer has to support this andyou can often use it for other tihngs too like health insurance, and in some occupations (like nursing I bleieve) to pay for your lunch!.