You will still take a "hit" because it won't be a lease to a company who can reclaim the vat, there are various other names like personal contract hire etc and you will pay a deposit and then a monthly rental and then at the end you will be limited in your mileage. swmbo has even decided NOT to get a car through her employer as the mileage conditions are onerous, or just too expensive if we add in our own personal mileage, but see if your employer can offer you this option. the nhs has a salary sacrifice scheme, and a lot of the local midwives use it. Final thing to look at is that the car will need to be in acceptable condition on return, but my brother in law has never had a problem with his motability lease cars despite minor scratches.

let us know what you do!

Personally after all my time in the trade I always bought my own cars, having an absolute minimum on finance when i had to, i think that the individual average driver is always going to lose, but either get something and run it till it dies, or get a car that doesn't depreciate a badly as the others, Finally please consider your usage ie short trips if you are buying a diesel are not worth it unless the system can regenerate, so think about your usage pattern,

Having had a few years on car loans and taking a hit each time I trade-in, I'm starting to consider leasing.

The only way I see to not "take the hit" is not to get a new car full stop...

Why not stick with the car you have just paid off at (presumably) 3 or 5 years old, it must still be pretty reliable and decent condition...?

I can't see how leasing over buying will save you taking a hit... you're paying for the depreciation of the vehicle either way.

Anyway if you must lease a car, I have just returned my two year old Smart ForTwo last week to Mercedes, although it was actually BCA that collected it and will presumably auction it straight off.

The guy collecting it checked it over with a fine tooth comb, the report he gave me stated it was all "ok" but I have heard horror stories of Mercedes coming back with a long list of charges for phantom repairs that were only spotted back at the inspection centre.

Since mine was only returned last Friday I am yet to see if that is the case with mine, but i'll certainly let you know.

Having had a few years on car loans and taking a hit each time I trade-in, I'm starting to consider leasing.

I've said it before on the forum, IMHO leasing doesn't stack up for private individuals that dont for instance have a VAT registered business or do over 20K a year. You are still paying a lot to not own the car and have the illusion of a lot of free motoring costs.

It is still best to get the best loan you can and buy with the best deal you can and just look after the car in trhe normal way. To me the definition of a 'hit' is to spend say £18K leasing a car that never belongs to me.

Like many things it depends where you start from! My brother, who is a shrew man when it comes to money, reckons the very best way to get a car is to buy nearly new for cash. Then either change at the right time or keep it until it owes you nothing. The next best way is nearly new with finance. He would not consider leasing as a viable option,partly because once you stray over 10K miles per annum your eyes are taken out for mileage/depreciation. What he does is borrow from his savings, and then calculate the repayments at 4% over 3 years to replace the money. No interest to pay a finance company and a better savings return that any bank. If you don't have that kind of cash available then you cut your cloth and cut whatever deal you are comfortable with. Remember though, they don't lease you a car because they are nice people, they do it to make a profit. Think long and hard before getting locked into a longish lease you may regret. Let us all know what you decide and good luck. Concrete