The Circle of Lease

Just like Mufasa sat Simba down on Pride Rock to explain the world, here we are sitting you down to patronise you about car leasing.

Adulthood: the phase of your life where you voluntarily enter several multi-year financial commitments. Commitments like a gym membership, a food subscription service, and a car lease.

What Is Car Leasing & How Does It Work?

We don’t blame you for not knowing enough about how car leasing works. That’s the education system’s fault. You can’t apply Pythagoras’ theorem to this one.

Allow us to enlighten you (don’t worry, we’ll use small words). Car leasing is a financial agreement where you pay a fixed monthly fee to use a new car for a set period of time, then hand it back at the end.

For the more visual learners, here’s it is:

The Summit Drive Way

• Step 1 – Click
  Click through shiny cars online. Toggle the terms until you feel something inside.This feeling is called “impulse.” Go with it.
  
  
• Step 2 – Lease
  The lease agreement is all the T&Cs and signatures. It’s also the part where we check your credit to make sure you’re not the sort of person who forgets to pay phone bills.
  
  
• Step 3 – Go!
  Your new rented pride-and-joy arrives. You check it over like you know what you’re looking for. You nod. You go for a drive. You are now “a person who leases cars.”

5 Things People Forget (Don’t Be One of Those People)

1. You don’t own the car
   Stop telling people you do. You’ve paid to borrow it. At the end of your term, you’ll be giving it back.
   
   
2. Mileage matters
   Don’t be overly ambitious and plan a road trip around Europe. You’ve got a set limit of miles on your agreement. Go over it, and you’ll pay for it.
   
   
3. Wear & tear
   A scratch? Fine. A dent the size of a pineapple and a cig burn in the upholstery? Less fine.
   
   
4. Maintenance isn't optional
   Cars need TLC. Like plants, but more expensive. You can build maintenance into your package, or you can take the vehicle to an approved garage whenever it needs attention.
   
   
5. Don't bolt on spoilers or go add faster stripes
   It’s a lease car, not Fast & Furious 14. You have to return it how it was.
   

More Top Tips (Take Notes)

• Actually read the contract
  
  

• Be realistic with mileage
  
  

• Inspect the car on arrival
  
  

• Budget for tyres and servicing
  
  

• Ask questions

Welcome to Leasing, You Massive Newbie

That's the circle of lease complete. You can come back and read it anytime, or when you begin your next cycle. 

But now you should be well equipped with the basic knowledge required to lease a car without Googling “what is a lease car and why do adults do this?” at 1am. To save further Googling, you could read our FAQs.