hi all,

just thought of something....

when someone leases a car, you end up paying the total value of the options and accessories over the lease period.
for example, on a 36 month lease, heated steering wheel will cost £6 per month which will total the amount the option costs over the 3 years.

so if somebody selects the retractable side step accessory when building their car, they will pay the odd £3000 for it as part of their lease plan.

HOWEVER, if you get the sidestep AFTER you have your car, then it'll still cost you £3000, but you will be able to keep it when you return the car. flog it on ebay for half its price and youve just saved yourself £1500

is this common practice??

I suppose it depends on what you want. My wife’s Focus has £1500 of extras on it but it’s my intention that when she wants to trade it in, in 2 years time for another car, we will want the value to be higher than a car without. After all, a dealer would sell it on for more.

I will also remove the items we installed and sell them too (or reuse if the same model). 2019 5.0 SC SVA (Current)
2012 5.0 SC AB. Sadly written off by a campervan
23 plate Focus ST (Current)
1942 VEP Ford GPW Jeep (Willys) (Current)
1943 Whites M16 Halftrack (Current)
16 plate Eurofighter Typhoon, 2 x Eurojet engines with 20,000lbs thrust each. 1380mph