Friend is 66, female and currently still working and she has a Toyota Prius hybrid company car. However that is going back at the end of the month and she is taking cash alternative which appears to be £250 net in her payslip.
Also she is thinking of retiring maybe next year.
I will need to sit down with her and try and establish what kind of car she would like but what are folks thougts / experiences about leasing / PCP?
My instinct is to try and buy a car and then this is her car for a number of years but £250 a month aint really going to get something modern.
I have seen more and more folk talking of personal leasing, just accept you will always be paying for a car but in return you will always have a new car under warranty.
Any thoughts at this stage? I was gonna say about a pension tax free lump sum but I think this has already been used to clear mortgage.
Finally, although she has obviously coped with a Prius self charging hybrid, the thought of trying to explain a new modern car with ipad screen for all controls etc scares the hell out of me!
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What does she want/need in a car?
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Would imagine it will be a 5 door hatchback.
Probably Corolla / Golf type size rather than Polo or Aygo size.
I have 1000 questions to ask her to narrow the car choice down. More interested at this stage of merits of leasing?
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Will leasing companies deal with retired people? After I retired I tried to get a new credit card and the banks didn't want to know.
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Yes they will. Like credit cards is more to do with your credit history than age.
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>> Yes they will. Like credit cards is more to do with your credit history than
>> age.
May depend on the type of card, provider and the customer type they're pitching for.
I'm 66 and had no luck looking for a zero interest card.
OTOH no problem borrowing for a PCP on the Skoda 12 months ago or for interest free on the new boiler.
Leasing may be different again.
How much can you borrow on a personal loan at a repayment of £250/pcm?
Don't forget with PCP there's usually a balloon payment at the end.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 13 Feb 26 at 09:54
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Is she interested in leasing or more comfortable buying a car?
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Look through the Toyota range until she finds the spec and type that she wants.
Aygo
Yaris
C-HR
Corolla
Prius
Rav4
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Current Prius is an Auto
If she wants to stay with auto
Aygo Auto is /was automated manual - not so good.
Latest Aygo with the Yaris 1.5 Hybrid is great!
Markedly different from the old 1 litre - worth a look
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From what. i have noticed, not many of us blokes drive Vitaras.
Predominantly the fairer sex.
Ye olde dials & knobs for heating controls which is what many people prefer, me included.
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I haven’t bought a car on finance for years but, prompted by this thread, I have had a look on what’s available on Auto Trader £250-£300 a month. I was surprised at just how many there are on offer and not all old.
There a wide selection of 2-3 year old cars in that price bracket. Even a few city electric runabouts brand new at £250.
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Leasing tends to work best for folk who want or need to change their car fairly frequently. It can also have tax advantages for employees.
Post retirement, depending on personal circumstances, many neither need nor can afford the cost of running a fairly new vehicle which is replaced every 2/3 years.
A purely personal experience - I changed my car last year and looked at lease or buy. Either was financially affordable but as I do a fairly high mileage (12-15000 pa) and tend to keep cars for typically 5/6 years, leasing worked out much more expensive.
Broadly 5/6 years of lease payments were equal to the cost of the car. By buying outright I would be left with the s/h value of a £25k car.
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If retirement is on the horizon, the car she needs now may not fit the bill in a year or two.
Possibly significantly higher or lower miles. May start carrying more passengers. Grandparenting duties. May take up paddle boarding. The world is her lobster.
Last edited by: ChrisM on Fri 13 Feb 26 at 12:28
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Yaris Cross seems to be missing from the lists above. Easier to get into/out than standard Yaris for an ageing skeleton, only downside is poor rear door opening size.
Latest models have improved NVH, ( one of my criticisms) and based on my experience the 12v battery issue is less frequent with larger capacity battery.
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>> Finally, although she has obviously coped with a Prius self charging hybrid, the thought of
>> trying to explain a new modern car with ipad screen for all controls etc scares
>> the hell out of me!
She is used to Toyota control ideology & current Toyotas still have physical controls for things like air con/heating. So, as already mentioned Toyotas are a good place to start.
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Mazda sell the Yaris rebadged as the Mazda 2 Hybrid.
6 year warranty, 70+ mpg.
5 seats though realistically more of a 4-seater for adults.
Identical except for badge on the nose, and the steering wheel.
£20.5k for decent spec, £21.5k for very good spec.
www.new-car-discount.com/car/mazda/2-hybrid/hatchback/all/all
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Mazda 2 Hybrid is being discontinued so bargains at Dealers as well as Brokers.
Worth trying a local deaer who wants to move a few extra cars in Feb or the new 26 Reg in March
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Obviously being a (potentially) soon to be retired lady she must drive a hybrid Yaris, but the original question is about leasing/PCP.
The question that needs answering is what's her financial position. Unless she has a very fulfilling job, then why is she still working. Presumably because her occupational pension isn't all she would like it to be. Does she want to be paying £250pm for the next 10-20 years? Can she afford to?
Never had a PCP but can see the attraction for someone who values driving a new car (with warranty) that gets replaced every 2-4 years. Don't see the attraction with a secondhand car perhaps out of warranty.
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I retired nearly three years ago but have, thus far anyway, resisted acquiring any small Japanese hatchbacks. Beige or otherwise.
I think your friend should look at retiring disgracefully. Something that would provide a later life antidote to the company hybrid.
Mustang perhaps? (No not that electric thing!)
;-)
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Fri 13 Feb 26 at 18:07
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Cheers for all the input so far - have briefly spoke to her today to get a fuller picture.
Her current Prius goes back at end of month with 56000 miles on the clock at 4 years old which suggests 14000 miles a year - and bear in mind this was from 2022 so still in some covid restrictions / working from home. That sosr tof mileage isnt great for PCP or lease costs.
She is a single woman, no family / grandkids etc and is probably going to work for another year. There doesnt appear to be too much of pensions etc as I get the impression some were taken early to clear mortgage and some major house repairs.
I have explained to her the real life of owning your own car - insurance, road tax, breakdown servicing etc . £250 a month aint going to go far unless she is willing to keep spending it for a few years - I think there is maybe a few grand to put down on a car but not loads.
My gut feeling is if she is still doing that mileage then it does not make sense to buy her own car and put that on it, instead to keep going with a company car and try and put more money back for the next year and then get a car when she is leaving.
Her work contract is now with a company called Tusker and the car criteria is not more than 75g/km so strictly electric or plug in hybrid (she doesnt have a charger just now so not sure what the implications are for that cost) - and she will often do 300 mile round trips, however the lead time after picking a car is said to be 28-34 weeks and the small print says if you leave within 3 months of the agreement then there are penalties...
If she goes down this route then work will supply a hire car meantime.
I am going to have more discussions with her over the weekend.
On the car suggestions, I agree that the perfect car for her would be the Yaris or Yaris Cross - ironically my work colleague recently gave back a Yaris Cross at the end of its 3 year PCP and it is still for sale at Arnold Clark a couple of months after they handed it back. It would be the ideal car but is priced at £18498.
Will update when I know more but at this stage, I am erring towards her staying with company car until she retires.
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Nothing wrong with a Yaris. I ran mine for about 4 years, bought it when one year old.
It was a fun little hatch.
Behind the wheel I had a smile like The Joker.
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>> Nothing wrong with a Yaris. I ran mine for about 4 years, bought it when
>> one year old.
>> It was a fun little hatch.
>> Behind the wheel I had a smile like The Joker.
That was a GR!
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same lights, door mirrors and shark fin aerial as other Yaris.
No need to be picky
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>> Her work contract is now with a company called Tusker and the car criteria is
>> not more than 75g/km so strictly electric or plug in hybrid (she doesnt have a
>> charger just now so not sure what the implications are for that cost) - and
>> she will often do 300 mile round trips, however the lead time after picking a
>> car is said to be 28-34 weeks and the small print says if you leave
>> within 3 months of the agreement then there are penalties...
>>
My mate has had a plug in hybrid company Seat Leon estate for some time, which as yet has never been plugged in! It was a similar company requirement that triggered this and his company car tax was a bit lower.
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She is going to look at the list of company cars available. I mentioned that you don’t actually need to plug them in. But also did suggest that she asks whether they pay or give a contribution towards a home charger.
(Not sure what the process is for electric or PHEV company cars in relation to home charging?)
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>>I retired nearly three years ago.....
Not got the campervan yet, then?
Last edited by: tyrednemotional on Sat 14 Feb 26 at 00:51
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>>I think your friend should look at retiring disgracefully. Something that would provide a later life antidote to
>>the company hybrid.
>>Mustang perhaps? (No not that electric thing!)
A friend of ours is in her mid 70s and last year bought herself a Subaru Impreza WRX. She says it is great fun.
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A depressing assumption - retirement age = too knackered - a precursor to care home and coffin.
Totally negative - it is an opportunity to do all that one never did. There could be 10-20 years or more for fun with zero concern for what others might think. Only constraint may be money.
Retiring disgracefully as suggested above is spot on. If a life of fast cars, excess sun, sex, alcohol etc don’t appeal, just do what you want.
If a car is a source of fun buy something outrageous, if just a means to get from a to b, get one that delivers just that leaving any spare cash for that which is important.
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Retired female neighbour has a Fiat 500 Abarth. Driven fairly sedately when I've seen her out in it, but who knows what she gets up to on the twisty bits.
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New Car advice - sooty123
