My friend in the UK recently ordered a brand new Volvo V60 T5 Momentum from a private leasing company (Santander). The deal was nil downpayment and 253 pounds per month (around $430 at current exchange rates) including taxes which seems pretty good for what is a $60,000 car over there (maybe a $50,000 car here). The leasing company then just phone the order through to his local Volvo dealership and he just picks it up from there.
He works in the automotive engineering industry, so is quite into cars and likes to try different ones, so has "owned" quite a few nice cars (Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc) on these "cheap" short-term lease deals. Obviously, leasing isn't for everyone and 5000 pounds (around $8000) for 18 months motoring isn't to be sniffed at but if you want to drive a new "premium" car and change it fairly regularly then that may well be less than what the car would depreciate by in that time if you paid cash for it.
I had a look at some deals on cars that I quite like over here to see if there was anything comparable. You can get a Fiesta ST, Honda Civic Si, "base" Golf GTI or Elantra Sport for a similar payment but over a 48 month lease term (33 months on the Elantra) but they're all $30,000 vehicles not $50,000 vehicles, so not really in the same league. In many cases, you might as well stretch the term by 2 years and for a similar payment go for standard hire purchase at a slightly lower rate.
So my question really is, are there any "cheap" lease deals such as my friend in the UK got on the Volvo in Canada, do the manufacturers have the monopoly on leasing or are there private leasing companies offering better lease deals?
Just to add, in all fairness, spec-for-spec, we generally pay less in terms of dollar value for new cars over here than in the UK, although comparable pre-owned vehicles tend to be priced more highly here (in MB at any rate), which can be a little frustrating and they also don't have to pay taxes on pre-owned vehicles.
