Sitting here in the office perusing the car hire prices that we've been quoted I have had a blinding flash of realisation.
Something which explains why all of the dealer quoted prices are so high.
Car dealers don't understand contract hire.
Take the Mercedes C200 SE - a quick browse of several vehicle contract hire specialists - that is companies who specialise in contract hire and understand what it is - reveals that I can contract hire said car for 3 years (20k per year) for as little as £362.99 per month.
The official Mercedes dealer in Leeds quoted £485.00 per month.
I checked the Ford Mondeo Titianium X price based on the same mileage and contract term too - £262.99 from a broker, £389.00 from the Ford dealer.
And then suddenly something came back to me, something that the Merc dealer mentioned when I gasped at his price - he said "well this is a £28000 car you are financing ..."
And thats just the point, I am not financing the car I am hiring it, he (or Mercedes Benz) is financing the car, I am (supposed to be) simply paying him for the three year depreciation, the asset is never mine, never appears on my company records, I claim 100% tax allowance on the rental so it can never be my car even at the end of the contract - at the end of the contract the asset is still his and he takes it back and sells it having recouped the depreciation over three years from my rentals.
If he's also trying to get me to pay for the fekking thing then no wonder his prices are 35% higher than the company who understands what contract hire really is.
I come across many fekkwits and con artists in day-to-day business dealings but finding them in the car trade is like shooting fish in a barrel.
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If you could see my face, you'd describe it as the face of a man who can scarcely comprehend why someone would willingly drive a Ford vehicle when others are an option.
Maybe my math is bad, but if someone said to me, "you can drive this 2000 pound pile of excrement with a combustible engine installed under the hood, or you can drive this vehicle that's not guaranteed to break down and leave you destitute when you need it least for a good 30% more" I'm pretty sure I'd go with the non-Ford.
Speaking as a guy that's been screwed by more Fords than the Ford family maid.
Gary,
I've just caught up with your car choosing saga - so good to hear someone a) talk sense and b) talk with a Yorksha twang.
I'm a little surprized you come across so many fekkwits and con artists - I'd assumed they'd all taken jobs where I'm working at the moment...
But x
Maine - given all things being equal then the Ford would be near the bottom of the list and until the new Mondeo came out last month thats where they'd be anyway, the main problem in the Uk is that the German manufacturers seem to think that they have a prestige product, they haven't, the Japanese manufactirers veer between faux prestige and just weird (what do Nissan think they are doing, and the French just don't give a damn what you think of their cars.
The Peugeot is winning at the moment if only for the fact that they understand the contract hire concept.
But why ? - I never realised when out shooting fekkwits that they all gathered under one umbrella - the car trade - its like fekkwit grand central station in every car showroom I've walked into.
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