Leasing is one of the most affordable ways of getting behind the wheel of your next car, without long term commitment. With the rising demand for well-maintained used cars, you can save even more by opting for a lease car that is a few years older.
Leasing a car was once limited to business motorists and large fleets, as dealerships promoted PCH (personal contract hire) deals alongside the longer-established PCP (personal contract purchase) schemes to consumers, but it has become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional car finance in recent years.
With new car prices rising and the British used car market growing year-on-year – 7.6 million used cars were sold in 2024, 6% more than the year prior – several UK car leasing companies now offer attractive value-for-money deals on approved used cars that have been leased to others prior.
When compared to buying a used car outright, leasing can offer several advantages, particularly in terms of cashflow. Most leasing products these days also include the option to include servicing and maintenance in the monthly payments. This removes the risk of big bills when you take the car for its annual service.
We won’t go into detail about the pros and cons of car leasing here, but if you’re keen to know more then check out our guide to personal contract hire.
So if you’ve added up the sums and decided used leasing is for you, you’ll face a new question – which car leasing operator should you go for?
Remember is to ensure you are looking at PCH offers, and not BCH (business contract hire), available only to business customers. It’s also vital to be careful entering your details, particularly the annual mileage as it can make a big difference to your potential costs.
Used car leasing is arranged through specialist leasing companies, and we’ve listed our top ten of them below.
Most of the top ten companies listed here are brokers, rather than actually providing the lease – a bit like franchise car dealers who sell vehicles on behalf of a manufacturer, rather than the manufacturer selling you a car directly.
The list of companies below isn’t ranked – they all provide a high level of service and are worthy of consideration. They’re simply sorted by those who are commercial partners of The Car Expert (the ones with an asterisk next to their name), which means that we may get a small commission if you click through to their website, and those that are not. This doesn’t affect the deals you are offered or the price you pay on any of the sites.
Leasing.com*
They say: “Pre-loved lease vehicles. Ready to be loved again.”
Leasing.com describes itself as the car leasing expert and is one of several comparison sites on the internet. The company doesn’t lease cars itself but acts as a comparison site for lease companies, enabling customers to compare deals and select the one that best suits them.
Having been trading since 2000, Leasing.com claims to have helped more than a million people find a deal, and it certainly offers plenty of choice. With the ever-growing popularity of used cars, leasing.com has now expanded into used car leasing, with a new website aptly named ‘re.leasing.com’.
Beyond the company’s featured used car picks, there’s a wide choice of potential cars – from MG and Mini to Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz. The cars are typically between two and four years old, have less than 50,000 miles on the clock, and come with a maintenance package that includes servicing, MOT, maintenance, and mechanical repairs.
Since July 2021, Leasing.com’s vehicle ratings have been powered by The Car Expert’s industry-leading Expert Rating Index, so you can be sure that the vehicles have been reviewed and rated by professional journalists from 30 of the UK’s top automotive websites.
Select Car Leasing*
They say: “Our fantastic selection of ‘Re-Lease’ cars offer exceptional value for money.”
Select Car Leasing claims to be one of the biggest providers of lease cars, boasting 50,000-plus cars delivered in around 16 years of trading, and 21,000 five-star Trustpilot reviews as a result.
Each used car listing includes all the usual information plus a few useful tags that show you whether the car is reserved or in-stock ready for delivery, and whether a servicing and tyre maintenance package is included in the monthly fee or is an optional extra.
You can search for your preferred car by entering your desired model, budget, gearbox, annual mileage, contract length and fuel type, with the company’s stock of around 500 used offers evenly split between petrol and all-electric models.
Select Car Leasing also currently promotes a price-match service, paying out £50 in Amazon vouchers if customers find a comparable deal at a better price elsewhere.
Gateway2Lease*
They say: “Used car leasing made simple.”
Gateway2Lease has a pretty vast selection of approved used cars, as well as vans and pick-ups for commercial customers. The site has a handy search column tool that allows you to customise the leasing term and annual mileage as you search, updating the monthly cost as you go.
The cars on offer are generally no older than three years old, and there are plenty of electric options. Each car is given a ‘G2L score’, although it’s not clear how those scores are calculated.
You can sort models by trim levels, fuel type, CO2 levels and P11d values to find the right car for your budget. Cars that are in stock are also tagged so you can see which models are available for immediate delivery. As with most other sites, there’s also plenty of useful information for first-time leasing customers to explain how everything works.
Pink Car Leasing*
They say: “Trust us to find the right deal, whatever your budget.”
Pink Car Leasing has a wide array of personal new car leasing deals, business leasing deals, van leasing offers, and now used car leases for both individual customers and businesses.
The websites selection of used lease deals stands at around 170 offers at the time of writing, with Pink Car adding that it’s working hard to expand the number of choices on offer.
The search function allows you to set your desired model, bodystyle, transmission, fuel type, annual mileage and contract length, with the monthly price updating as you go. You can also search for used cars by entering your monthly budget, showing you only what is within your price range.
VIP Gateway*
They say: “We have a car to suit every budget.”
VIP Gateway is a Manchester-based leasing broker with customers all across the UK. To back up its ambitions to provide the very highest levels of service, the company claims to have customers on their ninth or even tenth vehicles.
There’s also a whole raft of testimonials from famous customers, with a particular emphasis on Manchester-based football stars and celebrities.
The site has a colourful menu to highlight special offers, in-stock vehicles, electric cars, short-term leasing, used leasing offers, prestige vehicles and so on. Used car leasing is a relatively new concept in the UK, and while VIP Gateway fully intends to offer used car leasing imminently, there are no used leasing offers listed on the website at the time of writing.
Nationwide Vehicle Contracts
They say: “Find affordable vehicle leasing
deals from the experts.”
In business since 2002, Nationwide Vehicle Contracts says that it offers an ‘unrivalled’ choice of cars and vans with competitive leasing quotes available at the ‘touch of a button’. True to those words, the company’s website does have one of the biggest collection of used leasing deals of the brands we have covered so far.
Based in Manchester and offering nationwide 14-day delivery for most of its listings, Nationwide has some of the cheapest used leasing deals we have found on our search, though the models on offer are a little older on average than other websites – usually three to four years old.
Beyond the standard details on every listing, the website also tells you which cars come with breakdown recovery included at first glance, and you can also search for specific models, price tags, body styles and fuel types.
Green Apple Leasing
They say: “Find affordable vehicle leasing
deals from the experts.”
Cheshire-based Green Apple Leasing has been in business since 1927, and has an easy-to-use website with plenty of positive customer testimonials and an excellent five-star Trustpilot rating.
The company offers both deposit and no deposit used car leasing deals, and its listings make the handy distinction between personal and business leasing costs. The selection of different models is vast, with 51 different pages of results if you don’t specify make, fuel type and transmission, all of which can be searched for in the tool bar.
For drivers that aren’t quite sure if they would like a hybrid or full fat electric lease car, you can also search for ‘green friendly’ cars – a search function that includes both.
While the prices are quite competitive, one drawback is that the website uses stock photos, instead of actual photos of the vehicle, meaning you can’t actually see what you would be getting until you enquire.
Leasing Options
They say: “A hassle-free and affordable way to drive a quality vehicle.”
Another established used leasing marketplace that offers no deposit deals and has excellent five-star ratings on Trustpilot and Google, Leasing Options has a great website design that’s simple to navigate and easy to understand.
There’s a useful toggle between personal and business leasing deals, and the listings give you all the details you need while scrolling. The search bar is more detailed than rival websites, allowing you to search for the exact trim level you prefer, as well as entering you maximum budget and desired lease length.
The website also has a handy model comparison tool, which can show you which of your desired models is cheaper to finance.
Synergy Car Leasing
They say: “Delivering a great leasing experience since 2006”
Based in Harrogate, Synergy’s website doesn’t have all the flashy search functions of rival websites on this list, but its deals are just as competitive.
While the company has a smaller selection of cars usually around four years old and doesn’t allow you to edit your contract terms on the website, it says it can provide you with a customised quotes if you speak to its sales team, and has a ‘Top 20 Deals’ page with attractive prices that does include some used models.
Hippo Leasing
URL: hippoleasing.co.uk
Hippo Leasing’s parent company certainly knows a thing or two about cars and the automotive business – the family-owned Hippo Motor Group has been trading for more than a century. They use that experience and know-how to make car leasing simple for customers, using their access to a wide range of vehicle manufacturers to bring a vast choice of vehices, from Ford to Ferrari.
Hippo devotes a specific section of its website to used car leasing. All used cars come with a minimum six-month warranty (potentially more if the car is still under its new car warranty) and go through a comprehensive workshop inspection before collection by the customer.
The site is well laid out and begins with four easy steps to lease a car, from finding one to driving one. If you don’t know what you want, there’s a browse section broken down into sections such as price, make, body type, and new or used, and if you need a nudge in the right direction there’s a good section of hottest special offers.
More car leasing information
Additional reporting by Tom Johnston and Stuart Masson.
*The Car Expert has commercial partnerships with Gateway2Lease, Hippo Leasing, Leasing.com, Pink Car Leasing, Select Car Leasing and VIP Gateway. If you click through to their websites, we may receive a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay.
