Leasing a new van or pick-up has been common for large fleets for decades, but it has also become far more popular for smaller businesses and sole traders in recent years.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of leasing agreement that most small businesses will choose from: contract hire and finance lease. We’re not going to go into explanations here about how they work, but your accountant will be able to advise which is likely to be more suitable for your business.
So if you’ve added up the sums and decided leasing is for you, you’ll naturally turn to the internet for some answers. But you then face a new question – which car leasing operator should you go for?
If you’re looking to lease a new vehicle for your business, you’ll quickly find that there are plenty of companies claiming to be able to help. There are leasing companies owned and run by the vehicle manufacturers themselves, a whole host of independent leasing brokers, and comparison sites that bring together many of the best offers from around the industry.
Overall, independents offer a great deal more choice than manufacturer sites, but prices are not necessarily cheaper and what might seem a choice of fewer offers on some sites can produce better deals.
Different leasing sites will offer deals on a range of models from different manufacturers, which means there can be considerable fluctuations in pricing on the same car. So, as always, it pays to shop around.
There’s no substitute for deciding exactly what you need from your next vehicle and then spending a few hours online, working your way through the sites below and checking all the results carefully to ensure you get the best deal.
Manufacturer websites
We like: All the backup and quality that comes with dealing direct with the manufacturer
We don’t like: Obviously you can’t compare deals on different brands
Most car and van manufacturers will happily sign you up for a lease deal through their in-house finance operation, and if you’re enquiring about a lease while in a franchised dealer showroom, it’s probably based on the manufacturer’s own finance numbers.
Leasing from a manufacturer comes with obvious advantages – you are effectively ‘cutting out the middle man’ by dealing direct, with all the front-line servicing and maintenance back-up.
The biggest downside is a lack of choice. Manufacturer sites tend to offer just a few grades available, sometimes on cars that are less easy to shift off forecourts, and on by no means their entire model line-up. There’s also the other obvious drawback that you can’t directly compare vehicles from different brands side-by-side.
If you go to a showroom, they’ll happily provide you a leasing quote on any van or pick-up in the range, in any specification, but it will tend to be more expensive than a designated specification vehicle that they want to shift.
Independent leasing companies
The vast majority of new van leasing is arranged through specialist leasing companies, and we’ve listed our top ten below.
The biggest leasing operators have very good relationships with the major manufacturers (which is not surprising, since they may be buying thousands of new vehicles every year), so the deals are likely to be just as good as you’d get buying directly though the manufacturer’s own leasing operation – and often a lot better. Plus you have the option of comparing vans or pick-ups from different brands in one place to work out what’s best for you.
Most of the companies listed below 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 vehicle directly.
Please note that several of the companies listed below have an asterisk next to their name – they are commercial partners of The Van Expert, which means that we may get a small commission if you click through to their website. This doesn’t affect the deals you are offered or the price you pay; it just helps us to keep running our site.
Leasing.com*
URL: leasing.com
They say: “The leading car leasing comparison website”
Leasing.com describes itself as the van leasing expert and is one of several comparison sites on the internet. The company doesn’t lease vehicles 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, both private and business cusgtomers, and it certainly offers plenty of choice. The rates we looked at were also cheaper than leasing the same vans directly from the manufacturers.
As with most comparison sites, there’s a huge choice of vehicles on offer. The site also includes a number of tutorials, including a video explaining how ‘you’re in the driving seat’.
Since July 2021, Leasing.com’s passenger vehicle ratings have been powered by The Car Expert’s industry-leading Expert Rating Index, which analyses new car reviews from 30 of the UK’s top automotive websites. We have a similar project in the works for vans, so stay tuned…
Vanparison*
They say: “We do the leg work, you enjoy the ride”
Vanparison is the sister site to Carparison, and presents a friendly and personal image to help you to sort out a lease on a new van or pick-up. For a fast, simple start you can enter your wish list details (starting with your monthly budget) and then follow up with all their latest top deals, which show initial rental outlay and the monthly payments.
The company says it was launched in 2018 to fill a demand not met by existing leasing sites for sourcing quick and easy deals. The site majors on personal service with lots of smiling faces all over the site.
You can do a simple search for make and model and then narrow it down, or an advanced search with far more details, including whether the offer that tempts you is actually in stock (which is helpful, as not all deals offered in the leasing market are available immediately at the moment).
There are several interesting features and advice pieces such as ‘Leasing fees explained’, ‘How to order a lease car’ and even ‘Is leasing right for me?’.
Hippo Leasing*
URL: hippoleasing.co.uk
They say: “We’re your van leasing specialists!”
Hippo Leasing’s parent company certainly knows a thing or two about 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 van leasing simple for customers, using their access to a wide range of vehicle manufacturers to bring a vast choice of vehices from all the major brands.
The site is well laid out and begins with four easy steps to lease a vehicle, 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.
The way in which Hippo does its business is explained clearly and without jargon and you can get most of your queries addressed with a ‘Frequently asked questions’ section.
Rivervale Leasing*
They say: “Do it the right way. Do it the Rivervale way.”
Established in 2001, Rivervale Leasing has grown to become one of the UK’s leading leasing companies for both business and personal users. They have a whole section devoted to vans, with lots of current ‘hot deals’ to tempt you if you don’t have a specific vehicle in mind.
To find the vehicle you’re looking for (your ‘perfect van lease deal’) you can choose to go one of four ways: manufacturer, preference (size, payload, etc), body style, or budget (under £300 to over £500). From these, it’s easy to follow the next drop down boxes until you find yourself with a pared-down list, whichever way you’ve arrived there.
The site also has a growing library of van leasing advice plus some general features, tips advice and surveys.
LeaseLoco*
URL: leaseloco.com
They say: “LeaseLoco compares millions of van deals to help you find an amazing van to meet your needs.”
LeaseLoco is another leasing comparison site, and once you get beyond the home-page graphics recalling Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, the site has much to recommend it.
The site majors on affordability – there is no make and model menu on the homepage, but a simpler one asking how much you want to spend each month. The site then seeks out the deals available, which you can narrow down by make, model, mileage and such like. One advantage of this is that, although you may have been tempted by one particular vehicle, the site shows alternatives you might not have considered.
Another neat feature is the historical price chart, enabling you to see what lease prices have been over the last month, six months or year.
Ready2Lease*
They say: “We collate the best deals available”
Ready2Lease has a simple van landing page that lets you easily search for a specific make and model, or a particular body type (box van, chassis cab, etc.), price point or fuel type.
There’s not a lot of other information in the van section of the site, but if you go to the Ready2Lease homepage then there are several guides to different aspects of leasing a vehicle.
Helpfully, there’s a page listing available van stock – although at the moment, there are not too many choices with the current global supply shortages.
Vanarama
URL: vanarama.com
They say: “Best van leasing deals in the UK”
Vanarama is one of the bigest names in the LCV leasing business (the clue’s in the name), and it’s now part of the Auto Trader group. Despite the name, the company also does personal leasing for cars.
The offers all have clear information and helpful graphics to make sure you’re looking at the right type of vehicle, plus you can compare multiple vehicles and save your preferred models to a wishlist. Plus there are all the usual guides and information about leasing.
LeasePlan
URL: leaseplan.com
They say: “One of the world’s leading leasing companies”
Long-established as one of the biggest names in business leasing for fleets, it’s probably not as well known that LeasePlan also offers personal leasing for consumers. The site includes a host of ‘hot offers’ as well as allowing you to seek out a specific vehicle or price.
The most important first click is on the slider to set the offers to either ‘Personal’ or ‘Business’, depending on what you want. Both sides of the site look very similar, with the same images, and it’s easy to go the wrong way.
The business leasing side is very much pitched at large fleets, so if you manage a fleet of vehicles rather than just one or two vans, this could be a good choice for you.
Select Van Leasing
They say: “One of the UK’s largest independent leasing specialists”
Select Van Leasing is part of the Select Car Leasing operation – it even runs through the car site rather than having its own URL. This might be slightly confusing to start with, but once you’re on the site there’s plenty to like.
Each vehicle includes all the usual pricing information, plus detailed specifications as well. Most models also have a short review.
There’s a dedicated electric van section, which is inevitably quite small at the moment but will presumably grow quickly as more EVs hit the market.
Leasing Options
URL: leasingoptions.co.uk
They say: “Find an affordable lease deal on a brand new vehicle”
Leasing Options doesn’t have the most elaborate website, and the home page doesn’t feature advice pieces, features or videos, but it gets the job done. There’s a selection of offers at the top of the page or you can scroll down further to the manufacturers section – there are 12 to choose from, which covers all the major van manufacturers selling here in the UK.
Click on a maker and you’re taken to a dedicated page, describing a little about the chosen brand and drop down sections either go straight to a model or to a more elaborate search including length of contract, mileage and lease type. There’s also a dedicated section for short-term van leasing if you don’t want a vehicle for the next three or four years.
*The Van Expert has commercial partnerships with Hippo Leasing, LeaseLoco, Leasing.com, Ready2Lease, Rivervale Leasing and Vanparison. If you click through to their websites, we may receive a small commission.
