£155p/m, 1000miles car lease 7500miles battery £0 deposit, 36months

Hi Hew, yes, it is a low milage deal, but as it happens that’s the plan I was looking for (since it’s a second car – the car it’s replacing does that many miles).

I’ve since been emailed the deal from them for the 7500 option, and it’s just the same except it’s the same Guaranteed Future Value as Renault’s 7500 plan (makes sense: you’d expect the 3000 mile/year deal to have a higher guaranteed value since the car will accumulate less wear) and of course the monthly battery rent switches to £50/month obviously.

So to cut the waffle – yes, their illustration is low milage, but you can get the same saving over Renault’s deal with higher mileage options too.

I’m starting to sound like I’m the salesman here! Anyhow, I was impressed.

Anyone else know of other dealers beating Renault’s offer?

I think jit187 has a fair point. If buying an ex-demo car from a dealer then it’s likely that the Renault dealer didn’t “choose” a battery contract for the demo vehicle, and so you’re probably the first owner to pick a contract for your ex-demo model. My question is more to do with what happens if you buy a used one that has a few thousand miles on the clock and the previous owner had been paying a monthly battery rental.

Thinking about it logically, Renault would have to have something in place to control this, since it’s a long term commitment that you’re making to take a particular rental level (as I understand it, when you’ve made your mind up you can’t change, just pay the excess mileage). If there wasn’t any control in place for a used Zoe then anyone who wanted to suddenly change rental level could just notionally “sell” their car to someone and sell it back, and hey-presto, entitled to pick a new contract. However, in the scenario of a genuine second hand sale, it seems unfair that the new owner is lumbered with whatever contract the first owner picked, whether it suits them or not.

So the matter remains ambiguous so far as I can tell.

To answer your question, huwwatkins, the deal at Evans Halshaw in Leeds for a Zoe Intens is…

47 Monthly Payments of £129.00
Term 49 months
On The Road Cash Price £10,491.06**
Customer Deposit £129.00
Total Amount of Credit £10,362.06
Credit Arrangement Fee £99.00
Total Amount Payable £12,659.29
Option to Purchase Payment (GMFV) £6,368.29
Option to Purchase Fee £149.00
Rate of Interest (Fixed) 6.17%
Mandatory Battery Hire Rental*** £25.00
Total Monthly Payment £154.00
Representative 6.92% APR

So far as I can tell, this is quite significantly better than the deal offered on the main Renault site, which is almost identical terms except this is £129 deposit instead of £2000 deposit, 47 payments instead of 48 payments and the GMFV is about £300 more, so all together about £1700 cheaper than Renault’s regular deal.

(Renault’s regular deal is below)
48 monthly payments of £129
Customer deposit £2,000
Cash price £15,195 after PiCG
Dealer deposit contribution £3,000
Total amount of credit £10,195
Optional final payment £6,005
Finance facility fee £99
Option to purchase fee £149
Total amount payable £17,445
Duration 49 months
Fixed interest rate p.a. 6.17%
6.9% APR Representative

The salesman at Leeds claimed that he had someone travelling up from Portsmouth to get this deal, which sounds quite believable for a £1700 saving.

When you pump these figures into a spreadsheet, it does indeed make a new model more attractive than a used one.

So, I almost have an answer to my question… Today I visited Renault in Leeds, saw a Zoe for the first time ever (never even seen one on the road before) and took a test drove.

I asked what happens with the battery rental contract when a used Zoe is re-sold, and he said he didn’t know. He thinks you probably would inherit the contract that the original owner took, but he said you may be able to negotiate it with Renault, which wasn’t exactly the definitive answer I was looking for and left me feeling a bit ambiguous on the matter still.

Initially I thought it a bit strange that he didn’t know – especially since I’ve seen used Zoe’s advertised, and so I asked him what has happened when he’s sold a used Zoe in the past. He said he’s never sold a used one, he’s only ever sold them new. After explaining the deals available on a new Zoe, I can see why. Even with after a used Zoe has lost a few grand from new as an ex-demo or low mileage model, the deals available seem to still add up for getting a new one instead.

So it seems plausible that the salesman has indeed never sold a used Zoe, and therefore understandable that he doesn’t know for sure what would happen with the battery hire contract in that scenario.

P.S. I was very impressed with the test drive, plus also I’ve gone off the idea of a used one anyhow, since the maths stack up so well for a new one, making my question not really so important any more.