The cost of products and services vary from company to company and contract hire and leasing is no exception. One of the many factors that determines price is residual values (What the contract hire company believes the car will be worth at the end of the contract hire period). One of the difficulties with contract hire when comparing quotes, is that you are often not comparing like with like.

The most competitive contract hire deals can usually be found on the Internet. If you want to find the very lowest price advertised each time you buy a car, this can usually is achieved by searching the Internet. The downside of doing this, particularly if you tend to acquire a number of cars, is that it will probably mean dealing with a different broker on each deal; at different times certain brokers will have the best deal on a particular manufacturer or model. Finding a reliable contract hire broker is not always easy; at the moment contract hire broking is unregulated, so one has to tread carefully to avoid (Albeit in a minority) the dishonest brokers.

Searching the Internet to find a rock bottom price on a car is probably best suited for a company that only has one or two cars, or for an individual using personal contract hire. For companies that acquire a number of vehicles a year, a more practical option would be to find a contract hire broker that is reliable and competitive across the range of manufacturers. Perhaps most importantly one that will not mislead the client on delivery dates as a means winning the business over a broker who is quoting a more accurate delivery date.

In the case of a company that buys more than the odd vehicle it is not terribly practical to be dealing with a different broker each time they acquire a vehicle. A company such as this would probably be better off, developing a long term relationship with an established contract hire broker that would manage the whole fleet and provide all the related services; for example ongoing licence checking of the employees and negotiating manufacturers terms on behalf of the client.

For an individual or company that only acquires a vehicle every two or three years, there is no reason not to go onto the Internet and seek out the cheapest deal available. Putting the key words, contract hire, into Google will bring up somewhere in the order of 4,000,000 entries. Clearly one couldn’t hope to look at more than a fraction of those companies advertising contract hire, most people confine their search to the first page. It can also be worth checking out, contract hire and leasing, car leasing and vehicle leasing.

There are sites that act as directories for a range of contract hire and leasing brokers. Some people are quite happy using these sites others don’t like them. There is nothing essentially wrong with them, although it is important to be aware that they don’t take responsibility for, or police their advertisers. So whilst the site may be very reputable it does not necessarily follow that their advertisers are. There is certainly evidence of contract hire brokers that advertise on these sites offering prices and delivery dates that are unachievable.

Of those advertising on the directory websites there will be some well-established and reputable contract hire brokers. They are often not difficult to spot; they will invariably be those that advertise in a very straightforward manner. If the deal being offered is for twenty-four or thirty-six months you would expect the advertiser to show the profile i.e. three payments in advance followed by thirty five monthly payments, or three payments in advance followed by twenty three monthly payments. If they don’t state the payment profile then they are quite likely to be offering something different, which will make it difficult for you to make a comparison.

It is not unusual to find that a company is asking for six initial payments, it’s difficult to see why a company would do this other than to make the monthly rental appear lower than their competitors. When comparing with other companies it is important to take into account the three additional payments that you will be making.

Often delivery dates are quoted, that the contract hire broker knows they cannot achieve. However it does not necessarily mean that a broker advertising an earlier delivery than their competitors cannot deliver the vehicles on time. It may be that the have access to vehicles that others do not, or that they have pre ordered cars. One should exercise caution with any deal that appears far more attractive than others on offer, especially if a deposit is required.

Pricing is another area some contract hire brokers mislead the public, advertising cars at prices knowing they cannot supply at those prices. The thinking behind this is that they will be contacted by those who are attracted by the deal and they can then tell them that that particular batch of cars have been sold but they have something similar etc. It is planned that contract hire and leasing brokers will become regulated in the future; just as insurance brokers are regulated by the FSA. It is expected that these companies will then have to change their ways, or go out of business.

Contract hire broking is an industry where customers are frequently let down, sometimes this happens where small brokers who have to work through other brokers, have themselves been let down by the main broker.

Perhaps the answer is to find three or four contract hire brokers offering the most attractive monthly rentals and speak to them on the telephone. And attempt to ascertain if they can indeed provide what they are promising. The worst thing that can happen is to order a vehicle and then be told at a later date, that the price or delivery date cannot be met. Sometimes it can be better to pay a little more and deal with a broker that inspires confidence.