Car Lease for Expats

Hi all,

Reading this forum has been a big help.  Still have some details to try to sort out before our big move over.

I will be relocating from California to the UK in July for 2 years.  I work for a  small American company (no official office in the UK).  My company will cover a car lease, but I having a hard time finding anyone to lease me a car, I do not have a UK licence, or credit history in the UK.  They won't lease directly to my company as it is not UK based.

My wife is from the UK (she finally gets to try to give our two boys English accents...) , but she has not lived there for 15 years  -so she doesn't have any credit history to speak of either.

Does you know of any car companies that work with expats?

Any suggestions are appreciated - Thanks!

Hi,

No real experience with this, but I suspect you are just going to have to keep calling as many places as you can and hope they'll allow you to lease a car in your situation.

If that's unsuccessful, then perhaps approach one of the car rental companies and see if you can negotiate a long term rental plan with them. Probably won't be for 2 years, but perhaps a monthly thing? if they allow perhaps up to 3 or 6 month long rentals that'd be great - the rates won't be as good as a lease perhaps, so whatever money your company is willing to provide, you might have to 'top up' as it were from your own money. Look into the tax implications of this as well.

The other way is to try and get a loan or use your credit card etc, to purchase a car here.

Perhaps some more negotiation with the lease companies can result in them being able to lease to a US based company, perhaps with some extra funds acting as guarantee's etc.

Good luck!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Hi,

Anyone know of any 'No Haggle' type car dealers in the UK similar to Carmax in the US?   Usually have a somewhat competitive price, but the car buying experience is much easier.

About to give up on finding any company to actually give me a lease.  US credit history and a US company doesn't count in the UK.

Thanks!

Car giant or car supermarket?

Without UK credit and a UK driving record, it's possible to get a car and insurance, but it's expensive. You can get insured with your US license, although the prices are going to be very high. You can also drive on your US license for a year before getting a UK license, but I'd recommend getting a provisional license as soon as you arrive and starting driving lessons soon after. Check out Sainsbury's insurance, because they were the only company that took into consideration that I had been driving for over 10 years in the US. Other insurers will only take into consideration UK driving records, so you'll be a brand new driver, often paying the same as a 17-year-old who has just started driving.

As for getting a lease, it's going to be nearly impossible without a credit history, unfortunately. I didn't have to deal with this in the UK, as I had my husband's credit history to help me, but I just dealt with it moving to Canada where we have zero credit. We tried the "no credit, no problem" dealerships and FINALLY found one that would actually work with us. We have high salaries and were able to prove our finances, so received a 6% loan with a 25% deposit only after proving we were stuck here in a work contract for three years AND getting my husband's HR department to verify the contact. The woman at the bank we dealt with said 30% loans aren't abnormal for people just moving here. So, you MAY be able to find a loan, but the rate is probably going to be very high.

Most people who have just moved countries and have no credit are forced to pay cash for a car. My husband's parents had to do that when they moved back to the UK after 15 years abroad and had no credit history.

We bought a car from Motorpoint, which sells former rentals with "no-haggle" prices and they have dealerships throughout the UK. We got a really good deal and a great car, but I know other people have had terrible experiences with them, so I'd be careful.