What is the difference between PCP and car leasing?

PCP includes an option to buy the car at the end, while Personal Contract Hire is a lease with no normal ownership option. Both can include mileage and condition rules.

In relation to “What is the difference between PCP and car leasing?”, before changing, selling or returning a financed car, establish who owns it and request the current figures from the finance provider.

For “What is the difference between PCP and car leasing?”, read the agreement for the cash price, deposit, total amount payable, optional final payment, mileage allowance and return conditions. The monthly payment alone does not show the whole cost.

For “What is the difference between PCP and car leasing?”, compare ownership outcome as well as monthly cost. A cheap-looking monthly figure can represent a very different end position depending on whether there is a final payment or no ownership option.

For “What is the difference between PCP and car leasing?”, this answer is written for a Northern Ireland user, but some vehicle-registration, consumer-credit and insurance functions operate on a UK-wide basis. The attached sources — MoneyHelper - Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), MoneyHelper - Buying a car with Hire Purchase, and nidirect - Contact Consumerline — are therefore deliberately mixed where the responsible authority is UK-wide. That is more accurate than forcing every point into an NI-only source.

Practical next step for “What is the difference between PCP and car leasing?”: open the finance agreement and find the figures or clause relevant to this question. If you are changing or ending the agreement, request the current position directly from the finance provider before promising the car to anyone else.