Top five 16-plate cars you can lease

It’s March 1, there’s a new registration in town, and no doubt you’ll want to lease a car bearing one of the first ‘16’ plates. But which mean machine should your chosen lease company be bolting the new number onto?

To help you decide, we’ve picked out five of the best new models that will do the ‘16’ plate justice.

Audi A4

See a range of A4 leasing deals here: Business / Personal
Or, alternatively, you could enter our competition to win an Audi A4 for two years

ContractHireAndLeasing.com’s reigning Car of the Year needs no introduction; it’s quite simply the best compact executive saloon out there. A raft of improvements at the tail end of 2015 saw the A4 become bigger, faster, more efficient and more rewarding to drive. It got the clever Virtual Cockpit system, too.

For the opportunistic, there’s currently a competition to win use of an A4 S-Line diesel for two years, but if you don’t want that engine, you want more toys or you’re just obtuse and would rather spend your own money, typical personal leasing deals currently average in the region of £430 per month.*

Read our A4 review here…

Jaguar XF

See more Jaguar XF leasing deals here: Business / Personal

Jaguar’s new executive saloon is critically acclaimed as the best in its class, sweeping aside the likes of the Audi A6 and BMW 5 Series with ease. As one quick glance will tell you, it shares much with the smaller XE, and as a result boasts impressive efficiency, driving dynamics and performance.

Typical three-year business leasing deals come in at around £400 a month, while average personal lease rates are in the region of £480 a month, but our pick would be the 2.0-litre diesel 180 Portfolio Auto, for which business lease rates average a very reasonable £378 per month.*

Renault Kadjar

Lease a Renault Kadjar here: Business / Personal

The Nissan Qashqai was the best mid-sized SUV on the market, until Renault copied it, changed the name and cut the price. Yes, the Kadjar is a Nissan under the skin, but it gets a prettier body, a slightly more premium feel inside and a lower average lease rate. Win/win.

Whereas ContractHireAndLeasing.com data shows that the average three-year personal Qashqai lease will set you back £315 a month, while Kadjars are currently going for about £40 per month less. If you want a Kadjar for your business, the average lease price is just £229 per month.*

Read our review of the Kadjar here…

Seat Ibiza

Lease a Seat Ibiza here: Business / Personal

It may have been more of a facelift than a whole new car, but the updated Ibiza is better than ever. A Leon-like front end and far better in-car technology are just some of the improvements to an already likeable package. If, for whatever reason, you’ve discounted the class-leading Fiesta and the Polo from your search, Seat’s supermini is well worth a look.

Part of the Seat’s appeal is attractive lease rates. Snoop about and you’ll find basic ones for less than £100 per month, while three-year personal lease rates are currently averaging around £200 per month. Business leases, meanwhile come in about £40 per month cheaper.*

Read our first drive review of the Ibiza here…

Peugeot 308 GTi

Lease a 308 GTi here: Business / Personal

Peugeot is on a roll where performance cars are concerned, with the impressive RCZ R and lively 208 GTi both coming to market in the past few years. With the 308 GTi running to form, the French manufacturer is finally offering a credible, capable alternative to the Focus ST and Seat Leon Cupra.

Lease rates for the basic GTi 250 average about £280 per month for businesses and £335 per month for personal customers, while the more powerful, more desirable 270 version averages £350 and £430 a month for businesses and private customers respectively.

Want to know more about the 308 GTi? Our review is right this way…

*All average lease rates based on ContractHireAndLeasing.com data and three-year leasing deals. All averages correct at time of writing.