Working in our clients’ best interests has been the cornerstone of Wilmar since our inception in 1980. Founder Bill Crawford insisted that if we followed this philosophy, we would have clients for life. As obvious as it may seem, there are far too many fleet management companies and dealerships that make recommendations that are good for only one company: their own.
Here are 3 typical examples of ways that lessors act in their own best interests, rather than those of their clients. If any of these scenarios look familiar, it might be time to take another look at your current leasing partner.
Vehicles today are safer and more reliable than ever. Except in extreme circumstances, most vehicles have useful lives of at least 125,000 miles. If your fleet management company structured your leases to expire before or at 100,000 miles, they’re doing you a disservice. If your vehicles average 25,000 miles per year, consider driving them for five years instead of four. The extra year will dramatically reduce the monthly payment with minimal repairs in the fifth year.
Your fleet management company is over-depreciating your vehicles. In some situations this is referred to as an equity lease, but in reality it’s just a way for the lessor to mitigate risk. At the end of the lease, if your lessor is returning several thousands of dollars to you, it means you’ve been overpaying every month. Everyone wants lower monthly payments; over-depreciation makes payments artificially high. The best leases take the true depreciation into account based on miles driven.
Your fleet management company is depreciating all your vehicles in exactly the same way. As in Example 2, the depreciation needs to match the vehicle. A Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, Chevy Silverado, and Ram Pro-Master all depreciate at different rates. The leases need to match the vehicle and reflect the different depreciation rates.
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Wilmar is the Southeast’s largest independent fleet leasing and management company.
Our mission is to deliver customized fleet solutions that help our clients operate their businesses more efficiently.
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