Zenith Vehicle Contracts Avis 1 475

Honestly, sadly, one of the most deplorable companies I have ever had to deal with.

I have a salary sacrifice with Zenith through my work place and I wish I had never bothered. To start with, they lure you in with the ‘cost savings’, when in reality they are making a huge profit in you. I am paying over £900 gross per month for a car which I could lease privately for under £500, but because I am in the 40% tax bracket, it looks like it will work out slightly cheaper than leasing privately, when you include the cost of insurance, tyres etc.

Once you have signed up to a lease and they have their claws in you, that is the end of the line, they know they have your money coming and couldn’t care less about your experience.

I ordered my car August 2024. It was estimated 8-12 weeks delivery. In November, a friend of mine had an identical car delivered privately, which they had ordered in September. When i called the car company, they explained it was because Zenith hadn’t finalised the deal until October, 4 months after I signed up to it.

I have it on my quote, on a list of FAQs Zenith provided, and on an email from a sales rep stating that road tax is included. You may assume that this means the cost of road tax is included, but you would be wrong. It only means that they will tax the car online - and then bill you for it. I ordered my car in August 2024, the changes to EV road tax was announced in November 2022, well ahead of me ordering the car, so I would have the thought the 2 years between the law changing and my £900+ a month car being delivered would include the £195 a year road tax. It does not, despite the multiple places they mention ‘road tax included’. They use terminology in the contract such as ‘we are not liable for increases to the road fund licence’. I am not in the motor trade, but I have been around, and have never heard this term in my life before coming across it with Zenith. If this isn’t to obfuscate the truth and trick you into not realise what it means, then I don’t know why they would use this terminology.

Furthermore, if you receive a parking ticket or other infringement, regardless of whether it would be upheld, they pay it straight away so you do not have the chance to contest it. They then charge you an admin fee for the pleasure.

My advice to anyone would be avoid this company. I am petitioning my company to take on another scheme and actively discouraging anyone who asks me about it at work. The one saving grace is that if you resign, you can hand the car back, so as a result i am genuinely looking for other jobs because of this scheme. I love the car but I’d give it back today if I could. Avoid.

Really clear communication and quotes with great follow up service

The website is very easy to navigate and getting a quote on various different criteria is very easy and helps you to make a decision based on your circumstances.

Straight forward process and easy to understand and use.

I found their car ordering system very user friendly and also very quick

It was very easy to place the order.
A helpful person on the helpline helped me with a question (is that too many 'helps'?!).

The service itself is pretty good and I have ordered another car with them.
My main gripe is that the gross costs of leasing are set quite high when compared to leasing exactly the same car for the same period (with zero deposit) directly from the manufacturer/dealer. Yes, it's not quite apples with apples, as insurance, MOT, etc are included in Zenith's gross leasing cost, but those factors don't account for the large difference. Unfortunately, this eats up a lot of (if not most of) the UK tax benefits of salary sacrificing for an electric car, versus leasing privately. I'd recommend looking into this quite carefully before proceeding, something that isn't straight-forward as the whole tax position keeps changing and isn't easy to get to grips with.
I just wish my employer would offer alternative providers in order to create some competitive tension on the provider margins, but for the moment this is the only option available to me.

Really quick and simple process to submit an order.

easy selection process, good selection of vehicles, help at hand if required which was great, small technical glitch in website / flashing screen a bit annoying.

The car I have ordered is not available. Not yet received any communication from Zenith on what to do. Not given a very good explanation why a car of a similar value is not available

The process of ordering has been really straightforward and easy from the start. Communication has been clear, and the dealer got in touch promptly after my enquiry. I’ve been kept updated and was advised of an expected delivery in August, which is helpful for planning.

I also got in touch about a private number plate and received a quick and helpful response, which was reassuring.

I appreciate this is still early days as I’m only at the order stage, but based on my experience so far everything has been smooth and positive.

Quick and easy to select the car of choice

Very slick process and really straightforward. loses a star due to the cost increases (nearly double) when comparing current car to the newer version of a similar car, which limits the affordable selection.

good comunication and fast swift response.

I.had no problem at all.my car was deliever within a week
Thank you

Long wait for the tyre fitting work to be approved.