The cost of products and services vary from company to company and contract hire and leasing is no exception. One of the many factors that determines price is residual values (What the contract hire company believes the car will be worth at the end of the contract hire period). One of the difficulties with contract hire when comparing quotes, is that you are often not comparing like with like.

The most competitive contract hire deals can usually be found on the Internet. If you want to find the very lowest price advertised each time you buy a car, this can usually is achieved by searching the Internet. The downside of doing this, particularly if you tend to acquire a number of cars, is that it will probably mean dealing with a different broker on each deal; at different times certain brokers will have the best deal on a particular manufacturer or model. Finding a reliable contract hire broker is not always easy; at the moment contract hire broking is unregulated, so one has to tread carefully to avoid (Albeit in a minority) the dishonest brokers.

Where a company has a number of vehicles in its fleet, trying to always find the lowest price advertised, each time they acquire a new vehicle, is not a very practical option. It is probably a good option for the individual looking for a vehicle on personal contract hire, providing they have the time to spend checking out the contract hire broker, they are intending to use. The company acquiring several vehicles a year would probably be better off finding a broker whose prices are keen across the board and who will keep to the delivery date and prices quoted.

Companies that regularly buy cars and deal with various brokers, usually find that things start to become very disjointed and eventually set about finding a reliable contract hire broker with whom they can develope a more permanent relationship and can also provide additional services to the client, one of the most important being a regular licence checking service. The broker will have a record of all the clients' vehicles and will therefore be in a position to advise them of renewal dates.

If a client's requirement is for just one vehicle, then looking on the Internet can be a good idea. The main search engine is Google; this is where the vast majority of searches are carried out. There are about 4,000,000 entries listed under contract hire and more than 750,000 for the key words personal contract hire, so where does one start? Most searches start on page 1 and few go past the first page, although it may be sensible to at least venture onto the second page. The other key words to try are contract hire and leasing vehicle leasing and car leasing.

On page one you will usually see sites that advertise deals from a large number of contracts hire brokers. These sites are usually very reputable however some caution is advisable. The reason is that there can be a significant difference between those brokers who advertise in directories and who are listed on the first page of Google. This is because those companies that are listed one page one of Google will generally have taken years to get there so you will usually be dealing with a company that is very well established. A company that advertises on a directory can be, but is not always, a newly formed company that perhaps may not be quite so concerned about their reputation.

When using a directory website you have to try and recognise the more reputable companies, of which there will be many. Usually their offers will be easy to understand and they will nearly always stipulate how a deal is made up, for example they will not just say contract hire over 36 months, they will show how those payments are made up the most common profile is 3 initial payments followed by 35 monthly payments. If they do not explain how the offer is structured, it is quite possible that whilst the monthly rental looks low, the initial payment could be say 2,000.

It is not unusual to find that a company is asking for six initial payments, it's difficult to see why a company would do this other than to make the monthly rental appear lower than their competitors. When comparing with other companies it is important to take into account the three additional payments that you will be making.

Often delivery dates are quoted, that the contract hire broker knows they cannot achieve. However it does not necessarily mean that a broker advertising an earlier delivery than their competitors cannot deliver the vehicles on time. It may be that the have access to vehicles that others do not, or that they have pre ordered cars. One should exercise caution with any deal that appears far more attractive than others on offer, especially if a deposit is required.

This applies particularly with pricing; there are companies that quote prices on directory websites, which are considerably less than their competitors. Sometimes if you go into their website you will see the vehicle at the correct price, which may be up to 25 more than the price they showed on the directory website. On other occasions the website will also show the wrong price and it is only when the prospective customer phones that they discover that those vehicles "have all been sold" It is hoped that contract hire and leasing brokers will eventually be regulated by the FSA and these practices will stop.

On occasions, when a client is let down by a contract hire broker it is because the broker themselves have been let down. This can happen when a broker that is too small to secure terms with the finance companies, has to use another company's terms and offers, so they are only as reliable as the company they are working with.

A practical solution when a customer is trying to choose a suitable contract hire broker can be to select perhaps three companies offering the best prices and telephone them all. Ask them about the price and delivery date and ensure that they are comfortable with the answers. Very often those that are not entirely honest, give themselves away on the telephone. It could perhaps be better to choose a company that one feels comfortable with, even if the vehicle is going to cost two or three pounds more.