Guide

One car for a year, or shorter terms back to back?

Updated September 2026 6 min read Performance & Prestige

A second agreement costs you the two-months-up-front again, plus a second set of checks, a second delivery and collection. What you get is a different car for each part of the year and no commitment to a car you may tire of. One agreement running on is simpler and cheaper to set up.

What is the actual difference in what you pay?

Every agreement we write is 1+2: one month up front, then one a month, with 1,000 miles a month included and a three-month minimum term.

Run one agreement for a year and you pay that two-month up-front once, because once the minimum is served the agreement simply runs on monthly. Split the same year into shorter agreements and you pay the up-front each time, because every one of them is a new agreement rather than a continuation of the last.

That is the honest headline cost of switching, and it is the number nobody puts on a comparison page. It is not a penalty and it is not a fee — it is simply the start of a second agreement, priced the same way the first one was.

Everything after that depends on the two cars and is quoted per car. We will put both in front of you as two separate figures rather than blending them, so you can see exactly what the variety costs.

What do you get for the extra outlay?

Genuinely different parts of a year, which is more valuable than it sounds.

The obvious version is seasonal: an open car or something rear-driven and exciting for the spring and summer, then something four-wheel-drive with five seats and a boot for the autumn and winter. That is the plan that makes most sense in Britain and it is the commonest reason people ask.

The less obvious version is exploratory. Three months is long enough to know whether you actually like a car rather than the idea of it, and a second agreement lets you act on what you learned instead of living with the answer for the rest of the year.

And there is a simple one: two cars in a year instead of one. Some people want that and there is no need to dress it up as anything cleverer.

What has to be arranged again?

More than the payment, and it is worth knowing before you plan around it.

The checks. Licence, DVLA check code, photo ID and proof of address are read against each agreement rather than carried across. A check code is only valid for a short window, so the second one is generated close to the second start date.
The deposit. Held against a card in the hirer's own name, per agreement, for the length of that agreement. The second car's deposit may be a different figure from the first.
Delivery and collection. Two handovers and two collections, each with a joint walk round and a condition record.
Availability. The second car has to exist and be confirmed when you want it, which is a different proposition for a car in our own fleet than for a sourced one.

None of it is difficult. It is simply the arranging done again, and it wants a few weeks of notice rather than a few days.

What happens to the mileage allowance?

The allowance is stated the same way on every agreement: 1,000 miles a month, on every car, whether you take one term or several.

Because it is stated per month, a shorter agreement needs no converting — the allowance runs with the months you have the car, and we confirm the figure for your term in writing rather than leaving you to infer it from a page. Ask for it when you enquire and it will be in front of you before anything is agreed.

The variable that is genuinely different between the two plans is the excess-mileage rate, because it is set per car. Splitting a year across two cars means splitting it across two rates, and if one of them is a supercar, the months on that car are the expensive ones for miles. What distance costs on each shape of car works that through.

What if the second car is not available when you want it?

It is the real risk in this plan, and it is much bigger on a sourced car than on one of ours.

A car in our own fleet is one we hold, so a conversation about a date several months out is a conversation with ourselves. A sourced car is confirmed with a partner against the specific vehicle and start date, and a confirmation months ahead is not something we will pretend to give you.

The workable version is to plan the shape rather than the exact car: "something open for the summer" is a brief we can meet, where "that specific McLaren, on that Tuesday, next April" is a promise nobody honest makes months early.

Tell us the whole plan at the outset anyway. Knowing the second agreement exists changes what we suggest for the first.

Does a longer agreement get you a better monthly figure?

Term is one of the things a quote is built from, so it is a fair question to ask — and the answer belongs in a quote rather than on a page.

What every car on the site states is the three-month minimum term, which is the shortest lease we write; the figure that runs on it is quoted on request. We will not imply a discount for a longer commitment that we have not confirmed against your car, your dates and, on a sourced vehicle, the partner holding it.

Ask us directly with the term you have in mind. You will get a figure rather than a hint.

Which plan suits you?

One longer agreement if you already know the car you want, the driving is consistent across the year, and simplicity is worth something to you. It is fewer moving parts, one set of checks and one up-front.

Shorter agreements back to back if the year genuinely has two parts — a summer car and a winter car, or a car to try and a car to commit to. Pay the up-front each time with your eyes open and the variety is worth it.

Either way, start by telling us the whole plan. Give us the cars and the dates and you will see two real figures rather than a rule of thumb.

Common questions

What is the shortest lease you write?

Three months. It is a minimum rather than a fixed end date — once the three months are served the agreement runs on monthly — and it is a lease rather than short-term hire. We never do day, weekend or week hire, and never will. Every agreement is one month up front, then one a month, with 1,000 miles a month included.

Can I swap cars partway through an agreement?

No. The minimum term has to run its course, and the way to change car is a second agreement starting when the first one ends. Tell us the plan at the outset and we will line the two up so there is no gap between them.

Do I pay one month up front on the second car as well?

Yes. The second agreement is a new agreement, so it starts the same way the first one did. That is the main cost of switching and it is the number worth putting in front of yourself before deciding.

Can I run two agreements at the same time?

Yes, that is an ordinary arrangement — a practical car and something exotic alongside it, for example. Each is quoted, deposited and checked on its own, so expect two sets of everything rather than a combined figure.

How far ahead should I book the second car?

Sooner than you think, and with the shape rather than the exact vehicle if it is a sourced car. We can be firm about a car in our own fleet much further out than we can be about one a partner holds.