# Why are prestige lease prices quoted rather than listed?

URL: https://performanceandprestige.co.uk/guides/why-prestige-leases-are-quoted-not-listed

Last checked: 2026-10-13

**Prestige lease prices are quoted rather than listed because a monthly figure is only true of a specific vehicle on a specific term with a specific mileage, and because a car arranged through a partner is not ours to price. Every car here reads "on request" against a 3-month minimum: a car in our own fleet carries a figure we confirm ourselves, and a partner-sourced one is quoted by the partner.**

Not a haggling tactic. Why a figure only becomes true against a term and a mileage, what you get instead, and the questions that make a quote useful.

## Why does every car say "on request"?

Two reasons, and they stack. The first runs across the whole catalogue: a monthly figure is only true of a specific car on a specific term with a specific mileage, and a single printed number has to assume all three and hope it guessed your three.

The second applies to most of the catalogue. Most of it is arranged through vetted partners rather than held by us, and a car we do not hold is a car whose availability, condition and cost to hold belong to somebody else — publishing a figure against it would be publishing a price we cannot guarantee. That is a schema rule here rather than a stylistic one. A partner-sourced vehicle carries no price, no firm availability state and no instant booking, and it never gains one. The badge on every car's page tells you which side of that line it sits on before you read anything else.

The alternative — an indicative figure with a footnote — is worse for you than silence. It anchors a number you will be talked away from later, which is the specific practice this sector is criticised for.

## What would a listed price have to assume?

Four things, and every one of them changes the answer materially.


The term. Three months and twenty-four months on the same car are not close to each other.
The mileage. The included allowance is 1,000 miles a month; a higher agreed allowance is a different figure.
The specific vehicle. Specification, wheels, brakes and condition all sit inside the number.
Your dates. A car free in March and a car free in September are different vehicles with different costs behind them.


A single published number has to pick one of each and hope. A quote asks you instead, which takes a few minutes and produces a figure that holds.

## Does it matter whether the car is yours or sourced?

It matters a great deal, even though both read "on request". A car in our own fleet is one we have bought, insured and prepared, and the agreement is directly with us — so the figure is ours to confirm, it comes back quickly, and the availability behind it is ours to promise rather than to ask about. A car arranged through a vetted partner is quoted by that partner against your term and your dates, and neither the figure nor the date is ours to commit until they have confirmed both.

That distinction is read off the catalogue at build time and carried by the badge on every card and every car page, rather than written into the copy, which is why it cannot quietly drift out of date.

[Our own fleet](https://performanceandprestige.co.uk/fleet) lists the cars we hold. [The full catalogue](https://performanceandprestige.co.uk/cars) of 116 cars carries every vehicle's criteria, deposit, excess and mileage terms, every one of them published before you enquire.

## Is "on request" just a way of sizing you up?

No, and it is a fair suspicion to have, because in some markets that is exactly what it is. The test is simple: ask what the figure depends on. A business that answers with the term, the mileage, the dates and the specific vehicle is pricing a car. A business that answers with a question about your budget is pricing you.

Our quote is built from the car and the terms you give us, not from what you say you can afford. If you tell us a monthly ceiling, it is used to decide which cars to put in front of you — not to decide what to charge for one.

It also means the figure does not move if you push. A price that drops when challenged was not honest to start with, and this catalogue does not carry a haggling margin.

## What is on a written quote?

Everything you need to decide, on one page, before any form is filled in:


The monthly figure and the term it is written on.
The month payable up front, and when.
The mileage allowance and the per-mile charge beyond it.
The refundable security deposit and the insurance excess for that vehicle.
The delivery and collection arrangement, and the address it is based on.
Whether the car is ours or arranged through a partner, and whose criteria apply.


The whole cost stack is stated before the form rather than after it. That is a deliberate ordering, and it is the one thing on this site worth judging us on.

## What do we need from you to produce one?

Three things, and none of them is financial. The car or the kind of car. The date you want it. Roughly how long you want it for.

With those, a partner-sourced vehicle can actually be checked rather than guessed at, and the figure that comes back is against a real car on real dates. Without them the honest answer is a range, and a range helps nobody.

We also ask a single question about your credit standing at the enquiry stage, because every agreement here runs for months and is underwritten accordingly. It is asked once, and it is asked of everyone.

## How should you read a quoted price anywhere else?

Four questions will tell you almost everything about an offer you are given.

Ask what term and what mileage the figure is written on, because a headline figure quoted on a long term and a low allowance is a different product from the one you want. Ask what is payable before the car arrives, in total. Ask what is included and what is not — insurance, servicing, tyres and delivery are the four that move a number most. And ask who actually supplies the car, because that determines whose criteria and whose terms you are agreeing to.

[How to compare two lease quotes properly](https://performanceandprestige.co.uk/guides/how-to-compare-two-lease-quotes) turns those into a method, with the arithmetic set out.

## Does a quoted price cost more than a listed one?

Not inherently. A quoted figure is not a premium for asking; it is the same calculation done against your actual terms rather than a set of assumed ones.

What is true is that the assumptions behind a low listed figure are usually the ones that suit the seller: a long term, a low mileage allowance, a large initial payment, or a specification nobody wants. Restated on your terms, those figures often move a long way.

The comparison that matters is like for like on term, mileage and inclusions. Anything else is comparing a headline with a contract.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long does a quote take?

On a car in our own fleet the figure is ours to confirm, so it is a matter of pricing your term and checking the car is free on your dates. On a partner-sourced car it depends on how quickly that partner confirms the specific vehicle, which is why giving us a date at the enquiry stage speeds everything up.

### Is a quote binding?

The figure quoted to you in writing for a specific car, term and mileage is the one your agreement is written on, and it does not move afterwards. It is given against particular dates, so a quote for March is not automatically a quote for September.

### Do I have to give a budget to get a price?

No. A budget is only useful for deciding which cars to show you. The figure for any given vehicle is built from the car, the term and the mileage, and telling us what you can afford does not change what a car costs.

### Why do some sites publish a price for the same model?

Usually because they are pricing a stock vehicle on assumed terms, or an order rather than a car that exists. Check what term, mileage and initial payment the figure assumes before treating it as comparable to a quote written on yours.

*Pre-launch note: the driver criteria, deposits, excesses and mileage allowances quoted here are read from Performance & Prestige's own catalogue data, which is still being confirmed with the owner and the insurer. Read them as the shape of the figures rather than as a quotation. What binds is your written quote and your agreement.*