# Guides | Preloved Car Hire

> Plain answers to the questions that come up when you are weighing up a used car on a term.

Source: https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides

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# Guides

Questions that come up when you are weighing up a car on a term, answered as straight as we can — including the ones where the answer is that you do not need us.

- [What an initial payment is, and why ours is 2 + 5 or 3 + 11](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/car-leasing-initial-payment) An initial payment is the first rentals paid up front, not a deposit that comes back. What 2 + 5 means and why paying less up front raises the monthly. [Read it →](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/car-leasing-initial-payment) 29 October 2026
- [Is it cheaper to hire a car for a few months, or buy something cheap?](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/hire-or-buy-something-cheap) The honest arithmetic, including the costs people leave out of the buying side and the cases where buying genuinely wins. [Read it →](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/hire-or-buy-something-cheap) 19 October 2026
- [Eight questions to ask before you hire a car from anyone](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/what-to-ask-before-you-hire) The terms that decide what a hire actually costs you, which are rarely the headline price. Written to be useful whoever you hire from. [Read it →](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/what-to-ask-before-you-hire) 19 October 2026
- [What a DVLA check code is, and why a hire company wants one](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/dvla-check-code) How to generate one free on GOV.UK, what it shows, and the two things that catch people out — it lasts 21 days and it only works once. [Read it →](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/guides/dvla-check-code) 19 October 2026