FleetPartners: fully maintained vehicle leasing for small and large fleets

FleetPartners does something most lenders in this directory don’t: it publishes exactly who it will consider. Before you spend time on quotes, you can check three boxes on its business leasing page. If you tick all three, a fully maintained lease is worth pricing. If you don’t, you’ll know straight away to look at other ways to fund a work vehicle.

What follows covers those criteria, how its main lease works, the sale and leaseback option and the alternatives when FleetPartners isn’t a fit. All details come from FleetPartners’ website as at October 2026.

Can your business qualify?

FleetPartners’ business leasing page sets out these requirements:

Requirement	Published rule
ABN	A valid, active ABN
GST history	Registered for GST for at least 2 years
Turnover	More than $125,000 a year
Credit	Every application subject to credit approval
Fleet size	1 to 20 vehicles through business leasing; larger fleets go to its enterprise team

The two-year GST rule is the one that catches people out. A business can trade for years under the GST threshold and only register when turnover passes it, so a well-established operator may still fall short on paper. A company that restructured into a new entity can run into the same problem.

What is FleetPartners, exactly?

FleetPartners Group Limited is listed on the ASX and runs vehicle leasing and fleet management in Australia, with contact pages for Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. It works in three broad markets: business leasing for smaller fleets, enterprise fleet management for organisations running 20 to more than 5,000 vehicles, and novated leasing for employees who salary package a car.

It’s an asset financier, but the product is closer to a managed service than a loan. You aren’t borrowing to buy a vehicle. You’re paying a monthly amount to use one, with the running costs built in.

What does a fully maintained operating lease include?

The fully maintained operating lease is FleetPartners’ main business product. One fixed monthly payment covers the vehicle and an estimate of its running costs. According to its website that includes:

• scheduled servicing and maintenance
• replacement tyres
• 24/7 roadside assistance
• annual registration
• fuel cards and fuel management
• toll and infringement management
• fringe benefits tax administration and driver support

Fuel and tolls themselves are billed separately as you use them. Accessories, fit-outs, signwriting and wraps can be rolled into the payment, though branding has to come off before the vehicle goes back.

Terms run from three to five years. FleetPartners’ quotes are built on a 60-month term and 75,000 kilometres, so a business that clocks up big distances should ask for pricing on its real usage. At the end, you return the vehicle with nothing more to pay on its value. Fair wear and tear and excess kilometre charges may apply, and that’s where the end-of-lease conversation can get expensive if the vehicle has worked hard.

Unsure whether a lease or a loan suits your cash flow better? Give us a quick outline and we’ll tell you what’s realistic, and the enquiry itself never triggers a credit check.

Operating lease or chattel mortgage?

The choice comes down to whether you want to own the vehicle and manage its costs yourself.

	Fully maintained operating lease	Chattel mortgage
Owner during the term	FleetPartners	Your business, with the lender holding security
Running costs	Bundled into the payment	Paid by you as they come up
End of term	Hand it back; no balloon	Keep it, often after paying a balloon
Resale risk	Sits with the lessor	Sits with you
Excess kilometres	Can be charged	Not applicable
Tax and GST	Lease payments may be deductible; GST credits on payments	Depreciation and interest may be deductible; GST on purchase price may be claimable

Our operating lease and chattel mortgage pages go deeper, and it’s worth having your accountant run both through your own tax position.

Sale and leaseback: cash from vehicles you already own

If your business owns its vehicles outright, FleetPartners can buy them and lease them straight back. The process it describes is a fleet review and valuation, purchase at an agreed market value, then a fixed-term operating lease, with the option to add full maintenance. Drivers generally keep the same vehicles throughout.

Eligible vehicles are typically under four years old and in good working condition, and the leaseback usually runs three to five years. The trade-off is clear: you get a lump sum for working capital and hand over resale risk, but you no longer own the vehicles. Our comparison of sale and leaseback vs a business loan helps you weigh that against borrowing.

Who is FleetPartners a good fit for?

• Established businesses with steady turnover and a GST history of two years or more.
• Owners who hate vehicle admin: one payment instead of separate bills for servicing, tyres and rego.
• Businesses that replace vehicles every few years and don’t want to deal with resale.
• Fleets that have grown past the point where an owner can manage them on a spreadsheet.

It’s a weaker fit for startups, businesses recently registered for GST, operators covering very high kilometres, and anyone who wants to own the vehicle at the end.

Questions worth asking before you sign

1. What do kilometre overruns cost, and can the allowance be adjusted mid-lease?
2. How is fair wear and tear assessed when the vehicle comes back?
3. What happens if I need to end the lease early?
4. Over the full term, what will this cost in dollars compared with buying and running the vehicle myself?
5. What isn’t included in the maintenance budget?

If you don’t meet the criteria

Missing one of the published rules isn’t the end of the road:

• GST registered for under two years or a new business: see business loans with an ABN under 12 months and equipment finance for new businesses.
• Turnover below $125,000: a business car loan from a lender that weighs the asset more heavily may still work.
• You’d rather own the vehicle: price a chattel mortgage with our equipment finance calculator.
• Credit problems: our guide to equipment finance with bad credit explains where those deals go.

For larger fleets, compare FleetPartners with SG Fleet. For a broker-led loan on a single vehicle or truck, see Group & General Finance.

Need a vehicle but not sure leasing is right?

Leasing suits some businesses beautifully and others not at all. If you’ve just found out you don’t meet a lessor’s criteria, or you’re weighing a lease against simply borrowing, it helps to talk it through with someone who sees both sides.

Filling in our form takes about sixty seconds, and simply asking has no effect on your credit rating. Your enquiry isn’t broadcast to a roster of finance companies. One of our people reviews your business and rings you personally. Be precise about turnover, how long you’ve been GST registered and the vehicle you need, so the match we suggest is right from the start.

See what you could qualify for →