Returning a lease car with damage

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I cant post photos

Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
Posts
25,881
Location
Godalming
Afternoon chaps and chappettes.

A colleague of mine is due to return his lease car soon, and it's got a bit of damage:

Wing mirror:

IMG-20240424-WA0008.jpg


Rear light lens:

IMG-20240424-WA0007.jpg


He's not sure whether to get it fixed pre-return or let them charge him for it, what do you reckon? if it makes any difference, the lease company is Leasys.


Cheers!
 
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Read the lease terms and conditions. Though my experience is they may reject the return of a car it is has missing parts and more than minor scratches. Your friend may then be charged the extra lease duration as well as be out of pocket for parts and repairs.

The lease company is not a dealership who can get cars repaired. They want their cars back with as little damage as possible so they can sell them at an auction quickly and easily. If there is more than minor and acceptable damage then they run the risk of the car not being sold at auction for a reasonable price. Or if the damage is very noticeable (as above) then they will give an overinflated "repair" cost, especially if they are losing more money then they predicted when they originally leased it.

So it is always best to get your own repairs done to a good standard and that will stand up to more than a quick glance as "scrutiny".
 
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It really depends on the lease company, some can be very reasonable and charge fairly modest amounts for damage but some will charge a lot and be really fussy so it's a right lottery.

Best bet is to get it sorted before handing it back to avoid the stress and hassle.
 
Unfortunately the damage on the mirror is part of the complete unit, so it won’t be cheap, the fog light lens wont be too much unless it comes complete as a unit with the reflector (which it almost definitely will)
Can’t he send the pics to the lease company and ask what it’ll cost for them to do it, then decide.
Most if not all use BVRLA standards on damage, so maybe read up on that.
 
sovietspybob said:
It really depends on the lease company, some can be very reasonable and charge fairly modest amounts for damage but some will charge a lot and be really fussy so it's a right lottery.

Best bet is to get it sorted before handing it back to avoid the stress and hassle.
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This. we return up to 1 lease cars and vans at work per annum and quite often what the lease company charges is cheaper than us getting it fixed ourselves and we have our own in house bodyshop!

Out lease company charges us less per wheel refurb than what we can get them done locally for.

We had a van recently with quite a bit of damage and our bodyshop quoted £2k for repairs and the lease company charged us £850. They don't even get it fixed, it goes to auction with the damage and the bill charged to you is for the expected drop in the price it will make at auction.

But some things can be ridiculous . We have been charged £500 for returning a car without its parcel shelf (we sent somebody over with it to Leeds auction house as the employee had it in his garage at home) and we get charged £300 if we dont supply a service history (which means getting a printout from the dealer since most service histories are digital nowadays).
 
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issuu.com

Leasys & CA Auto Finance - Car

Read Leasys & CA Auto Finance - Car by BVRLA on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!
issuu.com issuu.com

Page 13 -
Any repairs made to the vehicle before its return must be to a professional standard by repairers who can provide full warranty on their work. Sustainable repair initiatives, such as green parts can be used provide they are Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) green parts and the repairer provides a full warranty on their work.

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Door mirrors > Missing, cracked or damaged door mirror glass and housing units are not acceptable.
Lamps and lenses > All lamps and lamp units must work. Minor scuff marks or scratches of 25mm or less are acceptable. Holes or cracks in the glass or plastic covers of lamp units are not acceptable. Water ingress within lenses is not acceptable.

Based on the above > Source OEM replacements and then pay someone that's VAT registered to fit. Simple to do yourself but the fact they want all repairs to be warranted without it they could still charge. The charges will be what ever the local dealer charges for OEM parts. Honda wanted £600+ for a 2010 power wing mirror. Wouldn't surprise me if the lease company want £500+ to repair those.
 
He will get his pants pulled down letting them repair, thought this would be quite obvious
 
pigeonguyuk said:
issuu.com

Leasys & CA Auto Finance - Car

Read Leasys & CA Auto Finance - Car by BVRLA on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!
issuu.com issuu.com

Page 13 -
Any repairs made to the vehicle before its return must be to a professional standard by repairers who can provide full warranty on their work. Sustainable repair initiatives, such as green parts can be used provide they are Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) green parts and the repairer provides a full warranty on their work.

Page 18 -
Door mirrors > Missing, cracked or damaged door mirror glass and housing units are not acceptable.
Lamps and lenses > All lamps and lamp units must work. Minor scuff marks or scratches of 25mm or less are acceptable. Holes or cracks in the glass or plastic covers of lamp units are not acceptable. Water ingress within lenses is not acceptable.

Based on the above > Source OEM replacements and then pay someone that's VAT registered to fit. Simple to do yourself but the fact they want all repairs to be warranted without it they could still charge. The charges will be what ever the local dealer charges for OEM parts. Honda wanted £600+ for a 2010 power wing mirror. Wouldn't surprise me if the lease company want £500+ to repair those.
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How would they even know its been repaired unless they are stupid enough to tell them, buy parts and fit themselves, job done
 
Haze said:
How would they even know its been repaired unless they are stupid enough to tell them, buy parts and fit themselves, job done
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Yeah if it was my personal lease then i'd totally just do it myself and say nout. As long as you don't make a totally ham fisted attempt and changing it the guy doing the assessment and collection will never know.
 
Haze said:
He will get his pants pulled down letting them repair, thought this would be quite obvious
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You mean apart from the numerous people pointing out that taking the hit from the lease company can in many cases be massively cheaper than getting things fixed? Not sure it's quite that obvious.
 
lordrobs said:
*sarcastic shrug* "Its a three year old car, what do you expect?" *smirk*
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On a 3yr old car, I'd expect it to have been cared for, or for it to be repaired so I can't tell it was repaired.

If it wasn't like this, the price would have to drop to cover the cost of repairs and my time, AND another large chunk because I'd worry about what else the previous owner (who obviously didn't care) has damaged. More likely I'd walk away and choose one of the other dozen similars I'd seen advertised.

You might not feel the same, and you might turn up just after I'd made a stupidly low bid before walking away, so you'd get a great deal (until it broke).
 
My last lease car went back with damage, quoted £600 to £1k for repairs privately.

Lease company charged me about half the cheapest quote for the repair, was £300 ish if I remember rightly. Didn't have to waste my time getting it repaired either.
 
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When I handed my last lease car back I did so with some minor bonnet scuffs and a kerbed alloy. This was because I when I looked in to sorting myself, I was quoted £150 for an alloy refurb and £500 plus VAT because “best to spray the whole bonnet mate”.

The lease terms indicated I would be charged £75 plus VAT per scratch over 25mm and the same per kerbed alloy. So all in I paid about £275 for excess damage. Above all I was honest and highlighted ALL known damage that was over their acceptable limits and they were all marked down by the assessor.

If you think they are going to miss obvious damage that can be seen with just a tiny glance of scrutiny (like in the OP), then they will charge you a lot for it.
 
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Also, I couldn't agree a pickup date time with a lease company before so I agreed to drop it off to them. It just went to a car supermarket, the guy did a 10mins inside and out check, he sent the email to the lease company, it washed and on the forecourt, before my taxi arrived. They didn't spot/care about the resprayed front bumper.

Sept 61-plate so must have been returned in 2014.
 
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Is that a Fiat 500?
If it is a Fiat lease agreement, read the small print carefully. We spotted an error in our favour on our daughters lease form.
Excessive mileage 0.04p per mile... ;-)
 
Ayahuasca said:
Don't bodge it and be honest, some leasing companies will actually charge you less as @Minstadave said above.
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As a general rule I agree. Though in the OPs case both sets of damage are instantly obvious and would have some assessors wondering what other damage was done internally. Water ingress to the lights, potential electrical and or mechanical damage etc. They also are both explicitly covered in the terms and conditions of the lease agreement.
 
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