Some lease companies charge you for every single mark on the car, but never actually have any of it repaired. A friend got stung like this returning a motability car. She was charged for alloy refurbs, and stone chips. The car was later put on sale by the dealership in exactly the same condition it was returned in. I sneakily posed as a prospective purchaser, and asked if the 'damage' would be repaired before sale. I was told it was normal wear and tear, and that if I wanted it repaired, I'd have to pay extra. Total con.
You look after your cars far better than I do. Mine went for 20 months and 15,000 miles between washes. Useful video, thanks.
Very thoughtful and considerate of you to leave 80% charge. My faith in human kindness restored well done mate.
I was a driver for BCA and we were forced into becoming driver /inspectors, paid an extra £8 for the inspection. We had a days training, which primarily addressed using the ipad provided. There is a lot of stress in potentially giving a customer a bill for £x thousands, especially if the customer has been very helpful, such us picking you up from a train station etc. I would say that your bill depends on your attitude to the inspector. EG your car, if you were pleasant etc you would have had no charge, if you werent and also the car had very little charge, I would have billed you for the damage and left you to argue with the lease company. The charges also vary between companies as well, some being very reasonable, others not so. Just bear in mind that the "inspectors" are poorly trained, underpaid drivers who just want to get going as quickly as possible.
These lease cars are picked up by the auction house. Key is to dispute everything, don’t sign anything saying you agree with the damage. They have to prove loss, the ‘guidelines’ mean nothing in law. They can’t charge for loss they haven’t suffered in a consumer contract, ‘penalties’ with no loss will be frowned upon by the court. So how do they prove loss when it goes straight through auction? When I refused to sign my last one, I simply didn’t hear anything else. Also depends on lease company, Mercedes for example never charged me for substantial curbing on a Mercedes CLS, across spokes. So advice is never mind ‘BVLA Guidelines’ refuse to sign anything agreeing damage and payment, that’s exactly what they hope you will do. They will automatically get you on mileage though as that’s built into the agreement and is not damage.
I managed the remarketing team for one of the largest lease companies in the UK. The best advice I can give is this: If you were to see your car on a forecourt, would you buy it in its current condition. The things that would put you off are the things you will likely be charged for.
My first lease car (2 cars ago) the inspector said he wished all the cars he collected were as nice as mine. however he picked up on 1 small chip on the bonnet and 1 even smaller 1 on the front Vallance. The front Vallance I hadn't even seen it. Volkswagen Finance then proceeded to charge me for both chips. I pointed out to them that the both clearly were within the BVRLA guidelines which they later accepted. I suspect they were just hoping I'd pay. Second Car had nothing on it at all.
The excess mileage charge is key. I’ve used Nationwide Vehicle Contracts for years and found them to be be great to deal with. 4.3p on excess allows me to take a lower annual mileage price knowing 1000 additional will only cost me a £43 charge at the end of lease but could add £20 per month in lease cost if included in the agreement. I always check this excess cost before agreeing any lease deal.
Would have appreciated a full breakdown of 3 years of motoring costs...lease payments, estimated electricity, tax ( if any), repairs, mileage excess charge and a final division for cost per mile. That would have been extremely informative. As per others, I miss your house price analysis.
Im 6 months into a four year lease and my alloys are already fooked.
Still believe the old fashioned way is best. Save until you can afford what you want, then purchase. We are being sucked into over spending on stuff we do not need. Stop being materialistic. Best in the end and leads to a stress free life.
I had an inspector from hell from BCA who suck tapes all over the car, taking pictures of claimed scratches that were just dust that had blown on the car I cleaned the day before. I took my proper camera out, wiped the ‘scratches’ away with a cloth and took my own pictures. Refused to sign his evaluation paper and he said that it would cost about £400 in penalties. This was, I surmised, to cover the cost of two men driving the 60 miles from BCA to collect my car and nothing to do with damages or repairs. I took no nonsense and in fact heard nothing more about it. No charges. They knew I had collected my own evidence of all his phantom ‘scratches’ and was not one to roll over and take their nonsense. The car was, if it was polished, literally in showroom condition. As new with only one tiny blemish. I’ve seen worse sent out brand new. I’m never going to lease again after seeing the scam they tried to pull. Just bought a threee year old Range Rover L405 and paid cash, no messing around with finance even though the previous car’s business lease was very very competitive. The dealer certainly lost a new car sale because of this ‘scam’ attempt.
I personally would always give the car a good valet before return. In my opinion it gives a good impression that the car has been well cared for and more chance the inspector will be more lenient. Whenever I send my car for MOT or service it’s always send in immaculate clean condition and the testers always comment on how nice it is and it always passes with flying colours.
Check if your vehicle is going direct to auction. If they pull anything up then say you’ll pay once you’ve received images of the repaired vehicle. My last lease was dropped directly at an auction and sold. They didn’t pull up any damage. But there was no chance there would have been time for any rectification if there had been.
Really useful - many thanks. My first lease car, Tesla Model 3 goes back in a week. It’ll be interesting to see what they pick up on. Best wishes.
Thanks for that. Getting my first leased van this month so don’t know what to expect in two years time. As it’s a works van it’s gonna take a little bit of wear and tear so will expect a bit of a kicking
Private motoring in UK seems incredibly complicated nowadays. I gave up driving when my trusty Honda Civic (bought new), came to the end of its economic life after 19 years and 245,000 miles. The idea was to travel by public transport which suits me very well as long as the trains are running....which a lot of the time now they are not, unfortunately. Which is why I find myself researching personal car ownership or leasing. Your video here, and the other related one I watched are very interesting and informative. However I've often wondered how drivers cope nowadays with all the floods, potholes, vandalism and minor damage potentially caused by incompetent road users and how all that impacts the final inspection at the end of the lease agreement.
Check the ECU recorded mileage not the clock reading! Many are being adjusted! But the ECU records the original miles
I would be more worried about your tyre is perished .you can quite clearly see it next to scuff in wheel
@HonestMoney