Returning a Lease - Managing My Expectations

[mattyn1]

I know this has been done to death but just want to make sure I play this the right way.

Wife's Evoque had its return inspection today, and the inspector quoted approx £500 all in for these bits of damage.

1 - Kerbed alloy that has recently happened over the weekend - I accept this! Just stupidly unlucky!!!

2 & 3 - Two scratches on the tailgate.



4 & 5- And then two dents on the passenger rear door: this one:


Now this one he said was effectively fair wear and tear except because we have the dent above, it isn't and thus chargeable.


6 - And finally a paint chip on the from passenger front door:


I disputed as I wanted to challenge the fair wear and tear after he told me about #5. I was aware of all but #5, but sort of hoped they (apart from the alloy) would be classed as Fair W&T. I am waiting for the report (which he would not show me - though he was very open about the bits he picked up) to be sent to the wife, along with what I assume is the bill.

Would you challenge??

Car was leased through Leasys and inspected by Mannheim(sp?) - guy was quite aloof (I think just doing his job and probably gets a fair bit of backlash), but was really open when explaining these bits.

Because of Covid, the lease has been extended, but has done only 9500 of the 8000/yr she paid for - though I suspect that has no bearing on the return.

Finally - what assurance do I have in paying that bill that the damage does actually get fixed - or is that answered by an approximate/estimated value drop in the forthcoming auction/sale, and therefore they are under no obligation to get the repairs done?

Appreciate your thoughts.

[Dr Interceptor]

He's just doing his job, he's paid to spot these things... if he doesn't spot them, he gets picked up on it.

I wouldn't expect to be charged for any of those, with all the marks shown that car would go through BCA as a Grade 1 car, and most decent prep valeters would be able to deal with them, if not its £100 to the invisimend man.

[VeeReihenmotor6]

I think dents aside everything else is fair wear and tear. Depends how bad the alloy is though. Most can be touched in and polished out which is acceptable on a 4 year old car imo.

[mattyn1]

Dr Interceptor said:

He's just doing his job, he's paid to spot these things... if he doesn't spot them, he gets picked up on it.

I thought this as I was watching him do the inspection.

Dr Interceptor said:

I wouldn't expect to be charged for any of those, with all the marks shown that car would go through BCA as a Grade 1 car, and most decent prep valeters would be able to deal with them, if not its £100 to the invisimend man.

I found it odd I was unable to justify my reasoning for dispute - it was a simple binary yes/no.

I haven't actually got a bill yet so we will see what comes about. I might be worrying about nothing.

[parabolica]

Dr Interceptor said:

He's just doing his job, he's paid to spot these things... if he doesn't spot them, he gets picked up on it.

I wouldn't expect to be charged for any of those, with all the marks shown that car would go through BCA as a Grade 1 car, and most decent prep valeters would be able to deal with them, if not its £100 to the invisimend man.

Agreed on all points; my V60 went back with a similar level of wear and tear and I expected to get an invoice for a few items but remarkably there was nothing at all. Just luck of the draw I guess.

[V8covin]

I paint a lot of cars before they go back to the leasing company and the general consensus is if the damage is smaller than the end of a finger that's wear n tear and won't be charged for

[Bestle]

I'd expect most of what you have shown to fall under "fair wear and tear" to be honest. I know a guide is available from BVRLA but it may be better to ask your leasing company for their specific one.

[soxboy]

My wife’s Jeep Renegade was leased through Leasys with Mannheim doing the inspection. He spent ages and came up with quite a list, but we heard nothing more.

I’ve been leasing cars privately since 2006 and it was only in the early days (2009 and 2011) that I ever had an invoice - Audi picked up on a tiny dent and a kerbed alloy (fair enough), Mercedes picked up on a scratched bumper (fine) and a broken tail light (tried to dispute but got nowhere, annoying as I think it may have been caused when some one drove into the back of it and it wasn’t picked up on as part of the repair, literally a hairline crack).

[robdcfc]

https://issuu.com/bfwsn67/docs/bvrla_fair_wear_and...

Theres the BVRLA manual, page 14 has most of your issues on it, personally I would contest the dent as its borderline if its over size but its hard to tell from the pics.

Im a qualified inspector myself and would probably have said that the other bits would have been ok if they had been touched in neatly

[Slowboathome]

When my Polo went back I challenged one piece of 'damage' and they conceded that point.

I had a slight impression that they tend to highlight everything and expect to give ground when you challenge.

[mattyn1]

robdcfc said:

https://issuu.com/bfwsn67/docs/bvrla_fair_wear_and...

Theres the BVRLA manual, page 14 has most of your issues on it, personally I would contest the dent as its borderline if its over size but its hard to tell from the pics.

Im a qualified inspector myself and would probably have said that the other bits would have been ok if they had been touched in neatly

That's really useful - thanks.

[mattyn1]

Update by email this morning. They have adjusted the bill to £270 (inc VAT etc) - for the following:

Repair of the damaged alloy wheel.
Repair of the scratches on the tailgate.
Repair of a scratch on the rear bumper (one I don't recall being mentioned by the inspector).

So the bill has almost halved - despite not remembering the bumper one (which does not mean he didn't mention it) I am minded to pay and move on.

[Jazzert501]

So I had the Mannheim inspector out today,he asked have I ever returned a lease car before,just 12 I replied , he then said the inspection would take 30 minutes!I asked him what he would be doing that takes 30 minutes, he then informed me that I clearly hadn't had any lease cars properly inspected before!
Wow !
He then informed me the car was too dirty to be inspected, I offered to wash it,probably doable in 10 minutes but he said he didn't have time.
Unfortunately I hadn't heard of them until today.....


https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/manheim.co.uk


Anyway I have asked them to reschedule or send another company, the car has now had to be reinsured as it's parked on the street.Has anyone had a positive experience with this company?

[Bobupndown]

Seems harsh for minimal damage. At 4 years old it's only done 9500 miles? That's got to make it more valuable than the expected 32000 miles it could have done during this lease. More than enough value to offset the minor damage I'd have thought?

[Truckosaurus]

Jazzert501 said:

...Has anyone had a positive experience with this company?

I've had positive returns with both Mannheim and BCA.

But I'd put the effort in get the dent man to fix a couple of dents cheaply. The fine for curbed wheels is cheaper than fixing them, so those were just left.

They don't care about small scratches etc. - as mentioned in the threads there's lots of rumours around 'one per panel' and things like that.

They'll tell you the returns rules like not having the fuel light on, and being reasonably clean (just spend a fiver on the cheapest wash at the local roller wash that morning).

One of my returns was in the rain, so it wasn't surprising that the chap only gave it the briefest of glances

[Jazzert501]

My point is, what takes 30 minutes to inspect on a car?
It's a 40 month old car with black paint!

[CheesecakeRunner]

Why wouldn’t you have cleaned it inside and out before the inspection? Easiest way to get a good inspection is make the inspector’s life easy. Give the impression you’ve looked after the car, and they’ll overlook a lot of stuff IME.

[daqinggregg]

^ ^ ^ This.

[GLS]

Man rents vehicle and then proceeds to complain when the actual owner notes damaged caused during said rental.

Return it the way you agreed to, pretty simple.

[119]

Jazzert501 said:

My point is, what takes 30 minutes to inspect on a car?
It's a 40 month old car with black paint!

Why would an inspector make himself potentially liable for damage you may have caused and he missed on inspection?