Smart repair?
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My Wife has an A4 on lease, deal expires next month and she needs to hand back in "reasonable condition".
There is a small scuff on the rear bumper about the size of a 50p piece, what would the lease company charge if we were to send back as is?
Just trying to avoid dealing with bodyshops if there is no need.
Cheers!
Smart repair?
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Was my initial thought but nobody in my area (North Wales), even Chips Away declined!
Audi want nearly £200 to sort, I'm trying to gauge what the lease company would charge?
In my experience (handing back a BMW) £35 for a small scuff on the bumper apron.
I think there has been a thread here (or elsewhere!) that I read which confirmed it is best left as it is where the lease company charged minimal amounts (approx £50) or regarded damage as reasonable wear and tear and was not charged.
I am sure this is covered by the leasing regulations (or whatever they are called), whereby they can only charge you the cost of the 'reduction in vehicle value due to the damage' rather than the full cost of the repair, so this should be a minimal charge, if it is not viewed as fair wear and tear.
In my experience and i have leased for a lot of years there is an initial inspection prior to collection a couple of weeks later certainly with MB whereby you can talk to the assessor about potential cost and decide if it is worth leaving or getting it fixed yourself the two biggies are usually tyres and wheels.
When I handed back my A6 last year, that’s what happened. Initial inspection and then they picked up a couple of weeks later. They gave me an indication of costs and I was able to get a quote to repair. Their costs proved to be cheapest. So i didn’t get any work done.
Check your T&Cs on the lease for what is reasonable and usually an indication of what is therefore not reasonable. Is the lease with VW finance? If VWFS, I had my Golf R lease with them and you tend to be charged lower for damage than if you paid for it to be repaired before giving it back, and if it's not a good repair will charge you anyway.
I handed back a car to VWFS last year. My understanding was they are regulated by these people who lay out the criteria for inspection and costs of repair.
https://www.bvrla.co.uk/
In the event it was irrelevant as the inspector failed to show up and so they just had to take the car back as it was.
I've handed 2 lease cars back to BCA, first was last year where the inspection and collection were a couple of weeks apart which allowed you some time to rectify or agree on any issues. The second was last month and they have changed their process where the driver will inspect and collect the vehicle on the same day. This obviously does not give you time to self rectify any issues. The driver told me that they had got rid of a load of inspectors so they had to do more work. The process seemed still new and he was updating his ipad, as he if was doing the inspection, then updating his phone as if he was collecting.
Thanks for the info lads, so general consensus is just hand it back as the cost would be lower?
In the past, I've always had a chap inspect 2 weeks prior to handover, informs me how the damage will cost me.
Has your wife received the BCA overview of damage/charges?
Thanks for all the comments, she has now found the price list and it is cheaper to just hand back, thank god they are regulated now as I've heard some horror stories!
I’ve had four lease vehicles through VWFS and never been charged any repair costs on any of them . One had a scuff which the BCA inspector stated I would be charged for and I would be informed of the cost via letter at a later date. I did later receive a letter from VWFS thanking me for my custom and waiving the repair fee so it’s definately not a given that you will be charged anything.
My wife had a Citroen on lease and on return she was charged £16 for scratches on a wheel trim , this was through PCL and I was a little cheesed off as the rest of the car was absolutely spotless.
On a sightly different issue but still related!!
I put on an aftermarket tow bar my A4 - I got permission from VWFS - when it comes to returning the car, after removing the tow bar, there will be a hole in the bottom of the rear bumper. Will I need to replace the whole bumper?
I think it depends on who you get when the car is collected and who you lease through. I had a 420d leased from alphabet and when I handed it back it had 4 kerbed alloys, a few dents and scraps etc and they didn't take a penny as it was all classes under fair wear and tear.
It's being collected on the 1st August, will report back what's said, thanks again!