Lease hire car going back soon , worth getting the odd mark sorted ?

We have our first lease car going back in about 6 weeks, I’ve had a good look around it and all I can find is a tiny dent near petrol flap, and a couple of marks on 2 wheels, not curbed etc. and the odd stone chip on the front end

I’ve had a look at what the recommendations and what’s acceptable etc by the trade and I think/hope the car will be fine?

Is it worth having them done or maybe just the 2 wheels getting sorted, versus leaving them and paying out when its gone back ?

What’s peoples experiences when sending cars back ? …

Cheers

My first went back a year ago and I just made sure it was clean and polished. Had a few stone chips, a few minor scuffs if you really looked and a few interior marks. Didn’t get charged anything although the wheels were not damaged and I believe they’re really keen on that………

Which makes me obviously delighted that Mrs Rockwell has managed to biff three of the four in less than a year on our current lease!

There’s a standard that most lease companies used (BVRA?).  If the damage is above that they charge you otherwise no.  I’ve returned two – one with a car park ding and small bumper dent both above the chargable size but not massive and if was about £80, the other had very minor chip / scratch below the threshold and no charge.  I paid £40 for the local valet place to make them pretty before returning as first impressions count.  The pickup guy was really appologetic about the first one – but I was expecting higher cost.

Guy that collected our Volvo was a picky bugger and spotted two tiny marks that he claimed were above and beyond acceptable on an other wise spotless 40 month old car – tried charging us £350 for the pair.  We refused, wrote to Volvo and they cancelled the charges and apologised.  Two previous cars were accepted without charge, even though the guys collecting found stuff that we couldn’t even see!

I don’t think its the wild west it once was in terms of charges.

Never had an issue in loads of returns and usually the fees are less than if you got it done yourself.

We sent one of the company cars back at work, they charged us a small fortune for various things (£2k IIRC)

They put a big emphasis on cosmetic stuff, scratches and dents but didn’t charge us much for losing the service history. I found that very odd, if I was buying it no service history would be a much bigger issue for me.

Anyway, I can see why people get so precious about lease cars if every little scratch is that expensive. It’s a level of stress I can do without

Anyway, I can see why people get so precious about lease cars if every little scratch is that expensive. It’s a level of stress I can do without

yes it’s making me wonder if that’s why so many seem to drive down the middle of the road these days :-/

Use this guide:

And be nice to whoever collects the car (offer them a hot drink and use of your toilet). I’ve had them overlook some fairly hefty damage and my own repair with a touch up kit before because of this reason.

Ultimately it’s not in the industry interest to be obnoxious about it because you might choose to buy a used car next time to avoid the problem.

Ten years ago I had a bad experience on my first PCH lease (VW finance), they tried to charge me hundreds of £s for barely visible marks or scratches which in hindsight could have easily been T cut out. I did manage to get the figure down eventually as I refused to sign off on it, took my own photos and refuted their invoice by email a number of times.

I’ve had better experiences since then as I now go over the car with a fine tooth comb before handing back, and would probably get any significant marks or scratches done by a local mobile dent and scratch repair firm.

(VW finance), they tried to charge me hundreds of £s for barely visible marks or scratches

Same.  I pointed out that they weren’t visible on the photos and I hadn’t been given the opportunity to confirm the damage (he didn’t ask me to sign anything).  They dropped everything I contested without question.

Had a ford. Was quoted 2k to fix all the dents and scratches by a body shop before I returned it. Decided to chance it. Got away with it.

*Tannoy* @CountZero to the forum!