Returned lease car - damage report/payment
Discussion
I have had a mercedes on pcp for the past 2 years, and I decided to hand it back. So the car was collected last week, and I received the report back today of damage/costs. This is the first time I have had a car on pcp and I will be honest has been the bit I have been dreading, as I have always been concerned about being stitched up.
Before returning the car I had some minor repairs done to bumpers, door dings, windscreen etc. I knew there were another couple of bts and pieces that I expected to be charged for. However the report that I have received today is not right.
They have picked up on 10 things at a cost of repair of nearly £900.
I agree with 5 of the 10 things listed, which would be a total of approx £220.
They are not open until Monday to call them, which I will, but just wondered other people's experiences that have been in the same boat are. How is the conversation likely to go on Monday?
Before returning the car I had some minor repairs done to bumpers, door dings, windscreen etc. I knew there were another couple of bts and pieces that I expected to be charged for. However the report that I have received today is not right.
They have picked up on 10 things at a cost of repair of nearly £900.
I agree with 5 of the 10 things listed, which would be a total of approx £220.
They are not open until Monday to call them, which I will, but just wondered other people's experiences that have been in the same boat are. How is the conversation likely to go on Monday?
not quite the same, but I had a company lease car that went back after 3 hard years. My job involved moving lots of equipment around and driving/parking in london. As expected after about 100k miles it had stone chips, car park door scratches etc. Nothing out of the ordinary for a car with those miles after leading a hard life.
Lease company insisted and my employer agreed with them that the car should be in pristine condition when returned resulting in a complete respray of all panels. Insurance co picked up the tab but insisted each mark was a separate claim. IIRC I had to complete about 12 claim forms in detail. Took me the best part of a week to get all the paperwork done.
Lease company insisted and my employer agreed with them that the car should be in pristine condition when returned resulting in a complete respray of all panels. Insurance co picked up the tab but insisted each mark was a separate claim. IIRC I had to complete about 12 claim forms in detail. Took me the best part of a week to get all the paperwork done.
Fats25 said:
Caulkhead said:
Does the company that collected your car sound like they were named after an engine invented by Sir Frank Whittle?
Yes.Exactly the same happened to us when my wife's Mercedes A class was returned to MB finance after 3 years. The receiving garage said that it was in excellent condition, but like the OP we received a totally unreasonable invoice. I caused a fuss and suggested the transporting company had caused much of the damage. I recognised a couple of very minor door dings. I think in the end we agreed to go halves and I vowed never to have a Mercedes again.
To give one example I have been sent a photo of a tyre with a chunk out of it. I am 100% sure that it was not there before the car was loaded. The report I have when car was collected states all tyres are fine.
Also they mention a full respray of a panel, due to unsatisfactory repair. The panel was never repaired in the time i had the car!
There is more but these are the worst of what I feel they are claiming.
Also they mention a full respray of a panel, due to unsatisfactory repair. The panel was never repaired in the time i had the car!
There is more but these are the worst of what I feel they are claiming.
I handed back a Shogun Sport Warrior a few years ago after a 3 year lease. I know it had a cracked front foglight so was expecting a bit of a bill. Got a bill for..............£1220.
Claimed for various scratches, a dent that never was, a damaged rear bumper and both front foglights. Problem for them was that the car was picked up on a Friday by low loader with no damage inspection report to sign off, just a form with basic details, it was taken to a depot 8 miles away, however there was a 76 mile difference between the pick up report and the damage report made on the Monday!!!!!
I spotted this and fired off a very angry letter, 4 days later got the lot written off.
Claimed for various scratches, a dent that never was, a damaged rear bumper and both front foglights. Problem for them was that the car was picked up on a Friday by low loader with no damage inspection report to sign off, just a form with basic details, it was taken to a depot 8 miles away, however there was a 76 mile difference between the pick up report and the damage report made on the Monday!!!!!
I spotted this and fired off a very angry letter, 4 days later got the lot written off.
Fats25 said:
To give one example I have been sent a photo of a tyre with a chunk out of it. I am 100% sure that it was not there before the car was loaded. The report I have when car was collected states all tyres are fine.
Also they mention a full respray of a panel, due to unsatisfactory repair. The panel was never repaired in the time i had the car!
There is more but these are the worst of what I feel they are claiming.
Also they mention a full respray of a panel, due to unsatisfactory repair. The panel was never repaired in the time i had the car!
There is more but these are the worst of what I feel they are claiming.
Do not lose that report, my guess is they're at it. Seen it before with a colleagues car stating that the bonnet was dented, it wasn't, he held firm and they went away.
bigdods said:
Lease company insisted and my employer agreed with them that the car should be in pristine condition when returned
It was only when I was made a divisional manager and started to see these bills that I realised our finance department was cheerfully paying many hundreds of pounds on every returned car, and these were 3yrs old with 90K miles. The one for my car was an utter fabrication.S2Andy said:
Exactly the same happened to us when my wife's Mercedes A class was returned to MB finance after 3 years. The receiving garage said that it was in excellent condition, but like the OP we received a totally unreasonable invoice. I caused a fuss and suggested the transporting company had caused much of the damage. I recognised a couple of very minor door dings. I think in the end we agreed to go halves and I vowed never to have a Mercedes again.
I have a Merc and Mercedes are legendary for doing this. Many people come on the MB forums and say the same as you - they'd never have another Merc again.MB finance tried this with me when they collected my Jeep turned out the car took 2 days to travel 200 miles but manage to clock up 600 miles, after a few letters and phone calls asking where it had been and why the extra mileage they dropped all charges.
They seen to try it on with everyone some people pay some people fight them.
Dont give in fight them.
They seen to try it on with everyone some people pay some people fight them.
Dont give in fight them.
Fats25 said:
Before returning the car I had some minor repairs done to bumpers, door dings, windscreen etc. I knew there were another couple of bts and pieces that I expected to be charged for. However the report that I have received today is not right.
They have picked up on 10 things at a cost of repair of nearly £900.
I agree with 5 of the 10 things listed, which would be a total of approx £220.
Did you have the car from new for the two years, and how many miles did you do?They have picked up on 10 things at a cost of repair of nearly £900.
I agree with 5 of the 10 things listed, which would be a total of approx £220.
To be honest, if you had stuff repaired, and you still agree with 5 of the 10 things wrong with the car, it does come across like the car's had a hard time. I've returned many company cars with 100K on them and they've been immaculate.
Get a copy of the industry guidelines for 'acceptable damage', as dependent on mileage/age a certain amount is permitted without charge, and the guidelines are quite specific.
I had a similar bill after my 3yr PCP on my last Merc, I disagreed with every bit of it, wrote a very strong letter of disagreement, and received a reply one week later apologising and offering to write off all charges.
Don't back down.
I had a similar bill after my 3yr PCP on my last Merc, I disagreed with every bit of it, wrote a very strong letter of disagreement, and received a reply one week later apologising and offering to write off all charges.
Don't back down.
Deva Link said:
Did you have the car from new for the two years, and how many miles did you do?
To be honest, if you had stuff repaired, and you still agree with 5 of the 10 things wrong with the car, it does come across like the car's had a hard time. I've returned many company cars with 100K on them and they've been immaculate.
Car has done a staggering 19000 miles in the two years I had it from new. Has certainly not had a hard time. To be honest, if you had stuff repaired, and you still agree with 5 of the 10 things wrong with the car, it does come across like the car's had a hard time. I've returned many company cars with 100K on them and they've been immaculate.
Before returning the car I had a door ding removed from the rear rh door, and the guy that did it commented there was a slight door ding to the left hand door, but was not deep enough form him to 'get at it'. The rear bumper had a scrape down the right hand side, and the front bumper had scrapes on the underneath of the bumper, where it was parked forwards against kerbs and had been scraped. A mate of mine with a very good body shop, removed the bumpers, repaired and refitted. All 4 wheels had small scrapes on them.
Then the car was handed back.
The 5 things I agree with are 3 x alloy wheel repairs, and giving the benefit of the doubt to the left hand side door (which I could not see, but as above was pointed out to me previously), which merc have placed as two different items.
The bits I do not agree with are:-
1) tyre as listed above
2) rear bumper repair
3) bad repair on quarter panel as listed above
4) replacement of door guard when3) is completed (x2)
From the replies seems like this is all part of the game for returning a car.....
I had this when I returned a Mazda, they claimed a scratched door. Luckily I had taken pictures of the kids on the drive the day before with the car clearly visible in the background and showed clearly there were no scratches..one email later and they withdrew the charge.
On the other hand when I handed back our BMW 730D there were a few obvious scratches and chips and we got charged nothing!
On the other hand when I handed back our BMW 730D there were a few obvious scratches and chips and we got charged nothing!
Fats25 said:
the left hand side door (which I could not see, but as above was pointed out to me previously), which merc have placed as two different items.
The car is allowed some wear and tear. Have you watched their videos: http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedking...
thinfourth2 said:
Reading this I realise a lease car would be a bad idea for me
Merc & VW are the two who crop up again and again in complaints like this.It's important to get a copy of the return standard and make sure you stick to them. Having said that, there was a post on the HonestJogn forum from a guy who spend a grand before returning his daughter's Polo to VW and they still sent him a bill for a similar amount again. That's just insane.
It's hard to escape the conclusion that they're just trying it on with no regard for follow on business - I suppose they think you've already got another car, so whether you've bought another make or not, it's too late to affect this decision cycle and by the next one they think you'll probably have forgotton about it.
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