Lease Car - BCA refused to take it

[Seventyseven7]

Hi All,

Some advice please. I've had a nightmare with Audi & BCA to arrange collection of an A5. I contacted them a month ago, and because of problems at Audis end, BCA couldn't collect it until today which is the last day of the MOT.

BCA have come today, a really nice guy, but said he couldn't take it as the 2 front tyres are too worn.

I've called BCA now to get some advice on next steps and they are not very helpful, so turning to PH on what to do.

Should I get 2 part worn tyres fitted then return it? As the MOT will have expired, I think I would have to pay for a loader to collect it, unless I also get the MOT done. However, the MOT could come up with more issues.

Or should I just pay for a loader to come collect the car and pay whatever fees Audi come up with for the 2 bald tyres. Anyone have any idea how much that would be?

[normalbloke]

Are the tyres illegal?

[vikingaero]

Mobile tyre fitter and ditchfinders.

[MrBen986]

I'd suspect a condition of the lease will be that it needs legal tyres on return, so presuming they are not, I'd pop the two front wheels off, and take them to get some cheap part worns fitted. If they are legal, then I'd query what they are expecting.

[GnuBee]

Having just gone through a very similar scenario - BCA refused to take away an Audi Q5 with a chip in the windscreen that was outside the driver's eyeline and had just passed an MOT.

You will not get them to budge, you will not get an option to deliver/drive the vehicle yourself. Put legal tyres on it, even if part worn, get them to come and pick it up and move on.

[Seventyseven7]

GnuBee said:

Having just gone through a very similar scenario - BCA refused to take away an Audi Q5 with a chip in the windscreen that was outside the driver's eyeline and had just passed an MOT.

You will not get them to budge, you will not get an option to deliver/drive the vehicle yourself. Put legal tyres on it, even if part worn, get them to come and pick it up and move on.

BCA are a bit of a nightmare to deal with tbh.

Though some positive news, I've just spoken to someone at BCA who said they can collect the car on Thursday by car transporter and there is no charge. They said they have partnerships with companies who will collect the car and no charge to me. So no need to get the MOT and no need to get the tyres replaced if I'm happy to pay whatever AUDI decide to charge me on return.

[Seventyseven7]

normalbloke said:

Are the tyres illegal?

I haven't inspected myself yet, I was in a meeting when the person was here and only spoken to him on the phone. I will check shortly. The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald. Car hasn't been used in the last month, it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family.

[Driver101]

The driver of the car is responsible if the car is fit to drive. He is correct to refuse to drive the car if the tyres are too worn.

You seem very relaxed about handing the car back. Usually everyone goes over the car with a fine tooth comb to make sure it meets the criteria for handing it back and make sure they aren't blamed for damage.

[Seventyseven7]

Driver101 said:

The driver of the car is responsible if the car is fit to drive. He is correct to refuse to drive the car if the tyres are too worn.

You seem very relaxed about handing the car back. Usually everyone goes over the car with a fine tooth comb to make sure it meets the criteria for handing it back and make sure they aren't blamed for damage.

Happy to take the blame for the damage/condition, probably why I come across as relaxed. I've checked the tyres, I actually think they are over inflated rather than not legal, but that's on me. I've arranged collection for Thursday by loader so will see how much it ends up costing me!

(Yes, I should have made more of an effort to go over the car recently)

[Sheepshanks]

Seventyseven7 said:

I haven't inspected myself ...... The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald.

.....it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family

Just wow.

Especially with other family members using it.

[iphonedyou]

Seventyseven7 said:

I haven't inspected myself yet, I was in a meeting when the person was here and only spoken to him on the phone. I will check shortly. The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald. Car hasn't been used in the last month, it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family.

That's pretty grim.

[Seventyseven7]

Sheepshanks said:

Seventyseven7 said:

I haven't inspected myself ...... The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald.

.....it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family

Just wow.

Especially with other family members using it.

Should last 20,000 miles before they need replacing. Passed MOT last year with just an advisory and done no more than 2k miles this year. Don't think it's as bad as it sounds.

[LivLL]

Run your hand over the tread now and again and check the pressure on occasion, it's really not hard not matter how busy you can tell yourself you are. They are so important.

For the benefit of doubt, it could be inside edge wear which is often not spotted by owners particularly on the rears.

[Don Roque]

Seventyseven7 said:

I haven't inspected myself yet, I was in a meeting when the person was here and only spoken to him on the phone. I will check shortly. The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald. Car hasn't been used in the last month, it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family.

How feckless can you get? I'm guessing since the BCA guy said 'tyres' he means that more than one are not roadworthy, ie more likely to be bald than damaged. In which case you deserve the grief this will cause you, perhaps it'll serve as a lesson to pay more attention to the state of your tyres in future.

[Driver101]

Seventyseven7 said:

Sheepshanks said:

Seventyseven7 said:

I haven't inspected myself ...... The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald.

.....it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family

Just wow.

Especially with other family members using it.

Should last 20,000 miles before they need replacing. Passed MOT last year with just an advisory and done no more than 2k miles this year. Don't think it's as bad as it sounds.

It sounds worse the more you try and justify it.

It all depends how a car is driven. It's not guaranteed tyres are going to last over 20k miles.

To have an advisory for tyres last year and still not check them is concerning.

[mat205125]

Seventyseven7 said:

BCA are a bit of a nightmare to deal with tbh.

Though some positive news, I've just spoken to someone at BCA who said they can collect the car on Thursday by car transporter and there is no charge. They said they have partnerships with companies who will collect the car and no charge to me. So no need to get the MOT and no need to get the tyres replaced if I'm happy to pay whatever AUDI decide to charge me on return.

Pants down, and relax in readiness!!

[Seventyseven7]

Driver101 said:

Seventyseven7 said:

Sheepshanks said:

Seventyseven7 said:

I haven't inspected myself ...... The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald.

.....it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family

Just wow.

Especially with other family members using it.

Should last 20,000 miles before they need replacing. Passed MOT last year with just an advisory and done no more than 2k miles this year. Don't think it's as bad as it sounds.

It sounds worse the more you try and justify it.

It all depends how a car is driven. It's not guaranteed tyres are going to last over 20k miles.

To have an advisory for tyres last year and still not check them is concerning.

[Seventyseven7]

mat205125 said:

Seventyseven7 said:

BCA are a bit of a nightmare to deal with tbh.

Though some positive news, I've just spoken to someone at BCA who said they can collect the car on Thursday by car transporter and there is no charge. They said they have partnerships with companies who will collect the car and no charge to me. So no need to get the MOT and no need to get the tyres replaced if I'm happy to pay whatever AUDI decide to charge me on return.

Pants down, and relax in readiness!!

Surely it's only going to be about £200 per tyre? (It's 2 tyres)

[Seventyseven7]

Don Roque said:

Seventyseven7 said:

I haven't inspected myself yet, I was in a meeting when the person was here and only spoken to him on the phone. I will check shortly. The tyres have done 22k miles, so could be bald. Car hasn't been used in the last month, it's used as a car pool tyre car for the family.

How feckless can you get? I'm guessing since the BCA guy said 'tyres' he means that more than one are not roadworthy, ie more likely to be bald than damaged. In which case you deserve the grief this will cause you, perhaps it'll serve as a lesson to pay more attention to the state of your tyres in future.

Lesson learned.

[Cockaigne]

Driver can't drive an illegal car. Just get tyres changed and move on with your life.