Worth spending out to tidy a contract hire before return?

[Tiggsy]

My Merc C350 goes back to Mercedes in 2 months - its in good nick (3 yrs old) but has a bit of kerbing on the alloys and a few chips/scratches. Is it simplest to let Merc bill me for any touching up or better to have that done private first?

Also, a while ago I caught the front lip on a kerb and must have bent something underneath - the panel gaps on the front wing are out on one side buy a few mm (when you look/know it its pretty clear. If it was mine to keep i'd not even think of "fixing" that but should I get it done as an insurance claim? I'm guessing bending things about will cost more private than paying my £200 excess....and Merc WILL spot it when it goes back

T

[northwest monkey]

Definitely worth getting it done yourself. A friend of mine had an E350 on contract hire from M-B & they billed him for close to £2k for "repair work" after it went back - same sort of thing as you really, scuffed alloys & a cracked foglight etc but no real damage as such. Probably would have cost about £250 - £350 to get it sorted himself. I'm willing to bet they didn't get any of the work done & probably just threw the car at auction as it was!

[GoneAnon]

Could be worth looking online for the BVRLA fair wear & tear guide - MB, like most lease companies, adhere to the standards set out in that.

Scuffed alloys are not regarded as wear and tear and will be charged for.

Re your bumper, there is a small "pin" that plugs the bumper to the wing. Cleverly, the pin is designed to break before the bumper is damaged. Not cleverly, the pin can't be replaced! Ask me how I know! If you can get a repair done locally it will almost certainly be cheaper than supply, paint and fit a new bumper.

[SWoll]

We had a C class Sport Model from MB on contract hire 2 years ago.

MB sorted out the kerbed wheels when we returned it for cheaper than any quote we could get ourselves and without the hassle of having the wheels off and losing use of the car while they were done (they have a special finih that makes repairs more complicated apparently). Also removes the possibility of you damaging them again before you send it back...(it happens)

They will go over the bodywork with a fine toothcomb and won't miss a thing, although the costs they quoted to sort anything out seemed very fair TBH.

I was very surprised with the outcome, I expected them to take the piss and they didn't.

EDIT - Having just read the reply above I bet you're even more confused now.

[hepy]

I've heard a few horror stories about colleagues who've returned lease cars and been billed for damage that wasn't there when the car was collected or exorbitant amounts for minor damage, e.g. kerbed alloys.
I'd checked the trade body guidelines as mentioned in an earlier post, plus take loads of photographs of each panel and wheel, and then you'll have evidence to combat any spurious claims.