Advice/experience on what to do about end of lease charges

[Yabadabadoo]

I returned my lease car and got hit with some pretty hefty charges.

Looking to the experience of some people who know more than me, should I contest these charges?

Here's the breakdown:

1 x scuffed alloy: £65
1 x scuffed alloy: £65
1 x scratch on Rear L door (just larger than FW&T standards): £122 for a respray
1 x scratch on Front R door (just larger than FW&T standards): £122 for a respray
1 x scratch & dent Front R inner door (just larger than FW&T standards, where the seat belt got caught on the inside lip when shutting the door): £155

I don't deny the existence of the damage and I am comfortable with paying reasonable compensation for it, whilst trying to protect my pocket as much as I can. I have leased two cars before through VWFS and in both of those instances, the penalties they charged me for similar damages were less than what it would cost me to get them privately repaired (I was actually quite chuffed.) I thought the same thing would apply here, but sadly not and this is a lesson for future. The inspection was performed by Manheim and the dealer/finance company is not a big monolith like VWFS.

In my contract it states that BVRLA guidance will be applied when it comes to determining FW&T, but in my direct T&C's and in the BVRLA guidance there is no actual reference to how they calculate the costs for charges outside of FW&T.

I've already called up. The company has already offered to waive £130 (both of the alloys) as a gesture of goodwill, bringing the total down from £525 (ouch) to £395. They said I can either accept that or formally dispute the charges and begin those proceedings. The person I spoke to was really friendly and the gesture was offered pretty much immediately, no quibble.

Would you accept the goodwill gesture or try to contest the costs? For what it's worth, the alloy costs seem fair but the £395 worth of respraying stings.

I had the car for two years, from brand new.

Really appreciate any advice!

Edited by Yabadabadoo on Tuesday 18th October 17:33

[robdcfc]

Im replying as both a bodyshop owner and a qualified lease return inspector.

Price wise not one of those repairs could be done to a satisfactory standard for the prices they want, there is a massive difference in cost with DC alloys rather than painted ones.

Prices I would need to repair those items would be £95+vat each for the alloys( I cant even get them done trade for £65 all in each)
Door scratches would be around £190-210+vat per panel and the door shut would be £230-250+vat as it needs a bit of filler work.

If youve got it down to £395 all in I would snap their hand off and pay the invoice

[stevemcs]

Those prices seem reasonable to me, if the damage was there then its not like they are trying to charge you for no existent damage, so yes i would just pay it.

[Yabadabadoo]

I really appreciate the feedback, thank you. My first feeling was 'How can it be necessarily to respray entire panels for these teeny scratches that nobody would be bothered about anyway?'

But, I'll hold my hands up and say that this feeling is entirely emotional and I know absolutely nothing about the matter. It's really helpful to be told this information given your qualification on the matter.

[Wacky Racer]

Yes, snatch their hand off.

In my experience (2 Mazdas) it's always better to contest the charge, usually they knock you 20% off "As a gesture of goodwill" without any arguing.

[Draxindustries1]

Yabadabadoo said:

I really appreciate the feedback, thank you. My first feeling was 'How can it be necessarily to respray entire panels for these teeny scratches that nobody would be bothered about anyway?'

It's extremely difficult to repair scratches like that without painting the whole panel. 9/10 doing edge to edge the paint won't match and will need to be blown into adjacent panels so it won't be seen..

[liner33]

Yabadabadoo said:

I really appreciate the feedback, thank you. My first feeling was 'How can it be necessarily to respray entire panels for these teeny scratches that nobody would be bothered about anyway?'
.

It’s clear that you aren’t bothered by the damage but I suspect the next buyer will almost certainly be , I would not expect to buy a car with damaged paintwork and alloys I would expect the dealership to sort it first

[plfrench]

As others have said, I'd pay up before they change their minds! That seems unusually reasonable in this day and age.

I'm still in shock having been quoted the best part of a grand to replace a windscreen on a Zoe that had a very small and repairable stone chip by a subscription hire company... fortunately they don't seem to have bothered charging us in the end so assume they changed their mind on it needing a new screen.

[Sheepshanks]

Yabadabadoo said:

My first feeling was 'How can it be necessarily to respray entire panels for these teeny scratches that nobody would be bothered about anyway?'

When you see fuly detailed bodyshop quotes for repairing damage they can be quote staggering - someone posted one up for door scratch on a Polo a while ago and it was over a grand. They use a software package for the pricing - Audax, or something like that.

Having said that, while some companies do refurb cars before auction returned lease cars aren't usually repaired - the charges reflect how they expect the value to be diminsihed at auction, hence they're less than you'd expect to pay. There have been plenty of posts from people who've seen their ex-lease car on a forecourt with the wheels still scuffed etc.

[Golfgtimk28v]

liner33 said:

It’s clear that you aren’t bothered by the damage but I suspect the next buyer will almost certainly be , I would not expect to buy a car with damaged paintwork and alloys I would expect the dealership to sort it first

I guess you have never bought from a big indie chain. I went with a mate, cars with no prep work at all.

Cars are still in short supply, they won't do anything, someone will buy as is and a big mark up.

[Rozzers]

Pay it.

If trading in a car you owned they’d chip more than that, and it’s all obvious. You couldn’t repair it for that. Had it been the B pillar alone I’d have challenged it though.

They won’t do the work, but those will mark it down on auction appraisal, and as such potentially sells for less.

[liner33]

Golfgtimk28v said:

I guess you have never bought from a big indie chain. I went with a mate, cars with no prep work at all.

Cars are still in short supply, they won't do anything, someone will buy as is and a big mark up.

I have and most indie chains and many dealers don’t prep the car until sale is agreed

[anonymous-user]

Maybe look after the car a bit better in future and avoid charges?

[Yabadabadoo]

lord trumpton said:

Maybe look after the car a bit better in future and avoid charges?

There's always one - who put 50p in this guy?

[Yabadabadoo]

But seriously, thank you everybody for the really helpful advice. As much as it stings, you've all helped me understand that the fees are in fact reasonable.

It's always worth questioning these things if it's not something you know about.

[Funk]

Out of interest, who's the lease co?

As others have said, I'd bite their hand off at £395 for all that tbh.

[Yabadabadoo]

Funk said:

Out of interest, who's the lease co?

As others have said, I'd bite their hand off at £395 for all that tbh.

The lease is with Free2move lease and the finance is PSA finance ltd.

[Dave Hedgehog]

as said seams very cheap

i would not be surprised if they did not repair it at those rates and used the money to cover the potential reduction in auction price for the car

i normally go over my lease cars and sort anything out before hand, arthur daily style, colour magic is fantastic at hiding scratches for a few weeks, and googling how to reset the service nag screen can save a small fortune

[Howard-]

Yabadabadoo said:

I really appreciate the feedback, thank you. My first feeling was 'How can it be necessarily to respray entire panels for these teeny scratches that nobody would be bothered about anyway?'
.

I would certainly be bothered about scratches like those if I was buying what I assume is a 3-year old car.

I would indeed snap their hand off at £395.

[MightyBadger]

lord trumpton said:

Maybe look after the car a bit better in future and avoid charges?

Don’t be so obvious.

Treat it like a hire car and get charged for damage is how a lot of people roll these days sadly.