Lease end of contract charges advice

[Kyuuseishu]

New here however straight to the point.

Around April last year some lovely soul decided to stick their front end where it wasn't needed, aka my drivers side door whilst it was parked in the secure car park for the apartments I live in. No note or CCTV to identify who they were so I polished what I could out and let it be as it didn't 'look' too bad.

Fast forward to yesterday and I get some quote on what it would cost to fix it before the lease goes back in about 2 months time. PDR specialist tells me that the metal has oil canned and he wouldn't be able to get it to 100% and the scratches that are still visible when it is clean would show. The body shop I take it to says the same thing, not worth filling it as it flexes too much, better off with a new door. So I am in a little dilemma now as I didn't expect a significant repair job for it. So my options are as follows

1.) Go through my insurance to get the job done (£250 excess) and they will most likely replace the door but I lose 2 years of my no claims (5 down to 3)
2.) Go the PDR route and have him get it as good as it can be and hope the inspector pays no mind to the scratches (Roughly £300)
3.) Get a used door in the same colour and have it fitted (Roughly £550)
4.) Do nothing and hope that the inspector/lease company are feeling kind.

I should note the car is 10k miles down on what it should be at the end of lease. Recently asked for a quote for early termination with 4 payments left and it came back as slightly over the cost of 1 month. Whether or not this is advantageous I don't know.

Any advice welcome as I did browse the leasing thread significantly before getting the current car.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MG7eCPKQ1WFNqCEWA - Scratches
https://photos.app.goo.gl/NaEUcB1QyWQSNbJ26 - Rippling

[JxJ Jr.]

Kyuuseishu said:

Around April last year...

Kyuuseishu said:

1.) Go through my insurance to get the job done (£250 excess) and they will most likely replace the door but I lose 2 years of my no claims...

I'm not sure how receptive an insurance company would be to an incident that happened 20 months ago.

[Gad-Westy]

Do you have any paperwork for your lease setting out standard damage charges? Might make the decision easier.

[Kyuuseishu]

JxJ Jr. said:

I'm not sure how receptive an insurance company would be to an incident that happened 20 months ago.

I didn't expect to have to go through them realistically, it didn't look bad enough to warrant a new door when I noticed it. I am apprehensive of option 1 purely from this standpoint.

[Kyuuseishu]

Gad-Westy said:

Do you have any paperwork for your lease setting out standard damage charges? Might make the decision easier.

I have looked around at everything and I can't find a standard charge sheet for PCH. Leaseplan is the company which has funded it (I took it through nationwidevehicles). The documents say if it is below £150 they won't charge however above that I am pretty much open to bombardment.

[joropug]

Kyuuseishu said:

I didn't expect to have to go through them realistically, it didn't look bad enough to warrant a new door when I noticed it. I am apprehensive of option 1 purely from this standpoint.

Your policy will state you should declare accidents within X days usually a month tops, sometimes 48 hours .

You're talking about a completely different insurance policy with that time gap, don't even bother ringing they'll up your premiums anyway and won't cover it.

[Kyuuseishu]

joropug said:

Your policy will state you should declare accidents within X days usually a month tops, sometimes 48 hours .

You're talking about a completely different insurance policy with that time gap, don't even bother ringing they'll up your premiums anyway and won't cover it.

Never had to use my insurance so I have no experience claiming at all in the 9 years I've been driving. It was my least preferred option anyway, it was there as advice from the PDR/bodyshop who both were informed it happened last year. It is what I should do in terms of repairing before it goes back, or leaving it be and hoping it is less than £500.

[FWIW]

I’d leave it and take the chance on the lease company charges.

[Kyuuseishu]

FWIW said:

I’d leave it and take the chance on the lease company charges.

Is this based on looking at the pictures? I would be risking them sending me a huge bill since I am at their behest once it is taken away.

[The Moose]

For whatever reason, I can’t see the photos.

I’d have thought you’d be better leaving it as is for 2 reasons.

First, my understanding is that the lease company won’t repair it - they just charge you what they believe to be the reduction in value due to the damage.

Second, there’s still a chance that they pick up on it and fine you anyway!

[Kyuuseishu]

The Moose said:

For whatever reason, I can’t see the photos.

I’d have thought you’d be better leaving it as is for 2 reasons.

First, my understanding is that the lease company won’t repair it - they just charge you what they believe to be the reduction in value due to the damage.

Second, there’s still a chance that they pick up on it and fine you anyway!

https://i.imgur.com/WWLLhBM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ttOSz8r.jpg

Uploading them elsewhere.

The latter is true, doing the PDR would still leave the visible scratches so they'd have at me with that. Replacing the door, the one on Ebay looks fine from a bodywork perspective but there is a situation of do the colours match perfectly. The paint itself is dark so it shouldn't show too badly?

[Gad-Westy]

Kyuuseishu said:

Gad-Westy said:

Do you have any paperwork for your lease setting out standard damage charges? Might make the decision easier.

I have looked around at everything and I can't find a standard charge sheet for PCH. Leaseplan is the company which has funded it (I took it through nationwidevehicles). The documents say if it is below £150 they won't charge however above that I am pretty much open to bombardment.

Maybe worth calling them and asking. Can’t see it doing any harm.

[shake n bake]

I’d get a decent bodyshop to take a look, that’s mildly stretched at best and doesn’t warrant a new door.
They will have specific stretched metal tools to take care of it.

[Kyuuseishu]

shake n bake said:

I’d get a decent bodyshop to take a look, that’s mildly stretched at best and doesn’t warrant a new door.
They will have specific stretched metal tools to take care of it.

The metal does have a lot of flex in the bottom half, pushes in quite a bit and pops right back out. It is difficult to see on the photos but there is a straight horizontal crease covering about 15cm. It is very slight but you can see it in good light. The body shop by me would have a go at sorting out the best they could, the issue is then the scratches which are just a bit too deep for me to deal with with hand polishing.

[Kyuuseishu]

Gad-Westy said:

Maybe worth calling them and asking. Can’t see it doing any harm.

I will try tomorrow and ask how they calculate damages since they do have a damage charge matrix for their fleet services. Based on trust pilot though I am less than confident they will be reasonable.

[Kyuuseishu]

I phoned leaseplan who told me that the details of the charges are not given to the public so I can't get an idea that way. They did mention they would have something going live on their website in Jan to get an idea of how much something would cost.

Going to check a few more body shops and PDR people near me but it isn't looking positive at the moment!

[The Moose]

I wouldn't be wasting my time

[timmymagic73]

Agreed - you're wasting your time. There's BVRLA guidelines for damage that surely Leaseplan follow too. From the look of the photo the damage is limited to just the door - so that's one panel that requires refinishing (paint) and a set charge applies

I'd say there's zero chance of you getting a completely undamaged "used" door in the same colour - and any unsatisfactory repair will also be charged for anyway. Not worth the hassle.

If it sets your mind at ease, our Leon went back with this damage and a chunk out of the alloy with only around £150 to pay. You can also haggle if you feel the evaluation is unfair.

[Kyuuseishu]

timmymagic73 said:

Agreed - you're wasting your time. There's BVRLA guidelines for damage that surely Leaseplan follow too. From the look of the photo the damage is limited to just the door - so that's one panel that requires refinishing (paint) and a set charge applies

I'd say there's zero chance of you getting a completely undamaged "used" door in the same colour - and any unsatisfactory repair will also be charged for anyway. Not worth the hassle.

If it sets your mind at ease, our Leon went back with this damage and a chunk out of the alloy with only around £150 to pay. You can also haggle if you feel the evaluation is unfair.

Finally I can reply!

They do follow the BVRLA guidelines from what I have gotten from their website. My concerns is how far they'll take the door. Looking at other companies that do have a fixed price matrix, the damage to the door would come under severe which they charge OEM rates for the majority. This is due to their being scratches, the metal has been stretched and a large portion of the door flexes and would require significant repair or replacement. I got a quote from a local body shop of £480 + VAT to put the door in a condition good enough to go back and this includes doing a 15cm scrape on the bumper lip which I am not overly concerned about as it would probably cost the same to get it done as they would charge me.

Edited by Kyuuseishu on Wednesday 18th December 09:16

[FWIW]

Kyuuseishu said:

FWIW said:

I’d leave it and take the chance on the lease company charges.

Is this based on looking at the pictures? I would be risking them sending me a huge bill since I am at their behest once it is taken away.

Yes, and from experience. They have to follow bvrla guidelines and charges must be reasonable. You can dispute the charges and take it to the ombudsman. If you pay for your own repair there is a chance it won't be up to standard and you'll pay twice.