End of lease car collection..... or not!

[38911]

I terminated my car lease mid April. The lease co advised they were unable to collect the car due to Coronavirus. I agreed to leave it on the road outside my house. They confirmed they would insure and tax it and would be responsible for any damage etc.

6 weeks later and it's still there, and I've had no contact from the Lease co. It's covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs, the battery has gone flat and it looks pretty neglected.

I'm fine with it being left on the road (it's no skin off my nose) - and I'm not worried about being hit with any charges due to not being clean, nor am I worried if it gets damaged as I have it in writing that this is their risk...... but just curious if anyone else has waited this long for a collection.

Car has a retail value of about £24,000 so seems odd to leave a valuable asset sat depreciating...

Edited by 38911 on Wednesday 24th June 17:51

[nickfrog]

It's a shame you haven't started it once a while or topped up the battery or moved it a few meters to avoid tyre flats. I know I would have, out of mechanical sympathy. I probably would have washed it every 2 weeks too

[roadsmash]

Not VWFS by any chance is it?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[38911]

nickfrog said:

It's a shame you haven't started it once a while or topped up the battery or moved it a few meters to avoid tyre flats. I know I would have, out of mechanical sympathy.

Starting the engine once in a while would take more out of the battery than it puts back in - bear in mind I can't drive it and when in Park or Neutral the ECU won't let you rev the engine above tick-over. It would also be the very opposite of "mechanical sympathy" because starting a cold engine and leaving it ticking over is generally regarded as a bad idea and causes accelerated wear.

And it takes a lot longer than 6 weeks for tyres to start developing flat spots !

[38911]

roadsmash said:

Not VWFS by any chance is it?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

No, different lease company.

[38911]

The car still hasn't been collected.

I emailed the LeaseCo 9 days ago, I got an automated reply with a case number, and...... nothing!

So that's 9 weeks since the Lease ended and I stopped paying. Very odd.

I can't decide whether to (a) expend more energy in trying to get them to respond with a collection.... or (b) leave it and see how long it takes for them to notice. Thoughts?

[roadsmash]

Whatever you do, don’t drive it.

If your contract with the lender has ended and you do not have explicit permission to drive the car, then you may be committing an offence.

[Swampy1982]

Make them a cheeky offer to buy it maybe?

[38911]

38911 said:

The car still hasn't been collected.

I emailed the LeaseCo 9 days ago, I got an automated reply with a case number, and...... nothing!

So that's 9 weeks since the Lease ended and I stopped paying. Very odd.

I can't decide whether to (a) expend more energy in trying to get them to respond with a collection.... or (b) leave it and see how long it takes for them to notice. Thoughts?

Still not been collected, almost 4 months since the lease ended.

They did email me a couple of weeks ago to confirm details for collection.... since then, nothing.

I did jump start it last weekend, just out of curiosity to see if it would start after having had a flat battery for over 3 months. It started ok but has an intermittent misfire. The Airbag warning light and Check engine lights came on along with a load of warning messages about Adaptive Cruise Control Radar inoperative, Lane Departure Warning Inoperative, Road Sign Recognition Inoperative etc. Also the Electronic Parking Brake is stuck on (pads probably rusted onto the disc). I left the engine running for about an hour or so, but it looks like the battery is knackered as it didn't hold any charge.

[NerveAgent]

Something similar has happened on my parents road, car has now turned green!

(Unless you are in fact the leaser of the off white BMW )

[j4 mte]

My Mrs' lease on her GLA ended in April, they collected it about 2 weeks ago, so was sat on our drive for the best part of 3 months. We gave it a wash when we were given a collection date, and to be fair to the lease company (ARVAL) they wrote off the damage costs (about £280) for the inconvenience!

[b19rak]

If it’s Arval it will probably be there another 4 months. They are worse then useless.