Lease car going back soon - bodywork damage
Discussion
Hello,
The lease on my Leon is up soon , PCH
It needs to go back as already extended it 18 months beyond the original 2 years.
It has some bodywork damage from hitting a post / bollard.
Does anyone have experience of returning like this ? Is it better financially to get it fixed myself first or take the penalties from vwfs.
Picture below, first two are the rear and the last is the front.
Not had any quotes yet..
The lease on my Leon is up soon , PCH
It needs to go back as already extended it 18 months beyond the original 2 years.
It has some bodywork damage from hitting a post / bollard.
Does anyone have experience of returning like this ? Is it better financially to get it fixed myself first or take the penalties from vwfs.
Picture below, first two are the rear and the last is the front.
Not had any quotes yet..
Edited by Sh1981 on Saturday 8th April 15:42
Usually, especially with VWFS, it’s cheaper to just let them bill you for the damage rather than you fix it yourself.
Do you have a list from them of damage costs? If not maybe someone has a link to give you an idea on how much they’d charge.
(Occasionally if you are lucky they may note it down but ultimately not even charge you for it! Had that before with a few hundred pounds of damage).
Do you have a list from them of damage costs? If not maybe someone has a link to give you an idea on how much they’d charge.
(Occasionally if you are lucky they may note it down but ultimately not even charge you for it! Had that before with a few hundred pounds of damage).
I think the risk you run here is whether the assessor views that as a 3 panel refinish off the menu pricing, or considers it too substantial and the car has been returned with accident damage - which they may look to repair at an approved body shop and recharge you for - which they are entitled to do under the lease and you have no control over.
It’s hard to determine how much metal damage is there, but I’d say that’s at least £500 of paint alone at a small independent, an approved place could easily pad it to 3 times that, more if they want to put a new door on.
If you send it back like that you need to be prepared to pay a £2k bill, but hope they charge you less. I don’t think you have any comeback whatsoever if they charge you the full cost of repair.
The menu pricing is an administratively convenient way for lease companies to deal with minor damage that doesn’t significantly affect the value and saleability of the their asset. It’s not there to provide customers with cheap accident repairs.
On the flip side, just beware if you did get it repaired poorly, they could charge you anyway if the repair is not up to scratch.
IMO, if there’s no significant metal damage, slap some Colour Magic black polish over it to minimse the appearance and chance your arm. If it needs metalwork I’d fix it before it goes back, using insurance if necessary.
It’s hard to determine how much metal damage is there, but I’d say that’s at least £500 of paint alone at a small independent, an approved place could easily pad it to 3 times that, more if they want to put a new door on.
If you send it back like that you need to be prepared to pay a £2k bill, but hope they charge you less. I don’t think you have any comeback whatsoever if they charge you the full cost of repair.
The menu pricing is an administratively convenient way for lease companies to deal with minor damage that doesn’t significantly affect the value and saleability of the their asset. It’s not there to provide customers with cheap accident repairs.
On the flip side, just beware if you did get it repaired poorly, they could charge you anyway if the repair is not up to scratch.
IMO, if there’s no significant metal damage, slap some Colour Magic black polish over it to minimse the appearance and chance your arm. If it needs metalwork I’d fix it before it goes back, using insurance if necessary.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff