Lease damage charges

[tygar2]

Hi all,

I just received my damage report for a vehicle collected without inspection. The vehicle is a A Class Mercedes. I feel the charges are unreasonably high and do not agree with them. Does anyone know the best way to approach this? Below are the charges which EXCLUDE Vat.

Had very light brush like scratches going across front passenger door (black car). I think they may have been caused by a car wash -
NSF Wing Scratch(s) Paint £167.90
NSF Door Scratch(s) Paint £167.90
NSR Door Scratch(s) Flat and Polish £23.00

Had a couple of scuffs on the alloys which I accept. However over £130 per wheel? -
Wheel NSR Scuff/Scored Repair (Alloy Polished) £109.25
NSR Wing Scratch(s) Flat and Polish £23.00
Wheel OSF Scuff/Scored Repair (Alloy Polished) £109.25
Damage Costs: £600.30

VAT adds a further £120 meaning a total of £720??

It seems to me they are expecting a brand new car back and charging excessively for or are these charges about right?

[Dave Hedgehog]

They normally have a list of acceptable damage / marks

Prices seam about right from a lease company, depends on the rims, diamond cut are expensive to repair

It’s nearly always going to be cheaper to sort the problems out before you hand the car in

[tygar2]

Dave Hedgehog said:

They normally have a list of acceptable damage / marks

Prices seam about right from a lease company, depends on the rims, diamond cut are expensive to repair

It’s nearly always going to be cheaper to sort the problems out before you hand the car in

Thanks. I was not provided with a list and I previously asked for a schedule of charges which they failed to provide. Also, due to lockdown they collected the vehicle without inspection.

[Mcfcms]

Who was the lender? Always worth googling for whatever the lenders name is for the damage matrix.

Also, did you take any pictures before hand back? Always worth doing so you have a comeback if needed.

[roadsmash]

Did you take pictures? These will help your case.

tygar2 said:

Had very light brush like scratches going across front passenger door (black car). I think they may have been caused by a car wash -
NSF Wing Scratch(s) Paint £167.90
NSF Door Scratch(s) Paint £167.90
NSR Door Scratch(s) Flat and Polish £23.00

If they were “very light” why didn’t you just T-Cut them out before collection? Chances are, they probably weren’t “very light”.

tygar2 said:

Had a couple of scuffs on the alloys which I accept. However over £130 per wheel? -
Wheel NSR Scuff/Scored Repair (Alloy Polished) £109.25
NSR Wing Scratch(s) Flat and Polish £23.00
Wheel OSF Scuff/Scored Repair (Alloy Polished) £109.25

Were the scuffs over 25mm in length?

Regardless, for Mercedes, these costs do seem slightly high... but they are known to be the most expensive on wheels. Are they diamond cut?

tygar2 said:

It seems to me they are expecting a brand new car back and charging excessively for or are these charges about right?

They just want their car back in the condition that you’d expect your car if you were to lend it to someone.

If this was your car and someone handed it back to you in this condition with two scuffed wheels and paint damage, would you honestly consider it acceptable?

Shopping trolley dents and small alloy scuffs are acceptable. Anything more is chargeable.

The body repair costs don’t seem overly excessive to me.

http://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/current/passenger...

[rizel23]

Sounds like Total Motion.

I have similar, no inspection prior, no details or remarks on collection sheet but inspection report stating damaged wheel at £109.25.

Car was driven 50 miles between collection report and inspection, given nothing noted on collection report not sure if I should challenge or not?

[tygar2]

Lesson learned. Have challenged some of the charges so hopefully there is some reduction.

For next vehicle, anyone able to recommend a good wheel and scratch insurance that is reasonably priced which they have used? I think it is a mandatory cost which I will factor into the total cost when deciding if a lease deal is good or not.

[tygar2]

rizel23 said:

Sounds like Total Motion.

I have similar, no inspection prior, no details or remarks on collection sheet but inspection report stating damaged wheel at £109.25.

Car was driven 50 miles between collection report and inspection, given nothing noted on collection report not sure if I should challenge or not?

Correct. It is Total Motion (Pink Leasing).

[PenelopaPitstop]

tygar2 said:

Lesson learned. Have challenged some of the charges so hopefully there is some reduction.

For next vehicle, anyone able to recommend a good wheel and scratch insurance that is reasonably priced which they have used? I think it is a mandatory cost which I will factor into the total cost when deciding if a lease deal is good or not.

Or consider something from VAG and their finance. They have very reasonable charges for wheels, £36 per wheel + vat.

[ZX10R NIN]

You should have given a good mop & detail before you gave it back, if your car has marks & scuffed wheels you can't expexct not to get charged also those prices are reasonable in reality.

[tygar2]

ZX10R NIN said:

You should have given a good mop & detail before you gave it back, if your car has marks & scuffed wheels you can't expexct not to get charged also those prices are reasonable in reality.

I did wash it and I was not expecting them to not charge me. I guess reasonable depends on your perspective. A previous poster noted that VAG charge £36 for wheel scuffs, Im being charged £127 - that's £90 difference so looks unreasonable to me.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

tygar2 said:

A previous poster noted that VAG charge £36 for wheel scuffs, Im being charged £127 - that's £90 difference so looks unreasonable to me.

I'd have said £36 for a wheel refurb is incredibly cheap. That's not to say that £127 is reasonable, but I reckon VAG must be on a loss leader at £36.

[WonkeyDonkey]

They aren't getting the wheel refurbed. It'll just be a form of compensation as it might attract a little less at auction.

Can almost guarantee the dealer that ends up selling the car will still have all the scuffs on there.

[Driver101]

Matt_E_Mulsion said:

tygar2 said:

A previous poster noted that VAG charge £36 for wheel scuffs, Im being charged £127 - that's £90 difference so looks unreasonable to me.

I'd have said £36 for a wheel refurb is incredibly cheap. That's not to say that £127 is reasonable, but I reckon VAG must be on a loss leader at £36.

A lot of the charges I've seen are much less that it would cost to have work done. It's not worth doing if people are handing back their car.

On the other side I've seen the prices that some dealers pay for wheels and PDR. It's less than half the price on offer to the public.

[hoganscrogan]

VW have a menu pricing that they share, prices very reasonable, not many leasers seem to do this, asked santander/volvo and they said they don't have a price list 'send us pictures'.

[Chris32345]

Driver101 said:

A lot of the charges I've seen are much less that it would cost to have work done. It's not worth doing if people are handing back their car.

On the other side I've seen the prices that some dealers pay for wheels and PDR. It's less than half the price on offer to the public.

The cost of alloy's wheel's for a dealer are often insane
I'm often seeing £300+ per wheel even as much as £800-900

[tygar2]

WonkeyDonkey said:

They aren't getting the wheel refurbed. It'll just be a form of compensation as it might attract a little less at auction.

Can almost guarantee the dealer that ends up selling the car will still have all the scuffs on there.

This makes sense to me. Anyway, have challenged them so will see what comes back. Anyone able to recommend a reasonably priced insurance for this?

[Driver101]

Chris32345 said:

Driver101 said:

A lot of the charges I've seen are much less that it would cost to have work done. It's not worth doing if people are handing back their car.

On the other side I've seen the prices that some dealers pay for wheels and PDR. It's less than half the price on offer to the public.

The cost of alloy's wheel's for a dealer are often insane
I'm often seeing £300+ per wheel even as much as £800-900

I'm meant refurbishment.