End of lease inspection then another inspection? WTF?

[Zebrs]

Hi all, my lease car is shortly to be collected. The arrangements strike me as a bit strange however and I wanted to see if anyone had experienced this.

So process is they come to my house and inspect/photograph it etc, I sign the form with any issues, so far so standard. It then gets taken to their inspection centre and gone over again (in my absence of course) apparently by an independent party (that they no doubt pay). Additional charges for damage can then result from this.

The car is being taken to BCA apparently who seem to collect a lot of these and presume it will go through the auction shortly afterwards.

I think this sounds like a stitch up. I’ve no idea what they will do on the hour journey from my house once I’ve signed off. Chap on the phone tells me they’ll have photos so not to worry - but couldn’t quite answer if this was the case why a second ‘independant’ inspection was required.

In my simple view, once he’s cleared off and noted anything on his form that should be the extent of my liability. Am I getting worked up over nothing here? Anyone had good or bad experiences with this?

Cheers,

Z

[essayer]

Our lease vehicle was inspected by BCA. They do their checks and you sign to accept or dispute their findings. Then they collect it a few days later. As far as I’m concerned the state it’s in on collection is the end of my responsibility.
I would do a quick video walk around with a camera when it’s inspected or collected

[xx99xx]

My lease cars get inspected by an independent inspector who roughly follow the bvrla guidance in terms of what is acceptable wear and tear.

They are very thorough. All marks, scratches, stains, dents etc over a certain size are logged and photographed. At the end of the inspection, they tell me what is wear and tear and what is chargeable damage where I can accept or dispute. You can choose to watch them do it or let them get on with it and just see the final report.

The cars then go straight off to auction.

It does sound a bit unusual to have 2 inspections. Why would the lease company pay for an independent one if they're going to do it themselves anyway?!

[bassanclan]

I think the independent inspection is for the purposes of the auction house to determine the "grade" when selling through the auction. E.g grade 1 is mint through to grade 5 badly damaged.
I think BCA are linked up with the AA to do their inspections but by the sounds of it your lease company hasnt arranged to pay for a BCA collection and inspection service.

Definitely spend 10 mins take a video of every panel, wheel etc

[Bennyjames28]

It's stuff like this that puts me off ever leasing.

[Hitch]

Stuff like a slightly bureaucratic process? The same applies to all ownership routes; do you think your p/x is not inspected prior to them giving you a price? have you ever sold a car to a private punter who's not checked the condition?

[Rick101]

Don't worry about it.

You get an inspection on pickup which is fair and reasonable.
The report is made there and then on a tablet. You sign the screen and that is it.
You then instantly get a copy of the report.

Provided you are a normal person, I can't see why this would be an issue.

[Jordan210]

Bennyjames28 said:

It's stuff like this that puts me off ever leasing.

They do it with pcp as well. We had a bmw go back to BCA. Man did the checks all fine. Signed off. But they dint have a driver with them. One showed up a few hours later.a week later we got a bill completely different as the driver reported other damage and charges. Including no fuel.

Shame we had images taking at inspection showing fuel level. BCA did side with us with the evidence we showed.

[Edible Roadkill]

This is standard practice.

Bca only inspect and collect on certain areas in certain days of the week, so there is a delay of up to a week between inspection and collection. The second inspection is to ensure no further damage has occurred.

[Shambler]

I’ve had four leases now all with bca inspection never had an issue. Video car as per previous poster. Once the report is in you can query damage and they usually wipe some money off if you have proof. Eg I had a chip on the windscreen proved it had been repaired no issue. Don’t worry.

[littleredrooster]

If you have agreed and signed for any damage and it is subsequently driven away, how can you be held responsible for any further damage?

[richr71]

BCA inspected my Volvo yesterday. I was at home when the guy did the inspection, I asked him if he needed me whilst he did it. He was through inspection, took nearly an hour. I asked him at the end if there was anything he picked up and anything I should know about. He told me there was hardly anything wrong and how surprised he was at the condition - 'it's good enough to go straight on the forecourt' he said and then left with out me seeing or even signing the report. I know for a fact that the car was in excellent condition. Later that day, I had a report email from BCA with over £900 in damages! I won't get into what they've classed as damages but my point of this message is to ask what are your thoughts on the inspection being carried out with me being present with the guy. He didn't even show me the report nor was I asked to sign the report. I know he took photos of everything but what does that actually prove. Surely an inspection should be witnessed by the customer and the report should certainly have been shown and signed. When I took ownership of the car, I had to witness the hand over inspection before I could take the car. What do you all think?

[maz8062]

richr71 said:

BCA inspected my Volvo yesterday. I was at home when the guy did the inspection, I asked him if he needed me whilst he did it. He was through inspection, took nearly an hour. I asked him at the end if there was anything he picked up and anything I should know about. He told me there was hardly anything wrong and how surprised he was at the condition - 'it's good enough to go straight on the forecourt' he said and then left with out me seeing or even signing the report. I know for a fact that the car was in excellent condition. Later that day, I had a report email from BCA with over £900 in damages! I won't get into what they've classed as damages but my point of this message is to ask what are your thoughts on the inspection being carried out with me being present with the guy. He didn't even show me the report nor was I asked to sign the report. I know he took photos of everything but what does that actually prove. Surely an inspection should be witnessed by the customer and the report should certainly have been shown and signed. When I took ownership of the car, I had to witness the hand over inspection before I could take the car. What do you all think?

If the damage was there I’m afraid you are liable. Most finance companies have a matrix of charges for damage, so you are better off totting up the damage and charges as noted. That’s really all you can do.

[R2x]

maz8062 said:

richr71 said:

BCA inspected my Volvo yesterday. I was at home when the guy did the inspection, I asked him if he needed me whilst he did it. He was through inspection, took nearly an hour. I asked him at the end if there was anything he picked up and anything I should know about. He told me there was hardly anything wrong and how surprised he was at the condition - 'it's good enough to go straight on the forecourt' he said and then left with out me seeing or even signing the report. I know for a fact that the car was in excellent condition. Later that day, I had a report email from BCA with over £900 in damages! I won't get into what they've classed as damages but my point of this message is to ask what are your thoughts on the inspection being carried out with me being present with the guy. He didn't even show me the report nor was I asked to sign the report. I know he took photos of everything but what does that actually prove. Surely an inspection should be witnessed by the customer and the report should certainly have been shown and signed. When I took ownership of the car, I had to witness the hand over inspection before I could take the car. What do you all think?

If the damage was there I’m afraid you are liable. Most finance companies have a matrix of charges for damage, so you are better off totting up the damage and charges as noted. That’s really all you can do.

Worst advice possible.

From the BVRLA website -
“At collection, you and the representative from the leasing company must check and agree on the vehicle's condition. All readily apparent damage to the vehicle will be noted on the vehicle collection sheet and both parties should sign the documentation or hand-held device.”

Sounds like none of this was done. I’d say you have a case for a complaint initially to your finance company, and if no decent outcome, to the BVRLA for dispute resolution.

If the damage they are billing you for is valid, you’ll likely need to pay something in the end. Considering they haven’t followed BVRLA guidelines, you may get a reduction on the costs to bring the situation to a close.

[Wacky Racer]

The inspector should really show you the report and photographs before they leave and you sign to say you have seen it, whether you agree with it or not.

In my experience they are nice to your face because they don't want any arguments, they just want to get going...(You can hardly blame them)

Always raise a dispute if you are genuinely not happy, they will freeze the charge till they have reviewed it, and sometimes reduce it.

[plasticpig]

maz8062 said:

If the damage was there I’m afraid you are liable. Most finance companies have a matrix of charges for damage, so you are better off totting up the damage and charges as noted. That’s really all you can do.

My company returned a Volvo where we got stung by the second inspection after having agreed the damage with the guy who collected the vehicle. We disputed it and refused to pay. A bit and back and forth and three weeks later we told the lease company we we wanted to inspect the damage on the car (allowed for in the lease agreement).

The lease company couldn’t arrange this as of course the car had gone through auction, been listed on Autotrader by a dealer and then sold by this time... So we didn’t pay for the extra damage as the lease company couldn’t fulfil their terms in the contract.

[jwilco]

I guess it's all individual experiences, but I've leased two cars in the past. I looked after them but there were a couple of minor marks on both of them. Didn't get a single charge for damages.

From my perspective, the horror stories of being charged extra on leases is overblown and I'd have no problem doing it again in the future if there was a good deal I liked.

[Rozzers]

BCA are shockers, they signed off my last car on the drive, the only highlighted issues were tiny chips to the odd panel and two wheels, all within BVRLA. Very clean the guy said.

Then it goes to the depot and they decide that the car has been resprayed to a poor standard and want £2000.00, this comes thorugh on their paperwork from the lease company.

The car had one door damaged the year before, it was a main dealer repair that took 2 weeks and it was absolutely perfect (I am fussy and know a good job from a a bad one, no overspray, the rim was removed and replaced etc.), they probably blended it into the rear door and wings though as these panels were ‘badly repaired’.

Now here is the thing, the front bumper didn't fit the car properly from new and after a year it was replaced and painted under warranty - now it did have a crap paint job, and was in 3 times I eventually gave up. This wasn’t mentioned, probably due to thin paint as it was delivered in primer.

So basically I have surmised that BCA take paint thickness on all the body panels and anything thicker than normal = ‘bad repair’.

Anyway car sold 2 days later and was listed at a main dealer near me the same day it went through the auction, the dealer put it up at strong money and sold it that weekend (It was out front and I drive past every day)

The£2k? - I said I wasn’t paying, asked for evidence (as I had 200 images of the car and it was immaculate apart from a bleb on the leather they didn’t find). Leasing company said to ignore the costs and they would take up the issue with BCA. I assume it made the money it was meant to when it went through the auction, therefore BCA didn't need to cover their arse with the condition stuff to explain a low sale price.

You shouldn’t need to be this aware to lease a car!