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End of lease hand back - any recent hands on experience?

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Spin_bowler

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
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1,357
Location
Hertfordshire
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CLC, Tesla MY
The lease is up on my W212 at the end of August and I'm handing the car back a month early to make way for the new one.

BCA are picking the car up and, at no extra cost, I've an inspection booked on 21st July where they will tell me what they charges they'll make for wear and tear and then the final pick up on 1st August. Thing is, I have a very busy life and whilst the first inspection feels like a good idea to give me a chance to put anything that they say needs doing right, realistically, I may not get the chance to do anything about it.

So, I was wondering, has anyone recently handed a car back and if so were any charges eye-watering, reasonable or somewhere in between?

The car is on personal lease from MBFS and as I said BCA are doing the pick up.

All four wheels have some kerbing, fronts worse than rears.
Small gouge in bottom valance on front bumper where I ignored parking sensors which, on one occasion, were better than I was, as they could see the concrete flower pot I couldn't

I've read the book that describes the wear and tear charges but it's vague at best so any real-life experience gratefully received.

TIA
 
Sorry but Jesus look after cars that are not yours in the first place and you won't have any charges.

I have had a number of short term leases and never been charged anything. Had some lovely comments on the condition of the cars from the collecting driver so it astonishes me the condition some are apparently returned in.

As for charges, a friend returned their A6 with damaged alloys, some scratches and an interior than required cleaning and was charged £1,100. All of it was about £300 worth of effort. Mental!

I'm my opinion get a dent/body chap out to fix the front (£50-100) and get the alloys refurbished (£200-300). May be worth getting their estimate first though. Good luck
 
Lennox said:
Sorry but Jesus look after cars that are not yours in the first place and you won't have any charges.

I have had a number of short term leases and never been charged anything. Had some lovely comments on the condition of the cars from the collecting driver so it astonishes me the condition some must be returned in.

Good luck
Click to expand...

I completely agree, I too had a pre-collection inspection, and the guy said if they were all like mine he'd only have to work part time.

I suggest spending a day on it if you are worried, I had kerbed one wheel, so I bought an alloy repair kit via eBay, it includes filler, paint and lacquer, did it well enough to pass inspection.

You should make sure all the door shuts are clean, use Tcut on the door sills if they are scratched, and it goes without saying that if the car is covered in swirl marks, then at the very least buy a 'polish' that will disguise these, such as Poorboys white diamond for light coloured cars, or Poorboys Black something ( I forget the name) for a dark car.

And treat the new car as if it's your own!!

Again, good luck!
 
From a corporate perspective they will pick up on any damage (bonnet and windscreen chips are your only freebies)

I would recommend giving the car to a firm that will do both wheels and bumper for the day, part with £300 as BCA will pass onto a firm that does a good job, but for a 'good price', possibly £500 to £600 and they may find more!

If your time and having a car is previous, pay up and move on

This is based off dozens of cards going back on corporate leases (two were going to be written off due to their make good costs......)

Edit - good shout on it being clean as a minimum, we all approach a clean car differently. Door shuts with T cut and the bonnet will be very visual 'shows'
 
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The hand back is always a fraught time,I agree with comments made,give it to a mob who prepare cars for collection,cost will depend but from what you have said maybe £400,or get a dent away guy for the damaged front,he might also do the wheels about £250,it is one of the costs people never factor in with these lease deals,and of course BCA will then put it in one of it's auctions so will want it to rate highly on their scale of condition.
 
Lennox said:
Sorry but Jesus look after cars that are not yours in the first place and you won't have any charges.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback although I'm not quite sure why you’re so emotional about it. I have treated it as if it were my own, I clean it regularly, it’s clean and tidy inside but I see kerbing and bumper scuffs as a fact of life over 25K miles of stop start commuting, school runs, tight central London multi-storey car parks etc. Whilst I like cars, I’m not obsessive and see them as something to be used rather than idolised.

I should be clear, I do intend to make sure it goes back clean and if I can put right the other stuff with minimal disruption to my day-job I will but my time is precious and long hours in the office make handing the car over to a third party a complicated affair.

What I’m really after is anyone who’s returned one recently and been charged and how they felt those charges rated on a ‘fairness’ front. I’ve mentally prepared myself for a bill of about a grand including the 300 odd quid I’m over on mileage so wanted to know if that was realistic.


fabes said:
I would recommend giving the car to a firm that will do both wheels and bumper for the day, part with £300 as BCA will pass onto a firm that does a good job, but for a 'good price', possibly £500 to £600 and they may find more!
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's useful. I'll see if I can find someone and make it work ahead of the inspection next week.
 
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I returned C63 with badly kerbed 18 inch alloy (half of it shredded) and it was noted as £85 damage. I was told I won't be charged at all, as it's below MBFS limit.

Check the other damage with wear and tear book. You should get ruler and plastic thing with hole in it, to measure scratches.

Don't know what's the size of your wheels, but if charge is £85 to fix one, it may be worth to just leave it, instead of wasting time to fix it.
 
We returned SLK recently. We had to refurb 2 alloys as they were badly damaged & I got 2 part worn tyres off e-bay as the side walls were gouged.
We had damage to the front valance (dent the size of a golf ball) repaired bu chips away but it got damaged again before collection - not as bad so I touched it up with a touch up pen.
Otherwise interior & bodywork were 1st class.
But, noticed the micro blistering of red paint a week or two before it was due to be collected. Both BCA & MB said there would be no bodywork charges as they would have to respray the car before reselling
 
We returned a Mini on contract hire through ABC with 40000 miles more than agreed and they never charged. MBFS are very reasonable too. I'm guessing that the manufacturer owned finance companies are more reasonable than the others.
 
40k????
 
What's the mileage Matt? I'd assume there's a sliding scale of condition v mileage, but I'm sure the pre-inspection will give you a clearer idea of costs.

Any photos of the Disco yet?
 
It'll be just under 25k when it goes back, Lee. Disco is due on 1st August, I'll get some pics up when I get it.
 
Piff said:
Googled the number plate of our SLK last night. For us to keep it MBFS wanted £20,750 IIRC. It ended up at MB Huddersfield (presumably after its respray) Used 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLK SLK 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY AMG Sport 2dr Tip Auto in Fire Opal Red for sale in Huddersfield for £18,122

with an asking price of £18,122. So if it went to auction I would guess MB Huddersfield paid significantly less than that & MBFS caught a cold:doh:
Click to expand...



Happened to us, we had a 2011A3 s-line 2.0tdi, lovely car, was worth book about £12k, but lease company wanted £16k?? Almost a grand more than I could buy a used approved. The chap tried to sell me the car saying "but it worth more to you". I fill his ears and the expletives jar!!!
 
Piff said:
Googled the number plate of our SLK last night. For us to keep it MBFS wanted £20,750 IIRC. It ended up at MB Huddersfield (presumably after its respray) Used 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLK SLK 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY AMG Sport 2dr Tip Auto in Fire Opal Red for sale in Huddersfield for £18,122
with an asking price of £18,122. So if it went to auction I would guess MB Huddersfield paid significantly less than that & MBFS caught a cold:doh:
Click to expand...

SLKs lost a lot because MB flooded the market with them. And they are going to do the same with SLC, because there are £7-9K discounts on them.
 
PenelopePitstop said:
SLKs lost a lot because MB flooded the market with them. And they are going to do the same with SLC, because there are £7-9K discounts on them.
Click to expand...

I queried the £20750 at the beginning of the deal as being unrealistic based on the then value of 3 year old SLK's. I was told that the new model was predicted to hold it's value really well. Got that wrong didn't they:rolleyes:
 
There are the same discounts on SLC:

Mercedes SLC SLC 200 Sport 2dr 9G-Tronic Petrol Convertible, list price £31,980
Our Discount Price [on the road] £23,217
Saving £8,763

Mercedes SLC SLC 200 AMG Line 2dr 9G-Tronic Petrol Convertible, list price £35,981
Our Discount Price [on the road] £26,715
Saving £9,266

Mercedes SLC SLC 250d AMG Line 2dr 9G-Tronic Diesel Convertible, list price £36,995
Our Discount Price [on the road] £27,586
Saving £9,409

Mercedes SLC SLC 300 AMG Line 2dr 9G-Tronic Petrol Convertible, list price £39,386
Our Discount Price [on the road] £29,693
Saving £9,693

Mercedes SLC SLC 43 2dr 9G-Tronic Petrol Convertible, list price £46,351
Our Discount Price [on the road] £37,017
Saving £9,335
 
Returned my S Class in April - had 2 BCA inspections , first was just inspection and then guys who collected it a few days later did their own inspection .Each took about 20 mins ,both picked up a kerbed alloy and a worn tyre ( but still legal). There was also a hole about 3 x 4 " in the lower intake grille , but not mentioned

Both said that the damage was within what they could write off, so I signed for no charge

Must admit, I'd heard stories of MB being very picky and big bills, and was nervous before they came, but was all fine.
 
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