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Lease End "Hold-Up"
24-Sep-2007
Someone I know recently turned their leased car in with approximately 3000 less miles than the 30,000 miles allowed under their lease, but did they get any credit for that under-usage? No sir! Instead they were charged the equivalent of three months extra lease payments (nearly $1,300) because of "excess wear" on the tires of the automobile (didn't seem excessive to my layman's eyes), a ding on the hood of the vehicle, and two dings on the doors!?!?! As if though we who lease are not sufficiently raked over the coals by excessive lease finance rates, now these bandido auto-leasing companies have found another way to hold-us up without any recourse or right of protest (the word of the auto inspector is final, and of course they are paid by the auto lease finance companies, so you know where their loyalties lie.) Gulp! Leads me to wonder (better yet, fear) how much lighter my pockets will be when they account for the insignificant scratch on my fender, the small ding in my door, and my faulty "burnt-out" tail light indicator lamp? Truly, we consumers are simply sheep for the slaughter for these large and avaricious corporations.
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Read the Contract
by Kaveh Nouraee on Fri Jul 25, 2008 01:43 PM CDTOverwhelmingly, the interest rates on a lease are substantially lower than they are on a conventional retail installment loan. Leases sponsored by the manufacturer are heavily subsidized.
As a general rule, scratches that can be hidden by a credit card are not considered excessive. Many can be buffed out or airbrushed and filled in with current technology.
Dents are an entirely different matter. Deformities in the sheetmetal that have not been repaired have always been considered a negative on any appraisal of a vehicle. If you owned the car with free and clear title and you traded it with dents you won't get as much as you would if it were dent free. That's common sense.
Most people who lease do not realize that they have no ownership rights. They do however have all of the responsibilties, and then some. A lessee is paying for the right to possess and use the vehicle (the property of the lessor) for a fixed period of time with specific paramaters. That's the contract, plain and simple. They want the car back in the same condition as when they entrusted you with it. Clean, dent free, and properly maintained and serviced.
You want to avoid these costs? Rather than turning in your leased vehicle, trade it in a month or two before the lease expires. You may avoid some of these extra charges.
If you have small dents and dings and scratches from parking lots, get them fixed. What you mentioned as costing $1300 can be repaired professionally and properly for less than $300.
You also have to recognize what is not excessive wear and tear to you is not the same in someone else's eyes. If you were buying that car on a used car lot, you won't drive it home in the condition you described. What malkes you think anyone else will?
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