Car Leasing UK | End of Lease Inspection Charges | BVRLA Fair Wear & Tear 2024 | How Much Did I Pay?

[@HonestMoney]

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[@hughesy606]

I managed the remarketing team for one of the largest lease companies in the UK. The best advice I can give is this: If you were to see your car on a forecourt, would you buy it in its current condition. The things that would put you off are the things you will likely be charged for.

[@hughesy606]

And don't hide the damage through dirt. And, although you say about not getting it valeted, you'd be surprised how much it makes the human at the lease company think you've looked after the car. It's worth the £20 to get it cleaned.

[@duncanbuchanan218]

Trouble is that is not my experience. My daugter got tucked up for a scuff on a wing mirror that would polish off (as the inspector confirmed) and scratch on a bumber that no one would question on a forcourt. I would recomend no one ever lease a car personally, the service is dreadful & they rip you off.

[@hughesy606]

@duncanbuchanan218 OK, so if the scuff on the wing mirror would polish off, I have to ask, why didn't she polish it off?

[@clewis5220]

Very thoughtful and considerate of you to leave 80% charge. My faith in human kindness restored well done mate.

[@caolkyle]

I'm due to return an Arval car in Jan and first told to have the car 100% charged for the collection agent, but then after back and forths, asking where in the agreement says I agreed to that (especially when the car was delivered with about 30%) they then said to have at least 75% charged... Luckily I have an overnight tarrif so a full charge is currently £2.70 but more the principle lol

[@ianhand5006]

You look after your cars far better than I do. Mine went for 20 months and 15,000 miles between washes. Useful video, thanks.

[@jimmyjt16]

I personally would always give the car a good valet before return. In my opinion it gives a good impression that the car has been well cared for and more chance the inspector will be more lenient. Whenever I send my car for MOT or service it’s always send in immaculate clean condition and the testers always comment on how nice it is and it always passes with flying colours.

[@ceriwilliams6931]

I was a driver for BCA and we were forced into becoming driver /inspectors, paid an extra £8 for the inspection. We had a days training, which primarily addressed using the ipad provided. There is a lot of stress in potentially giving a customer a bill for £x thousands, especially if the customer has been very helpful, such us picking you up from a train station etc. I would say that your bill depends on your attitude to the inspector. EG your car, if you were pleasant etc you would have had no charge, if you werent and also the car had very little charge, I would have billed you for the damage and left you to argue with the lease company. The charges also vary between companies as well, some being very reasonable, others not so. Just bear in mind that the "inspectors" are poorly trained, underpaid drivers who just want to get going as quickly as possible.

[@barrybarry6592]

Check the ECU recorded mileage not the clock reading! Many are being adjusted! But the ECU records the original miles

[@leroysquirrell2891]

The excess mileage charge is key. I’ve used Nationwide Vehicle Contracts for years and found them to be be great to deal with. 4.3p on excess allows me to take a lower annual mileage price knowing 1000 additional will only cost me a £43 charge at the end of lease but could add £20 per month in lease cost if included in the agreement. I always check this excess cost before agreeing any lease deal.

[@BlackSheep703]

Im 6 months into a four year lease and my alloys are already fooked.

[@je6874]

Same 😅

[@talk2s5061X]

Same lol

[@monturrahman878]

Would it be worth getting smart repair before returning?

[@sunnyd6291]

Lmao mine too...dam potholes

[@TheoFennel]

Learn to park or next time get a car with a parking feature. Never scratched my X4 alloys, and I can park. It just saves me the hassle

[@Pigeonmilk89]

Check if your vehicle is going direct to auction. If they pull anything up then say you’ll pay once you’ve received images of the repaired vehicle. My last lease was dropped directly at an auction and sold. They didn’t pull up any damage. But there was no chance there would have been time for any rectification if there had been.

[@wakeywarrior]

Agree, I say similar above. They need to prove loss. They ‘hope’ most will sign, agree and pay. If not, they have issues.

[@hughesy606]

@@wakeywarrior sorry, but you’re both incorrect. The ‘loss’ is a diminution in value because of the damage. The lease company do not have to have the repairs done which, is actually in your favour because if they did, your charges would be a lot higher. Most lease companies work off a matrix style cost sheet. If it were bodyshop costings, you’d be looking at twice the price.

[@wakeywarrior]

@@hughesy606 they have to prove diminution in value, or loss. Very difficult. Otherwise, particularly as it’s a consumer contract. (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations applicable) it becomes a ‘penalty’ clause. All they can say if it goes straight in auction is they ‘think’ it may have sold for more without the stone chip etc, very hard to prove. The courts don’t like penalty clauses. I have actually refused to approve the so called damage on lease return and never heard anything further. They want you to sign, agreeing to pay it. Refuse.

[@hughesy606]

@@wakeywarrior I appreciate your annecdote, but it's not usually the case. I would always suggest you try everything you suggest, but I wouldn't use as a point of reference. Us Remarketing Managers have seen it ALL before, trust me!

[@wakeywarrior]

@@hughesy606 so have us lawyers.

[@AlanH-o2u]

I think this is something that would make me feel uneasy for the entirety of the lease. IO would be worried about everything everyday I had it. Knowing me I would get an inspector that loves to bill people the highest.

[@nickelroof6727]

Very useful video. Never leased before and wondered about this.

[@matthewgodwin3050]

Some lease companies charge you for every single mark on the car, but never actually have any of it repaired. A friend got stung like this returning a motability car. She was charged for alloy refurbs, and stone chips. The car was later put on sale by the dealership in exactly the same condition it was returned in. I sneakily posed as a prospective purchaser, and asked if the 'damage' would be repaired before sale. I was told it was normal wear and tear, and that if I wanted it repaired, I'd have to pay extra. Total con.

[@je6874]

Perfect timing for me!! Thank you

[@goodnewsryan3363]

Hyundai charged me nearly 900 quid didn't agree with some of the faults but they took the money anyway have raised the issue with hyundai waiting for response

[@OnlyFoolsGaming]

Would be nice to see them give you 13p a mile back for anything under your allowance…..I bet it don’t work that way though.

[@richardgiles2484]

Really good video. However, I couldn't be bothered with all this worrying. I've always taken the attitude that if we can't afford to buy it outright, we don't have it, and I know this is old school 😂😂😂

[@robbie1403]

I worked for BCA Logistics for two and half years inspecting end of lease vehicles. I left over three years ago so maybe practices and rules have changed but the report you got seems to indicate yours was a sloppy inspection. Back then inspectors were paid £8 per inspection (yes, that right, just a paltry £8) and if done properly would take around 40 mins as everything on that list needed to be photographed, damage measured and a final all around video of the exterior and interior taken. This was all done on a iPad and software would calculate what was in tolerance and what wasn’t and apply the particular lease company/manufacturer repair or replacement costs. Of course, with being paid so little it’s unsurprising that inspectors would cut corners to save time. Bearing in mind when I left, BCA hadn’t increased pay rates for over seven years so my guess would be they aren’t hugely different now. On the subject of alloy wheel damage, I seem to recall anything over 100mm on the rim or anything on the spokes was chargeable. However, the costs were generally less than if the leaseholder got them repaired themselves. It wasn’t unusual for some inspections to result in charges that ran into the thousands. Most customers when confronted with a bill denied ever being given a BVLRA booklet, or certainly hadn’t read it, and had made no preparation for collection at all, not even having cleaned the vehicle, despite the appointment letter that BCA sent giving advice on what to do in this regard.

[@ceriwilliams6931]

same here, have added my comments, but similar to yours.

[@duncanbuchanan218]

Never ever lease a car personally. I will never lease a car personally again. My daughter gave back her 3 YO Corsa about 10 days ago an the third or 4th time we had arranged collection. What a waste of time, but thats not the worst of it. Corsa was in great condition, not even a scratch on a wheel, but inspector noted 2 faults. 1 he said was not going to cost bacause it would clean off, the other was minor scratch he said would probably not be charrged. (It was on the bumper low down about an inch long and well less than 1mm wide). What happened? A bill for £200 for both. After dealing with those clowns over the collection my daughter decided to take it beacuse she believes they would have just found something else to complain over & it could get worse. Whole handback experience was a shambles between the collection company & lease company.

[@hughesy606]

If the damage was outside of BVRLA fair wear and tear guidelines (which it sounds like it isnt) then you absolutely should appeal the charges. You can dispute it directly with the BVRLA and the lease company has to pay £100 for each and every investigation. More often than not they will fold, but only if the damage is as you state and you haven't downplayed it which, in my experience, is usually the case. I used to ask customers that if they bought a brand new car and then someone borrowed it for a number of years and then handed it back in that condition if they would be happy. It's funny how that normally elicits a different response!

[@mollythedog6742]

So keen on lease hire but would use car for going to the tip and scrap the vehicle down narrow country lanes, I guess lease hire not for me!

[@Judith-c6r]

Still believe the old fashioned way is best. Save until you can afford what you want, then purchase. We are being sucked into over spending on stuff we do not need. Stop being materialistic. Best in the end and leads to a stress free life.

[@camstewart4567]

Another great looking car well done.

[@Jam001]

I miss the property analysis, but this was still interesting

[@scottmyers9850]

Which bit do you miss? I miss where he kept saying there would be a property price crash and then it never happened.

[@Jam001]

I miss the round up of all the data and facts. I’ve seen some pretty big price reductions in my area. 18 months ago properties were going for roughly 10% over asking. Add in inflation and prices seem way down to me

[@lewiskelly14]

The fact the BVRLA want to change for the document is scandelous on its own

[@ianeccles111]

Why didn't you change the wheel with the spare and hide the damaged one back in the boot?

[@georgeshaw6374]

Thwy would be way tp stressful a way ro own a car, would be terrified to use it. Not worth the hassle.

[@systemx4]

People insist on driving cars they can't actually afford to buy

[@harvey3837]

What’s your point! Cars aren’t an investment. They lose money overnight sat on your drive. By and large it makes sense.

[@bagballgolf2406]

​@@harvey383715 years at a very conservative £500 a month is 90,000, had my car 12 years paid cash 30k from nearly new and I'll get around 7k back for it now, 23k in the hole, unbelievable difference.

[@415volts]

I agree but not all - company car drivers are different though - my current electric BMWi4 costs me just £30 a month in BIK tax out of my pay packet. Company pays the lease & everything else. I also live in a very modest 4 bed semi with no mortgage.

[@shaunwalsh6354]

Great and useful information.👍

[@alexcharles321]

Crazy thought... how about owning your own vehicle? Avoid all end of term charges, and sell it privately / exchange it for the same cost the finance company calculate it to be worth. A car is meant to be used, why on earth would you want to stress out about every nick or scratch?

[@MaxJames597yompfitness]

screw this whole process just buy a car

[@MrFastNapper]

You want a new car, lease it for the first few years, if you have a severe accident then insurance will restore it to return condition. If you love the car then buy it, otherwise you hand it back and let the leasing company deal with selling on a damaged titled vehicle.

[@beefbuns2000]

Why lease? I'd never lease, it's the biggest scam around, you own nothing unless you pay a balloon fee at the end and if you can't afford it you're minus a car or you just start the never ending lease loop. Just take a personal bank loan, you get better interest rates and it's your car to sell or part ex whenever you want.

[@onlyme972]

Only if you work in local government do you have job security and all the perks and expenses. Leasing is a never ending nightmare.

[@BDX55]

Leasing just means you are paying the amount of depreciation on the car between new and when you hand it back. The lease companies try to make sure the total you pay over the lease period covers the depreciation so when they sell the car they aren’t out of pocket. This is why sometimes you will find popular are cheaper to lease than unpopular cars, because the residual value at the end of the lease will be higher. With my last lease I bought out the car at the end of the term and when I added what I paid to the sum of all the lease payments it worked out to almost exactly what the car cost brand new 3 years before so I effectively had an interest free loan for three years.

[@TrimeshSZ]

I don't think leasing makes much sense for private individuals - but it makes a lot of sense if you are running a business, especially if you are VAT registered. Lease fees are tax-deducible and you can also claim back 50% of the VAT. It also makes budgeting much simpler. The leases we were using included maintenance and insurance, so the only added cost was fuel. Would it have been cheaper to do everything ourselves? I'm not sure - I would suspect that the more favorable tax treatment basically offset the higher costs, and it in any case ended up saving a bunch of time that could be used for something more productive.

[@change2023now]

How did you find the polestar 2? Would you recommend one? Also that number plate was very fitting given your finance channel (LTV)😂

[@onlyme972]

Excess mileage? Only good for local shopping then? That's taking the piss,

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

Good luck getting my business again if I get charged for any of that stuff.

[@grahamclark4518]

Aww sod all that, worried about every little minor niggle, One of many reason I'll never lease

[@peterr7437]

complete rip off,im a pro detailer and prepared loads of cars for return ,then some fella turns up and as said picks up every mark on the car ,they dont want hastle off the customer so more often than not make up a load of lies about what they have just done ,the last one charged the customer £500 and took it from her bank ,3 years two young kids its not going to be perfect,on the day of inspection it wasnt raining ,if it was he wouldnt of seen half of what he did as it was dry ,ott money grabbing,they turn up with the intent of getting some money out of the customer

[@designtime3469]

You tyre has cracking!

[@je6874]

Is it worth getting the maintenance with its fee? If it covers tyre repairs etc. it seems like a great deal given the costs nowadays.

[@hughesy606]

Never pay for maintenance - it's possibly the biggest profit centre for the lease company

[@ant5595]

Which company do you lease with? Thanks 🙏🏻

[@clewis5220]

The title says ‘car leasing Uk’ So I’m assuming that’s the lease company

[@simonelsey]

leasing can be a con if not a company

[@alanbrear8421]

What is a windowscreen???? Surely you mean windscreen 🤔🤣🤣

[@dazzwsmith]

Still waiting on that house price crash?

[@newgghoster6166]

Is this guy supposed to give money advice? 😂. The worst thing you can do with your money is leasing instead of buying a vehicle, since you end up paying more (companies get gains you lose).

[@wakeywarrior]

Not correct. Depends on car and deal. I’ve had a BMW 335, Mercedes CLS and Mercedes E class, at under £300 a month where the depreciation was significantly above the lease cost. So you are incorrect. A car is a depreciating asset, and often leasing is the best economic decision.

[@davidgirvan6007]

Agree! Example: you can currently buy a Nissan Leaf for £27k and it’ll depreciate by about £10k in 2 years. You can lease the same car for about £150pm with 12 months payments upfront, costing you £5400 over 2 years and proportionally less if you lease it for 4 years

[@newgghoster6166]

@@wakeywarrior That makes no sense, because it would mean the leasing companies are losing money. And those companies are experts and do thousands of calculations to know the exact monthly payments that would make money from the car after the vehicle depreciation and all costs. You cannot beat a bank or leasing company...

[@newgghoster6166]

@@davidgirvan6007 150pm? I haven't seen such crazy offers anywhere, unless the small print says it's 150 + Vat + X + y + z and you end up paying £300... And also maybe the car does not depreciate 10K in just 2 years but 4.

[@newgghoster6166]

@@davidgirvan6007 I just checked. Leasing you have a miles limit, plus an initial payment of 2K. Buying the car no limit on miles AND is not 27K because you can find that same model (just checked it) on some dealerships right now at 21,9K (same battery size and all ). After 2 years and just 20k miles the car sales for 17K, depreciation is around 4K, while the total cost of the Leasing including initial payment and fees, for 24 months contract has a total cost of £5.507. so buying it's around 1.500£ cheaper on the first 2 years and more on the following years as depreciation goes slower on following years.

[@secretsquirrel6124]

So the leaser pays for servicing on a car that you don't own 😂😂😂😂😂

[@michaelgodbold6247]

But it's a milk float what idiots going to what that???😊

[@ayrshiredude]

My first lease car (2 cars ago) the inspector said he wished all the cars he collected were as nice as mine. however he picked up on 1 small chip on the bonnet and 1 even smaller 1 on the front Vallance. The front Vallance I hadn't even seen it. Volkswagen Finance then proceeded to charge me for both chips. I pointed out to them that the both clearly were within the BVRLA guidelines which they later accepted. I suspect they were just hoping I'd pay. Second Car had nothing on it at all.

[@stewartfearn3473]

Would have appreciated a full breakdown of 3 years of motoring costs...lease payments, estimated electricity, tax ( if any), repairs, mileage excess charge and a final division for cost per mile. That would have been extremely informative. As per others, I miss your house price analysis.

[@CarFinanceSimplified]

Really useful - many thanks. My first lease car, Tesla Model 3 goes back in a week. It’ll be interesting to see what they pick up on. Best wishes.

[@wakeywarrior]

If you leased from Tesla, when I traded in my Model S for a new one they never even looked at it.

[@william.hingston]

Your videos are interesting but can you please moderate your comments? They are full of spam and scam

[@lawrencemanning]

Yup. Not worth looking eh. Can see why some creators don’t bother and just disable comments.

[@wakeywarrior]

These lease cars are picked up by the auction house. Key is to dispute everything, don’t sign anything saying you agree with the damage. They have to prove loss, the ‘guidelines’ mean nothing in law. They can’t charge for loss they haven’t suffered in a consumer contract, ‘penalties’ with no loss will be frowned upon by the court. So how do they prove loss when it goes straight through auction? When I refused to sign my last one, I simply didn’t hear anything else. Also depends on lease company, Mercedes for example never charged me for substantial curbing on a Mercedes CLS, across spokes. So advice is never mind ‘BVLA Guidelines’ refuse to sign anything agreeing damage and payment, that’s exactly what they hope you will do. They will automatically get you on mileage though as that’s built into the agreement and is not damage.

[@martinburman9790]

£4000 on a Scoda Octavia 2012 last year. Will last me 5-6 years. Paying a lease on a car doesn’t make sense financially v buying a 2nd hand car outright in my view

[@davidgirvan6007]

Maybe not but if your engine blew up and you had to replace it that would be very costly. A lease car will have 4 or 5 years warranty.

[@martinburman9790]

@@davidgirvan6007 The cost to replace would be less than the cost of paying 1 years worth of payments on a lease.

[@tony6422]

I was under the impression they get 14 days after collection to add fees (eg the fees are not added at collection or they can be amended up to 14 days after collection)?

[@DigitalJunior2003]

We challenged our end of lease charges and they halved the charge from £800 to £400

[@bagballgolf2406]

Leasing cars for 15 years, boggles the mind

[@eddiejones.redvees]

I have been lucky enough to be able to buy my cars new or new for zero financing or cash over the years I have been motoring my wife’s 2003 Ford focus 1.6 ebony was the last new car we bought her uncle use to work at Ford and we bought cars through the staff and family discount count scheme which was a lot of the price we would sell the car after two or three years and get back what we paid for it and then buy a new one saddle her uncle is passed and now I only buy good new cars and run them it to the ground I have had 2 cars now to my wife’s one we don’t need 2 cars now I am retired but my wife’s car is now a member of the family is only got 64.000 miles on the clock but been well loved my cars do all the work because I bought diesel cars my current car is a 2015 1.6 diesel Astra j which if I drive nicely will a average of 65 mpg

[@TheNorliss]

Ever heard of punctuation?

[@Mikey_NoCap]

Mine went back last Thursday, collected by British car auctions guy. I had damage on rear door side door silver attachment. Inspector said car was wet so could not inspect so I am sat waiting to see if there is any additional fee or not. Hopefully will be offset by an under mileage of 8.5k miles which should be about £1k, I think that is a scheme benefit from my employer so hopefully the repair pain should be covered by mileage undershoot.

[@wakeywarrior]

Don’t agree anything, don’t sign accepting any damage, it will go straight into auction, they can’t prove any loss if it does. You’ll likely hear nothing, if you do ask for images of repair and repair invoices. This is the trick to paying nothing.

[@cabovermike]

I'm surprised they didnt knock you back on the tyres condition , if you pause the video side wall cracking was visable , sun damage dry rot i think its called ,. i think a quick cheap valet may have been a good idea to, ive had quite a few rental car returns over the years with different companies and its always a bit worying , but thankfully always been no problems on handover,.cheers,.

[@andrewf7822]

Interesting video, thanks.