Lease Return - First Time Questions

I’ve got a lease that’s expiring this month and the inspection is scheduled for next week. I’ve got a minor scratch or two and that’s about it. My interior isn’t clean nor is it dirty (I guess you could call it normal). It’s my first lease return (chevy equinox) and had two questions.

1.) Should I get the car detailed this weekend or am I throwing away money? Regular car wash? Do I need to give a full tank of gas or whatever is in the tank is good enough? Based on what I’ve read, I should just show up at a Chevy dealership during the middle of the day on a weekday and just handover the keys and get the ODO paper signed?

2.) Can GM hit me with charges outside of the inspection report if I ground the car after I get the report at a chevy dealership (can they find something not previously found, etc)?

3.) Anything else I’m missing? It’s a 2017 equinox lt awd, 22k payoff (with sales tax), vroom offers 18k, and carvana offers 16k.

  1. Just wash and vacuum. They don’t check gas. I called GM, and they said to schedule the grounding with a dealership - this is a pain if you try to do it at a GM dealership other than where you originally got the lease, but others have said that they just drop it off. I guess it’s YMMV.

  2. Unless you get in a wreck, I don’t think they care. It just goes straight to auction.

  3. My experience was that I had to wait like 3 months after the grounding for GM to take it to auction, sell it, and then send me the final bill because I returned it couple of months early.

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no, i wouldn’t even wash it unless it was so dirty that he can’t do his job of assessing damage

no, last car i returned had 9 mi range left. You don’t have to be that extreme but a full tank isn’t necessary.

GM sent you by mail an “end of lease guide” that has a “wear and use card” to assess your own damage prior to inspection. More info at www.gmfinancial.com/endoflease

Technically yes if it’s significant, if not they won’t

Make sure you turn in all the keys and have it noted that you did

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Thanks for the replies. Let’s see how this goes.

I just had my pre-turn in inspection of Range Rover Evoque. Some third party company person came out to do it – all business, like the feds. He took lots of pictures. But he was cool afterwards. Call your leasing company and ask what your waiver threshold amount is. Fortunately, Range Rover is $1000. My buddy has a MB and his threshold amount is like $250 or $350. That said, I trashed my rims – $80 a tire x 2 tires. However, under the $1000.00 so I shouldn’t have to pay anything. The inspector guy took lots of pictures. They’ll check your tires too. I haven’t officially turned it in yet (to LR). I am very curious if anything comes up on the maintenance side b/c other than the first service, I took it to mom and pop shop for next two services. Saved a butt load of $$$ right there.

No pay. Your good to go.

Sorry for the ignorance, but can someone explain what grounding is?

I have a Volt that is set for return in April and there’s a scratch that I think the may charge me for. I wanted to understand what I could be looking at.

The term used when you drop off the car at the end of lease + hand the keys back.

A good coat of road grime can cover up scratches sometimes.

Make sure you get some type of signed paperwork and I suggest keeping the insurance active for a few days. Often at the dealership they give the car a quick inspection, but a week later someone else does another inspection and the car get picked up the next day. I had an employee turn in a Toyota, under miles, mint condition and was surprised a month later when he got a bill for $3800. Seems someone broke into the car after he dropped it off at the dealership and got a new car, and a week later when the company assigned by the bank picked up the car.

Thanks, I will definitely get paperwork.

My plan is to lease another Volt in April when my lease finishes (could be difficult with production ending). I was planning on negotiating the new lease and making the scratch no charge as a condition of the deal.

Do you recommend negotiating lease return before or after the inspection?

There’s nothing to negotiate with lease return. You pay excess damage (if any) + disposition fee if you don’t stick with the brand.