A reporter from USA Today would like to know if people are having difficulty returning their expiring leases during the pandemic.
I know many folks have been OK with extending their leases – especially if it’s a good deal, or if the captive has waived a payment or two.
But for those who simply want to return their car, what has the experience been like? Are dealers making it difficult to take back lease returns? What are they saying? What has the process been?
Share your experience here! I found this topic from February, but the situation has clearly changed:
My Volvo S90 is due back at the end of this month. I called the dealer I got it from yesterday and made an appointment for Friday. Got questioned as to if I got the vehicle from them or not but that was about it. I’m also in the LA area.
I return my Volvo S90 two weeks early about 10 days ago to Santa Monica Volvo.
I was denied a pre-inspection from Autovin so basically dropped it off having no idea if I’ll get dinged for wear and tear. I also have $2,700 in security deposits due back to me and Volvo Financial can’t give me a time frame for when the inspection will be completed or the deposit returned.
Since I’m working from home, I’m sharing a car with my wife and keeping an eye on deals to pick something up in May/June depending on how the virus plays out.
I am having issues returning a Kia lease. Originally, I was going to sell the car to Carvana and pocket about $800 + save the $400 disposition. But Kia dragged their feet on getting Carvana a 10 day payoff faxed over and then Carvana stopped buying vehicles. By that point, my state and surrounding states shut down dealerships, so I’ve been stuck with the car ever since. Maturity was March 23, 2020. Car is still sitting in my driveway. I’m more pissed about having to pay insurance on it than anything else. Obviously, I’m not using any car right now, let alone that one. Kia said to call back 2 weeks after maturity, but I never did because I’m not going to waste 90 minutes on hold again until the dealerships at least open up.
I need to return my Pacifica soon and been told that there are no pre inspection and you just drop the car. Again, not sure if they will inspect it and charge for it afterwards.
I had issues returning mine to GM. Only the service depts open here in SoCal and they aren’t taking lease returns (supposedly the sales dept handles those). My pre-inspection was also cancelled.
GM Financial hasn’t given me instruction on how to pay for the lease extension, but it sounded like they were waiving two months’ of payment. But I hacked the Encore at $134 so it’s not a game-changer by any means
Also, spoke to a friend who has a repair shop. He said they are super flexible these days and if you have some damage say that you cannot fix it and ask them to waive any possible costs.
My sister’s Toyota Highlander lease was up March 31st. She scheduled her AV inspection for the week prior and they cancelled it. She called Toyota and they allowed her to extend month-to-month for up to six.
My understanding is Chrysler Capital will allow you to have the vehicle picked up from your home. You simply need to contact them. At least I know the applies to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Back in the old days, I used to take the easy way out and do pretty much all lease swaps. I always avoided a US Bank lease because their reputation preceded them😩.
I’ve talked with sales managers that will lose a sale over writing up a USBank contract. They got tired of the customer blaming the dealership over the problems when it had nothing to do with them and was USBank’s problem. They decided the headache wasn’t worth a lost sale.
Jaguar due back May. My autovin inspection was cancelled and jaguar offered lease extension. I called chase bank through jag financial and found out I can have them come pick up the car from home. No dealerships are open near me or accepting returns for that matter. I dont know if others have this option but I would inquire.
I’ve had the same issues trying to return my GMC Terrain. In NJ only the service centers are open. They tell me to call GMF, GMF says they’ll extend it one month but won’t allow more miles, so I have no use for it. Told GMF that I don’t want that option, so they said they won’t charge me and to just return it when the dealerships open. I don’t mind that option, but I’m still paying for car insurance on it sitting in my driveway which is an unnecessary expense.
My Autovin lease end inspection was also canceled so now I’m not sure what charges GM will come up with. Car was supposed to be returned April 2nd.
I have an S90 as well. The dealership in LA where I leased from is closed but I called and can return it to a local dealership here in OC
My biggest concern is they aren’t doing inspections prior to the turn in so I’m taking a walk around video of the car at turn in and measuring the tread.
My salesman did a walk around, checked the tires. I filmed him doing it, pointing out the one dent, offered my tire gauge. All on video. Best I can do absent an inspection.
