Audi AIM Lease Inspection experience

Ask the Hackrs
1

I’ve never kept an Audi to the end of a lease term. My RS lease is ending in a few months and I plan to turn it in early. It was a used car that I leased under Audi’s “like new” lease program (before Audi added the huge incentives on the RS) and I’ve only driven it about 4500 miles over the past 10 months. A few questions/concerns:

  1. Does AIM test drive the car or just inspect the exterior?
  2. The original owner spared no expense and installed an integrated radar detector, F&R laser jammers, F&R camera, OEM carbon fiber wheel inserts, and a satin finish PPF. I’ve read about the case where BMW charged the lessee for returning their vehicle with upgraded OEM wheels even though the dealer provided the upgraded wheels when the car was originally leased. I’m wondering if I will have an issue with the radar or the satin PPF.
  3. I’ve got some scrapes on the lower part of the front bumper. You can’t see the ones underneath but you can see a few that come up along the side of that lower panel. It’s reasonable to argue that is normal wear and tear, especially on a vehicle that sits so low. Any insight on whether they will charge me for that?
  4. Does AIM give you the “final” cost to turn in the vehicle as-is? Or is their inspection just a precursor to another inspection that occurs after you actually turn in the car. In other words, if they say the wrap and/or the scratches are ok (or that the scratches will cost X dollars), can I assume that I won’t run into any additional issues from AFS?
2

The inspection is just a visual review, they do not test drive the car or anything like that. They do start the car to make sure it runs and to look for any warning lights on the dash, etc.

Minor scrapes on the bumper should be normal wear and tear but ultimately that will depend on how big/long they are.

And assuming the radar and PPF were professionally installed (and thus basically invisible to most people) then they will most likely go unnoticed and won’t cause any problems.

Once you get the 3rd party inspection done you’ll be given the damage report and that is the “final” inspection. The dealer will give it a quick once over when you turn it in to make sure the doors aren’t falling off, but they do not go over it any further to try and ding you for anything else. It’s not their car, they don’t care, they are just facilitating getting the car to auction for AFS.

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