I would highly recommend it
I’m still wondering why BMWFS is allowing Dealers to do the inspections on End of Lease
We use the same dealer, although I never buy/lease there.
@305Hackr Thanks for this. I know Autovin is thorough so I don’t want to get screwed.
Oddly autovin did my inspection a week or so ago and seemingly missed a large curb rash on one wheel. I’m now worried when I turn it in they are going to try and ding me for it, even though it was there when he inspected it.
I might just pay to get it fixed for ~$100 for some peace of mind.
Decided to stick with the inspection after all . I would’ve rather known before hand of any charges then have the dealer do final inspection (they do it after you turn it in) and then get a pop up bill.
The Autovin inspector came out earlier today. Very nice guy and very a very liberal inspector. I think he completely missed the ding on the A pillar and a tiny scratch that was touched up on the rear bumper, which I thought I would get charged for.
No charges at all. He said everything was in spec including the run flat tires.
Said my report would be emailed to me within 24-48hrs. Took tons on photos including the engine bay, and underneath the car.
Just wanted to let everyone know how it went
Read the recent horror stories, I’m really appreciate of Honda/Acura for being so easy and allowing 500/750 damage waivers. Which are doubled to 1000/1500 if you get another car.
In past Acura waived off any damage and several hundred over mileage as well.
BMW seems to be out to get you for any nickel sized scratch and give you a whopping $0 in damage coverage for a car you will drive 3 years lol. Got my first Bmw after few Honda Acura and now I’m concerned reading horror stories here.
Hope things improve.
I was also pleased with the Acura damage waiver. I returned our MDX in November and arranged an Autovin inspection a few weeks before turn-in. The car was in great shape except for a dent in the passenger front fender right where the wheel well is located. It looked like someone was pulling their car into a spot and didn’t clear. The dent was fairly noticeable and if you placed a credit card over it, you might see about an eighth of an inch of dent sticking out. By the time we turned the car in, it had actually started to rust a bit.
The inspector noted the damage and indicated a charge of $188 was due, which I was fine with. Obviously this would have cost much more to get it fixed on my own. When our final lease statement came back, Acura didn’t even charge a dime for this. And we were not re-leasing with Honda or Acura.
I also just completed a turn in (also through Autovin as apparently my local dealer is no longer authorized to do i3/i8 turn ins) and it was a breeze. My car had literally zero damage, so I did not expect any charges (and didnt have any), but I found it interesting that they do seem to be checking for factory windshields and they (as usual) definitely checked to make sure there were no maintenance services due. One can do a simple reset for that though prior to turn in…
Also gotta say…BMW is awesome as usual with loyalty/dispo fee waivers etc.
I didnt even ask them to waive the dispo fee, but they did it automatically (as they looked at my account and saw the new lease I initiated in January so applied the waiver retroactively), and they also applied the under mileage credit for the lease turn in of $300 to that new lease account as well without me even asking. Lastly, they also already mailed a check for the refund of the MSDs on the turn in as well.
Yep, had my Autovin inspection done last week on a F30 car and they took a picture of the lower right hand side showing the brand of the windshield.
Why? They care if a windshield was replaced by safelite?
I believe they want to know if a suitable replacement was used or if non OEM windshield is on car.
This is the first time I’ve ever had an inspection done where they took a picture of the windshield brand
I’ve been with BMW for the past decade maybe longer but I’ve only had to pay dispo fee once and all wear and tear charges were waived. They would credit left over miles for me also.
My last return was a rebuilt salvage but long story short, a month into my lease someone made a left turn from the far right lane on a one way street, I ended up t-boning the car (I was in the far left). Anyways, that rebuilt salvage X1 had some bumper rashes from hit and runs in the parking lot to massive door dings (los angeles, tight parking spaces, horrible drivers). Also the tires were all worn but I returned the car as is because they’ve waived previous damages in the past.
Note, that I got the pre-inspection done and he said I could just return the car as is. Dealership inspections don’t know shit imho. The worker just inspects to inspect cause its part of his job. Not a detailed inspection.
Received a massive bill from BMWFS and I called them up immediately and asked the lady on the other end if they could waive some of the fees. She said to call back in a week while her manager goes over the bill. I called back and a different lady said all the fees were waived except for the dispo fee.
All in all I’m pretty happy with the lease return process.
Currently have 2 BMW’s and 1 lease ending in 2 weeks. This car has a front bumper rash from the curb, all 4 rims have curb rashes that aren’t minor. 1 tire is kumho while 3 are the continental run flats. Heavily under miles by about 7k. Was never in an accident. Hoping they waive the fees again. Will come back to LH to update if anything out of the norm happens.
This is why I don’t trust CPO 
i believe they auction off cars that are rebuilt or have been in accidents.
Wouldn’t that mean it was declared a total loss?
I’m not sure about your state but in CA you can’t buy a salvage car from a ‘dealer’ can you?
Edit, wow you can! And a local dealership sells them. Wow , I wonder how you get insurance, I guess liability only?
Well, the car should have been declared a total loss. 3 air bags popped, the suspension on the passenger side was misaligned cause I breaked and tried to avoid the car by turning left, my engine decided to do a squat (I believe its because it knows its been in an accident), and something in the transmission went out cause the gears got stuck. BUT the body shop I took the car to under valued the repair bill so the insurance company would not declare the car as a total loss. After they send the first bill under valued, they would then send a 2nd bill saying we found these problems after tearing the car apart. If body shops do it this way, they come up on a lot more money. Shady business if you ask me. I don’t trust body shops anymore. Just take it to a BMW dealership that does repairs even if its 30 miles away. Even if the lead time to repair takes 3 to 4 months just do it at the dealership.
Curious, was the Body Shop an Authorized BMW?