New to the forum, but have scoured leasehackr in the past for great tips…
Turned in my 2019 x1 lease two months ago in November. Long story short, early into the lease, a school bus ran a red light (turns out they’re not great drivers) and did about $5k in damage to the rear bumper/rear passenger side and insurance isn’t covering it (since I’ve got a decent sized legal case going on for medical issues I had a year after - my attorney advised to deal with the costs and not go through insurance).
I was prepared to just pay the costs and try to negotiate things down a bit, and I turned the car in over two months ago. The sales guys were nice but in no mood to walk through any of the details as I wasn’t leasing a new car - given the fact that I was moving and have bigger fish to fry regarding this accident and lease return - I told them to just inspect on their own and they let me know I can pay through my BMW account online when the final bill is in place (I figured I’d get taken advantage of - but TBH just couldn’t keep flying back and forth and no longer live close to there).
A month ago, someone from BMWFS calls and asks if I’m filing an insurance claim - I tell them no, explain the reason why, and they tell me to sit tight.
On my account, it still says “Vehicle Returned – Itemized Bill in Progress” (has said this and Account Terminated for two months now). I reached out to Support, and they told me:
"Our records indicate that this vehicle was confirmed to be turned in at XYZ COMPANY and has been sent to auction. We would suggest that if you have any further questions about the purchase that you ask XYZ COMPANY .
Does this mean that they decided to move it quickly, and I’m off the hook for a large repair bill? Should I still be wary of getting hit with a bill months from now? And based on the fact they’re taking it to auction - think I could negotiate a last-minute deal (since the car has a moderate amount of damage)?
So you didn’t do a pre-return inspection before returning a lease with at least $5k in damage?
This car is going to auction, after which you are most likely getting a bill (RV - ACV).
IANAL and clearly don’t have the whole story, but having been through an accident where the other party was at fault and there was medical claims, this makes zero sense. If their insurance won’t fix your car for whatever reason, yours will and sue theirs (subrogation). You will likely end up owing more than your deductible, which maybe your lawyer wants to pile on top of this already complicated lawsuit?
When I turned in my lease in December, the dealer lease guy that handles all of the inspections and returns and such said they do still have the limits.
If you haven’t received a final bill with an amount owed, don’t count it done. I saw mine show up on the BMWFS website about a week before I received it in the mail. I agree with Jeisen, you are probably going to get a bill after auction. And it also doesn’t make sense why it didn’t go through insurance, but IANAL.
Nah - well aware it was a dumb idea. Between a new job I had to start immediately paying significantly more and relocating to a new state, flying being a pain after two back surgeries and knowing I’ll be getting much more in the future…chose the (most expensive) path of least resistence.
Thanks for clarifying. Wasn’t sure if I could still try to buy the car back at the lease payoff amount (if I’m going to be hit with a huge bill, the car is in great condition, well maintained and at 25k mileage - minus the damage, might as well get this repaired myself and try to keep the car (should’ve tried this in the first place…)
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Long, complicated story. $5k is nothing compared to the settlement, I had two pretty gnarly back surgeries
Lol, for a minute wasn’t sure if they just sent it to auction and never sent a bill (why I asked in the first place - since it’s been months and the BMWFS rep I spoke to on the phone also made it seem like it would just go to auction and be over). Had that been the case then would’ve called them up and seen what they could offer.
On me, could’ve stayed in town an extra day or two to see if they’d do the inspections. They told me it would be two weeks until a BMWFS rep would be out and that was who did the final inspection. I tried to do the inspection a handful of times. They also thought they had lost my car after I left it for maintenance/final inspection. It was a comedy of errors to say the least.
Yeah with the legal case - again long story. Can’t get into details about it but as the settlement is sizable for this situation, just wanted to get it over with
If that’s the case, just best to sit tight and wait for the final bill. Nothing else that can be done at this point anyway. Hope things work out for you and your health!
and knowing I’ll be getting much more in the future…chose the (most expensive) path of least resistence.