I wanted to share the darker side of Leasing with General Motors, specifically the lease return process, to provide you with a glimpse of what you may run into at lease end. I recently returned a 2016 Buick Enclave in very good condition. The issue I want to share is with the total wear and tear charges. There are two items that I am being charged for: a ding in the door ($20) and a scratch on the bumper ($226) dollars. The other items that they have listed as previously repaired damage was probably something the dealership fixed as this was a loaner car that I leased. I didn’t have any repair work done to the car. Additionally, there are charges for three tires that I replaced prior to turning the car in (I sent documentation in as well per the instructions they gave at lease return and it still took several phone calls/emails to have them “forgive” the charge but I guess that’s to be expected.)
Now granted, this was all in their end of lease documentation that I received a few months before lease turn in date, not when I leased…. but that’s my fault for not fully understanding the criteria that the car would be judged on which is why I am sharing this; I want to make sure the LeaseHacker community is as informed as it can be.
Here is what I want to point out, over the years I have had many leases and other companies have had a certain level of damages that they don’t bother charging you for. My last Honda had a hole in the bumper from someone backing into it that they forgave because there was less that $1,800 in damages or something like that. I think they estimated it at 200-300 to fix. I was fully prepared to pay for it but it was zeroed out on the invoice so no payment from me. Volvo, same sort of thing. I was charged $100 for a $300 rim that had some curb rash that was over an inch long (I think) because the total damages on the car exceeded some threshold which was $500 or something like that. I am not hard on my cars, I park in a driveway and work from home so my cars tend to stay relatively damage free but over the course of 3 years things happen.
After rereading the end of lease guide and the inspection report I decided to call GM Financial and point this out. Let me be very clear before going any further I would not personally do any of the things listed below nor would I ever advocate that anyone else do it either. I was merely pointing out that I was being penalized after having turned in a relatively pristine 3-year-old car versus what could have been turned in under their guidelines and asked them to forgive the $246 in charges. When I called GM to talk with them about the charges I mentioned this to them along with the fact that after having read it I could have walked outside and taken a hammer and put 4 small dents into each panel on the car, put a small crack in the windshield, taken a small pen knife and placed what appears to be an unlimited amount of holes in the upholstery as long as they were less than 1/8” of an inch and an unlimited number of tears as long as they were less that ½”. Almost forgot to mention that “removeable stains” are also considered normal. Feel free to use your imagination on that one. After talking with several people at GM (who all were kind enough to agree with my observation) every “Appeal” that was filed was denied. So, at the end of the day it looks like I am out an additional $246 and what had been a positive lease experience has become a negative one. Personally, I won’t lease another GM product for the foreseeable future all because of a policy they have that seems a little unfair and the solutions they provided when it was pointed out were to just tell me that they were sorry about it. Fair enough, rules are rules and they can expect the check in the next 5-7 business days. At the end of the day it’s a couple of hundred dollars on top of a lease that was 35 payments of $338 for a 3/36 lease with $0 DAS (they paid the first payment), not to mention they sent me a $750 debit card because of some lawsuit about the MPG on the window sticker so not a big deal but it’s more the principle of the thing and something I thought I would share since the lease end process can be murky at best.
Hopefully it will help my fellow hackers. You guys have helped me a ton over the past few years (I picked up one of the 330e’s earlier this year) and I hope this will help you as well.
to piggy back…
you should always have an inspection done with the GM rep 30 days prior to lease turn-in. this gives you the opportunity to correct tire tread/ scratch issues prior turn-in if you didn’t buy xs wear when you purchase the lease. honestly most scratches can be buffed out since it’s just on the clear coat. i know a lot of people don’t like to buy xs wear, which is fine but if you are doing 15k miles which will kill the tire tread or park in underground lots or street, there will likely be some penalty.
GM to GM lease loyalty waives $500 in damage & disposition fee.
+1. You can schedule the inspection online through AutoVin in 5 minutes. Inspector will come to your place of work, home, wherever. I have no idea why anyone wouldn’t do this.
I too was a bit worried with my last GM lease (Equinox) to the point I called Trish a few times (ChevySalesgirl). But she explained what I had to do and I did and everything worked out fine (no additional charges). When you lease a car you should be aware of every little ding, scratch, low tread etc. before turning it in. For example my leases on Mini and Lexus the front tire treads were low. I bought used tires (80 bucks) and did not have to pay the high price after turning in. My lexus had a window scratch (not crack but scratch) I was quoted over $900 at Lexus but I got one at my local window repair shop for $180. Same with body work, I have a dent puller I got on ebay, for 12 bucks, and it will make large dents into smaller ones that are acceptable when turned in.
This is dated 2016, looks like the one GM sent me recently. As the OP posted, this makes it seem like you can return a car with quite a bit of wear and tear and still be within guidelines imnsho.
I am right there with you. I did the inspection within plenty of time. I knew the damage was there. In my previous leases there seemed to have always been a buffer amount $500-$1200 whatever. In this case there wasn’t. Like I said totally my fault for not having know that before I leased. Just sharing the experience I had so you guys can be forewarned. They don’t give you the lease end handbook when you’re signing the documents. Cheers!
The only one that gives you a buffer without staying loyal IIRC, is Honda/Acura. Many do give a waiver of 500 if remaining loyal, and Honda will double theirs.
Were some of your previous cars bought by the dealer instead of returned to the auction? That would make a difference in damage charge too.
Yes, it was in the report. I was well aware of the charges so I called to ask them about it. The Enclave was probably the 15th or 16th vehicle I have leased so I am no stranger to the end of lease process. In almost all of the previous ones there was a clause that indicated a threshold of damage i.e. “charges less that $x won’t be assessed.” I am guessing it was in there to discourage the type of behavior I described in my original post where there could be LOTS of nonchargeable damage to a car based on the guidelines that they have in the return handbook. Other than what is on that list there was no other damage to the car. It was very clean, so I pointed out the catch 22 and asked them to consider my position. At the end of the day they decided that it didn’t matter. Fair enough, I’ll pay. I am not angry about it. I think it’s its a little strange that they are OK with lots of little damage but not OK with very little relatively minor damage and for the foreseeable future it will be a factor in whether I lease another GM product. I chose to share it because if its a factor to me someone else may benefit from my experience and either purchase a damage waiver, or know enough to read the fine print on the return process when they are purchasing (you’re going to have to ask for it). I have always found the end of lease process to be murky, I’ve never found them to provide the “you’ll be charged the market rate in 3 years to replace the bumper if there is a scratch over 6 inches and through the clear coat in more than one place” in any of the marketing material, the contract or the packet they give you when you’re purchasing. Lesson learned on my end, thought I would share. Cheers!
I have leased several Honda/Acura and theirs always tended to be generous. Truth of the matter is I have been leasing cars for 20+ years at this point. So Jeeps, Fords, Volvo’s, Honda, Lexus etc. and have paid my fair share of end of lease charges so I’m familiar with it. Some may have been sold off at auction and were never charged to me, it’s possible. I can honestly say I don’t know what they did with the cars after I dropped them off. After dealing with GM on this I just thought I would share my experience with the other hackers out there. I am pretty experience with leasing and have had my fair share of unicorns over the years but I always seem to learn things on here and wanted to share what I learned. Thanks!
My GM lease will be matured first week of September.
Does autovin charge sth to inspect the car at home or work?
I have got several calls from dealer that it is better for me to do inspection at dealership. Unless they want to try another GM lease, I can’t see any benefit to do that in dealership.
Does autovin charge sth to inspect the car at home or work?
I have never been charged by Autovin to do an inspection. I typically have them done at home. I am guessing that the dealership wants to make sure they have every opportunity to put you in your next vehicle which is why they are trying to get you in the door. If you call GM financial they will clarify any questions you have about the inspection process. Anyone who knows better please feel free to correct me.
I just had an Autovin inspection for my 2017 Buick Encore which is due to be returned at the end of the month. It was free of charge and done at my home. I don’t see any reason to have it done at the dealer.
The inspector found two issues. One tire rim had damage that would cost me $85. He said this was actually cheaper than it would cost me to get repaired myself. The second was a two inch paint scratch on the bumper for $45.
I always talk about the virtues of wear and tear protection. You can negotiate the price down to less then the cost of the tires that you are going to have to replace anyway. Anytime I bring this up the Hackers jump down my throat that it’s a waste of money. This thread should be a nice wake up call. Sometimes it pays to not be a cheapskate.
It depends on the product. GM XS Wear at $595 flat rate which also includes mile overage is a lot different than a BMW dealer trying to charge $2500 for their product.
But in this specific case just getting a set of used tires and buffing the scratch out still would have been cheaper than buying XS wear.
This is another great example showing how not all lease contracts (and lessors) are created equal.
Excess wear and tear is getting to be more and more of an issue as lenders have realized their lenient business rules of the past have resulted in higher losses at auction. Plus the volume of off-lease turn ins are a lot higher now than in the past. AutoVin has become the primary inspection company used by nearly every lender that tries to be systematic with the damage assessment and expected cost to fix each item. They’re far from perfect but in general are consistent. If you schedule an inspection and have to wait, they are struggling to deal with the increased volume and a painful software upgrade this past spring that has reduced their efficiency in scheduling.
If you have the option up front to purchase an excess wear and tear policy, it might be worth it. Or you can lease through a lender that includes one at no additional charge. Honda Finance does a $500 waiver if you lease another Honda/Acura. CULA credit unions come with a $1000 wear and tear waiver at no additional charge, regardless if you lease again through them.
so not a big deal but it’s more the principle of the thing and something I thought I would share since the lease end process can be murky at best.