I have a lease return coming up in a couple of weeks. I am going to schedule a lease end inspection soon but wanted to see if anyone here has any opinions on how to handle this.
I bumped into a very low fence and it left two small but noticeable dents on the front bumper. Since this is such a small damage, I would prefer not to go through insurance on this. In order to get this fixed locally, I would have to extend the lease since the shop is booked out for a month. I am trying to find out what the best way to handle this is.
Does the lease end inspection also give an estimate of how much they would charge me for this if I return the car without fixing this?
This should not go through insurance. From experience I received an estimate of what my costs would be, however, they are subject to change upon final inspection. To be safe, I rather give it back repaired than wait for a final bill.
See the below guidelines to help get your answer. There has to be more shops in your area.
Needs Repair
Dents or scratches greater than 2 inches.
Cracks, tears, creases or collision damage on any external panel.
Bumpers that are buckled, bent, gouged or deeply scratched.
How to handle it is easy. Just get your inspection done. You’ll be given a list of everything the inspector found including the damage charges if you just turn it in without fixing anything.
At that point then it’s up to you whether you try to fix it yourself or just turn it in and pay whatever the damages are, and save yourself the hassle.
None of that looks particularly bad so I’d guess you’re only looking at a few hundred max on damage charges to just turn it in.
Just to confirm, are you saying they gave you an estimate on lease-end inspection and it was later increased when you turned it in? That’s very useful information to know.
This would probably push me towards just fixing this myself locally rather than take a chance with BMW changing the damage fees after the lease-end inspection.
It would be helpful if you could elaborate on what exactly the experience is you’re talking about. Without details you’re now making the OP worry about something that they really don’t need to worry about.
Granted, not a BMW but I had my VW inspected last week. VW only allows 2 rock chips in hood and I had maybe 6 or 7. So the guy gave me the estimate and said I could fix it myself or I’d be billed only what he quoted, which was $245 to repaint the hood. I’m not getting it fixed. I’d get the appraisal done, see what they say, and then make a decision.
I never called an inspector for any of my BMW’s. I always took them directly to the dealership where “iPad girl” just clicked all the buttons and smiled. She had to get back to her social media after all. I had similar damages and was never charged a cent. YMMV.
