Lease turn in repairs

Ask the Hackrs
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I have a 2019 Volvo S60 on a month to month lease extension until late July. My car has 16xxx miles on it.

I brought my car in for routine servicing last week and the service department indicates that I need about $700 in repairs (front brake pads, tire rotation, 4 wheel alignment). They said I can “wait a few weeks” until the repairs are needed.

I would like to continue driving my car until my lease extension is up, but I don’t want to get stuck with a repair bill at turn in. I also question the need for these repairs - I drive conservatively and this car has very low miles. But now these recommendations are in their servicing system.

Curious to hear thoughts on this situation. Thank you.

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Go to a local shop. Pads and a tire rotation+alignment isn’t $700. Volvo SPA cars do eat brakes quickly, especially with local driving. There are multiple Volvo specialty shops in NJ.

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That sounds like a typical service department upsell.

Assuming that none of the items they mentioned are in critical condition (which they shouldn’t be if they told you it can wait a few weeks) then you should be fine to drive it until turn-in.

And you can always get a 2nd opinion as mentioned above.

Just check your contract to see what wear items will be chargeable at lease end. What the dealer service department wants to repair has little to no correlation with what you would actually get charged for by Volvo at turn-in.

Tires are the big thing, as long as each tire is over 4/32 then you’re not going to get charged for a rotation or an alignment or anything else like that.

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Also: IDK about Volvo but with some other brands, tire rotation and alignment might not be checked as part of the grounding process.

What the service dept checks & tries to upsell and what the lease-return inspector does are not necessarily the same.

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I was in a very similar situation… i had a 2020 s60 t5 r-design with the very well known vibration issue. I bought my car as a cpo with 11000 miles they replace the front rotors and brake pads because out of spec, under warranty… They replace the front rotors again at 16000 miles for the same problem again under warranty. Enyway the vibration never got fixed and i sold the vehicle. In your case they could easely replace the pads under warranty. If i were you i whould have words with the servise manager…

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Autovin for Volvo never checked alignment and rotation is not recommended by Volvo. I do rotation anyway, though, and did alignment when I was buying my S60 out last month.

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Just took my V90 lease in for new pads on Monday. Second time in 20 months I’ve gone in for brakes. Off and on squeaking and vibrations have led them to replace pads and rotors. When talking with service, I’ve framed it more as a safety issue and they’ve been very good about covering everything under warranty.

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This is all very helpful, thank you.
Seems like the move is to ignore the tire rotation and alignment upsell.
Make sure the tires have some tread left at lease return.
Try to get the dealership to cover break pads as a known safety issue under warranty.
If the dealership won’t do the brake pads under warranty, wait until AutoVin does the lease return inspection and if it is still needed, get it done at a local shop for half the price.

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Everything measured in the lease return inspection is quantifiable. If the lease agreement says “4/32 of an inch or above” that’s what you need.

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