Should I do a pre vehicle inspection when surrendering a lease?
I keep getting calls from an affiliate of GM financial to get a pre inspection before my lease is up. Is there an actual benefit to this or should I just return it to the dealership?
Yes, this will show what you could get charged for and you have the opportunity to fix before returning the car.
Without an inspection you are at the mercy of the finance company when they determine any excess wear and tear and send you a bill, so it’s probably a good idea to get it done.
what the others said, do the pre-inspection and get a report
It’s wise to do it. But you don’t have to if you’re totally confidence that you won’t get charge for anything. The last lease I returned a few months ago, I skipped the pre inspection, cause I had wear and tear insurance.
Like others said, and it’s free and takes 30 min of your time at the place and time that’s convient to you. Why not to do it?
I just did one for GM. The inspector is very through and you will know what if any charges to expect.
Is it freeeeeeeeeee?
yes, no charge for the inspection
Then definitely a no brainer. Besides a smidge of your time, you have nothing to lose.
my experience with gmac leases is that no one is ever charged for damages therefor you should just return car as is without inspection
Here’s the info I can provide for both Nissan and GM, as both were handled very similarly. I’m assuming the other manufacturers will do the same.
As mentioned, it is advisable to do a lease turn in inspection prior to buying a new car. They usually recommend the last 30-60 days of the lease. At this time, the inspector will come to wherever you are to do a thorough check on the car. They will find previous paint repairs (if applicable), verify any previous repairs were done correctly and to manufacturer specs (if applicable). They will also check for any dings, scrapes, bumps, etc on the car. As long as they fall within the manufacturer’s “acceptable” rating, you will not be charged. The car doesn’t have to be mint condition, however, it shouldn’t look like it got the hell beat out of it either. If the dings and scrapes are larger than what is deemed “acceptable” and considered “excessive,” they will put a dollar amount on that damage. They’ll also check the tires, ensuring they match the OEM speed rating (supposedly anyways), as well as depth. They’ll check to ensure you have a spare tire, as well as owner’s manual. They’ll check the interior for stains, burns, etc. Long story short, they do go over the entire car fairly thoroughly, and itemize any repairs that you may need. They’ll tell you what the manufacturer will charge you at turn-in if you decide not to repair, or they give you a chance to repair the car at a cheaper rate than what they charge. You would then provide copies of your repair receipts for the lease return as proof of repair. In my experience, however, excessive damage charges have been very fair. I had a Rogue that my wife kissed the garage wall with a few months before the end of the lease. To have it repaired at a local facility, it would’ve cost me over 2,000 bucks. Nissan was charging me 680. I let Nissan worry about the damage. As it turned out, the dealer ended up buying the car from me, so it was their problem, and I had nothing to worry about. In addition, many times manufacturers will offer a “goodwill” dollar amount of damage to keep you in the family. For example, in my Nissan, if I were to buy another Nissan (which we did), Nissan was going to waive 500 in damage charges. So, if the dealer didn’t buy the car and it went to auction, I would’ve only owed 180 in damages. That’s a far cry from the 2,000+ quote I received at a local shop. So, this is something to keep in mind when doing an inspection/lease return. Now, had I decided to drop the Nissan off and buy a Mazda, I would’ve got stuck with 680 in damage. Still a far cry from the local estimate.
With that said, it is NOT REQUIRED to do by you, however, VERY ADVISABLE. If you decide not to get an inspection, and turn the car in, the dealer will either buy the car or send it to auction. If they decide to send the car to auction, THEY will be required to schedule a lease inspection on YOUR behalf. Doing this, however, is risky. Let’s say the lot attendant scuffed your wheels along a curb while parking it. There’s a possibility you may be dinged for this when the car is inspected if the dealer throws his hands up and says “we didn’t do that.” Then it turns into a headache “he said-she said” scenario. So, technically, you do not have to do the inspection, however, it will need to be done before it leaves the dealer lot, one way or another. It’s fairly painless however, and they make it as convenient as possible.
As one more step for peace of mind, I always take pictures of my cars when I drop them off as some proof in the event something would happen at the dealership prior to it being picked up for auction.
My experience with Mercedes is during the lease inspection they give you the hard sales pitch on getting another car. The dealer went through the typical questions but after I told them I wanted to get a car with longer all electric range they backed off.
Not to be all negative, but when I did lease with them the experience was great. In and out of there in under an hour. Finance person was also very nice and efficient.
I had a dealership tell me that if I brought my car to their dealership to do the pre-inspection, they would give me $1,000 off the price my next lease. Has anyone heard of this before?
Just a tactic to get you in and pressure you into a new lease.
Is this fairly common practice? I had a different dealership tell my buddy the exact same thing on his BMW.
The key point is $1000 off of what. MSRP, invoice? I doubt it’s a case of negotiate your best LH price via email and they would reduce that by 1k, as there wouldn’t be that much meat left.
I am returning an Acura TLX 2015 with 80 K miles. The mileage overage cost alone is $6k plus i also need to change tires and aucra service also tells me i need to change some break pads and repair some a bump on my side door which will end up being a lot of $.
I dont want to get a new acura but it might be my only option . If I did get a new acura , they will forgive $2,000 in mileage overage and double the $750 allowance for end of of lease to $1500.
so all and all i would receive about $3,500 to go against the $7500 i would owe acura financial. I dont necessarily want to get another acura but feel it is my only option.
Any thoughts or options?
You could also see what a car buyer would give you (carvana, vroom, dealer) vs your payoff. If that is not a go it would be hard to give up the forgiveness that Acura is offering.
- What is the current value of the TLX vs. your payoff? Vroom, Carvana, KBB, local dealers, etc. From a purely financial perspective it might make much more sense to just buy the TLX out.
- How much does AFS want to charge you for the damages, vs how much can you get them repaired for before turn in?
Figure this out before we discuss a new lease.