How and where did you do the pre inspection? Thanks,
I don’t see how they could argue it is excess wear when your documentation clearly shows it’s within the limits of the wear and tear rules? No way to escalate?
It brings up a good point though- is there any official protection for consumers in these situations? Is it a process that’s protected by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Sounds like shady credit collection practices-they are a lender…they are leveling charges at you under duress that would hurt your credit if you don’t pay etc…someone more clued up on this kind of issue can weigh in.
Like I said before - they are used to dealing with subprime lenders, hence strong-arm tactics. All normal lenders have guidelines for normal wear/tear.
There is no way that this is plainly legal, where a business can contradict their own return guidelines, essentially ignore documentation, and have final say in the matter with no recourse. They have every incentive to abuse consumers.
If the lease has an arbitration clause for disputes, tell them that you’ll pursue that. Other options include threatening to take them to small claims court and/or get the Department of Consumer Affairs involved if you don’t get a more reasonable response out of them.
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I hd a very similar experience. The inspector called out all sorts of things that should have been normal wear and tear as stated in the lease-end documents I received. Mine was about $1300 as well but I ended up advertising the car and sold it to a private party. He got a great price (thousands less than he would have paid at a dealer) and I didn’t have to pay for the repairs. A win-win which is very surprising when US Bank is involved.
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I have autovin scheduled to come out tomorrow for a pre-return inspection. USBank lease. I have a few items I know need repair. One wheel has some decent curb rash as well. Not looking forward to this, based on above I’m preparing myself.
I wonder if tipping inspector well would help 
I have no problems with that
@RVguy remember i raised that concern when we were discussing using credit unions to lease.
I personally think lease return charges are just a profit center for US bank and most other non-captive lenders. They’re not interested in selling you another model unlike a captive would be and i think they just wanna squeeze out as much as they can at the end. They prob know it’s unlikely your next lease will be through them so they’re just trying to capitalize.
When you return the car to the dealer there is a 2nd inspection to verify no damage in the interim. You’d be bribing someone for nothing
Curb rash (at least in OC and TX) is approx $125 to fix. It’s actually pretty scary how they fix it (they grind it first) and then paint it back. Guaranteed to pass lease inspection FWIW http://www.drwheel.com/
I had mine done (still 30 months before lease ends) because I hate seeing curb rash
I spoke to the inspector at length as he did my co-workers car three weeks prior to mine. Nice enough guy but he’s tasked with noting every ding, dent, paint ship, scratch, etc. He said the auction house wants detailed notes for their buyers and he only reports what he sees. It’s up to US Bank to put a dollar value on the inspection report he sends in.
The inspection was pretty painless. They charged me for what I knew i’d get dinged on.
Take them to small claims.
I’m always scared of the outrageous excess wear & tear charges for a lease return. Which banks are known to have lenient lease returns?
We have leased 2 Mercedes in the past and both times they were extremely lenient w/ the damages. On our last GL we had several decent sized scuffs from living in Manhattan and MB didn’t charge us for the damages. We now have a BMW lease, I wonder if they will be as lenient as MB at the lease return.
Nissan/NMAC seems to be pretty lenient. My wife kissed the garage wall 3 months before turn in. Body shop estimated damages around 2,000. NMAC estimated it under 500. We turned the car in damaged, and ended up in another Nissan. NMAC had a damage waiver of 500 when leasing a new car, so we got away owing nothing. The captives are much more likely to be lenient than 3rd party banks, however, as they want to keep you in their brand.
How does a Check Brake light affect Lease return?
I am pretty sure its on cuz it needs a brake job.
Probably should list make model and lender for an accurate answer.
Audi Financial. Audi A4.