Handing a lease car back - advise needed

[pcmaczone]

Our DS3 is due to go back in about 3 weeks time and I was just wondering if anyone knows how the leasing company access the condition of the car?

It will have done 30k and we have had it two years. It has some scratches, mostly on the passenger side. Unavoidable around here as it's all single track lanes and the car will inevitably rub against the bushes from time to time. Most of them I think can be polished out but there is one that has gone through to the primer. That's on the front offside wing.

I have been told the discs are scored and need replacing, although I don't know why that would be. The pads were replaced before they got to the metal.

Rear tyres are about 1000 miles away from replacement. We already replaced the front tyres so not keen on replacing the rear. They are the original tyres by the way.

Inside the car is generally very good. Nothing broken or stained. The drivers side mat has worn through where my heel usually rests but I understand that is quite common. Anyway cheap to replace.

We still have the major issue with the stop/start not working and that is not covered by warranty. That is going to cost us just short of £1000 to fix

So what will happen about all this? Do the leasing company send us a bill for what they consider to be abnormal wear etc?

[moranphotography]

I'll be keen to hear peoples experiences to.

[Chris_Blue]

Suppose it depends how honest you are

[pcmaczone]

Well obviously we can't hide the stop start not working so that is one thing that needs to be sorted. If it were covered by warranty it wouldn't be so bad but we'll have to pay the same whether the leasing company got it fixed or we did it ourselves.

The tyres, I think it's reasonable not to change the rear ones because they are still legal and will be when we hand the car back....thoughts on that?

As for the scratches I don't know what to do about those. Some we can T-cut as they are quite fine. Oddly there are some on the back door on the passenger side and seem to go across the glass. Dealer thought it was very strange also. Don't see as we can do much about those.

We're not trying to rip off anyone. Just wondered what we could reasonably expect.

We have a new Peugeot 2008 coming in three weeks and reading through the car care part of the contract it's almost like they want it back in showroom condition, which would be fine if we lived in a town or city but not out here in the sticks. Roads are terrible and we have all these single track lanes to contend with.

[mrdr86]

Well obviously we can't hide the stop start not working so that is one thing that needs to be sorted. If it were covered by warranty it wouldn't be so bad but we'll have to pay the same whether the leasing company got it fixed or we did it ourselves.

The tyres, I think it's reasonable not to change the rear ones because they are still legal and will be when we hand the car back....thoughts on that?

As for the scratches I don't know what to do about those. Some we can T-cut as they are quite fine. Oddly there are some on the back door on the passenger side and seem to go across the glass. Dealer thought it was very strange also. Don't see as we can do much about those.

We're not trying to rip off anyone. Just wondered what we could reasonably expect.

We have a new Peugeot 2008 coming in three weeks and reading through the car care part of the contract it's almost like they want it back in showroom condition, which would be fine if we lived in a town or city but not out here in the sticks. Roads are terrible and we have all these single track lanes to contend with.

Does the start stop come up as an error message ? If it doesn't why would you need to tell them ?

[Chris_Blue]

^ Thats what I was thinking- what company dont know, dont hurt them. Then again, suppose they would only have to look at the dealer records....

[Swiftpass]

Most leasing companies would put a car of that age straight to auction to be sold, in my experience, if the car is presentable then they are normally not to precious about it.. But depends on your leasing company..

[pcmaczone]

Actually I was going to ask about the dealer network thing. I assume if we have put it into the dealer and they considered it not a warranty issue that this info would be available across the network? So no point taking it to another dealer and trying to get it done under warranty there?

@mrdr86 - Yes every time you start the car there is a loud beep, engine error appears on the dash and then the word 'SERVICE' is permanently displayed. Can't really hide that one I think

[MadMan0]

I can't really help with this yet as i've yet to hand the car back. However, in my case the contract states what is acceptable damage to the vehicle. I.e. light scuff and marks would be considered normal wear and tear. This may change depending on your lease and contract?
Can I ask though, why isn't the stop start covered by warranty?

[pcmaczone]

We had damage to the wheel arch liner due to a pothole. It popped the liner and pushed the wing out. Wing was easily popped back in but took a couple of weeks to get hold of the liner. Must have been the wettest two weeks on record! Couple that with all the mud on the lanes around here and it's a recipe for disaster. Of course at the time I didn't know there was a bunch of sensitive electronics in the wheel arch. All the mud and water got into the Voltage Retention Device and corroded it.

So, because it was "damage" that caused the problem they won't cover it under warranty. Hence why we now have to stump up £995 to get it repaired!

[pcmaczone]

Double posted due to delays in browser. Could delete the text but not the post. Can a mod delete this please?

[Chris_Blue]

Hence why we now have to stump up £995 to get it repaired!

Ouch. Painful.

[pcmaczone]

Ouch. Painful.

Yes indeed. Very painful! Plus independents don't seem to want to touch it so stuck with Citroen dealer and Citroen prices. Only thing that niggles me about this, apart from the cost, is when I asked the dealer could they guarantee this will fix the problem they wouldn't give me a straight answer and for £995 I don't need obfuscation I need guarantees!

Time is running short! Need to get it sorted one way or another.

[Swiftpass]

Hand it back as is .. Worse case scenario the lease company has citreon fix it then your no worse off..least you have a chance of them not noticing ..

[Chris_Blue]

Agree with Swiftpass. Did it ever work?
Think about the answer.......