End Of Lease Charges – Fact Or Con?
Friday, 31. July 2009
Sorry about this but it all seems like bad news this week. Manheim DeFleet, the defleeting arm of the major auction house, has reported that average end of lease refurbishment charges have increased from £265 a year ago to £290 this year. As they explain contract hire companies see damage recovery as a mainstream activity. A few years ago they would budget to collect around 35% of all charges whereas these days they look to collect around 70%. David Mercer of Manheim DeFleet Services said ‘This is now a core part of the de-fleet process – its about getting the most for your vehicle.’ Graham Hill says ‘It’s an absolute disgrace. Of course the car should be cared for and returned in reasonable condition for their age and mileage but when the leasing companies try to charge for every slight mark and in one case actually counted the number of stone chips on a bonnet and charged for a bonnet re-spray because there were a few more chips than the leasing company felt was reasonable it all seems rather ridiculous. The leasing companies that stoop to this level need a few lessons in customer relations and customer retention.’ Back to Mercer who went on to point out that contract hire companies are now setting finance targets for damage recovery, whereas before it was regarded as a below the line activity. End of lease charges aim to recover some or all of the refurbishment costs when a car does not meet the end of lease standards (such as BVRLA fair wear and tear limits) when de-fleeted. The charges include damage repair and charges for missing documentation and service history stamps. Prices for re-instating lost documents vary hugely – finance houses charge between £25 (the actual cost) and £175 for a missing V5 form. According to Manheim only 25% of cars defleeted are in acceptable condition, ie. conform to the BVRLA fair wear and tear guideline standard. By Graham Hill
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Evan Says:
I am being charged £600 for a missing service stamp even though it has been serviced before and after the missing stamp…and it WAS serviced but the dealer forgot to stamp it…this was Manheim Defleet….what can I do?
Says:
If you have proof that the car was serviced, ie a bill from the dealer that carried out the service. Send this to the company you leased the car from and insist that they withdraw the charge. If this doesn’t work make a formal complaint online to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Your contract should simply say that you must have the car serviced according to the manufacturers recommendations, there is normally no mention of having the service book stamped. Good luck, Graham Hill