End Of Lease Charges, The Sun Joins The Fight
Tuesday, 2. March 2010
I am grateful to Jo Tacon, Editor of the journal Motor Finance for which I write a regular (and clearly the most popular) column. Jo forwarded a couple of articles that appeared in the Sun newspaper, written by Kelvin MacKenzie. In the articles he complains about the end of contract charges imposed upon him by Mercedes Benz Finance (MBF) after returning his end of lease car. The charge was £1,800 and I have to say not uncharacteristic of MB Finance. Had he been a customer of mine of course he wouldn’t have had anything like these charges but he has left himself in a very weak position despite his rants and complaints because of his actions or should I say lack of action. His main complaint is that he didn’t have a chance to check the items that he is being charged for. Well, had you read my book Mr M. you would have had the car checked properly BEFORE it was returned. I absolutely hate defending MB Finance as I loathe some of their actions with a vengeance and have fought many battles with them but when Mr M states in his article that he didn’t read the contract he sets himself up to be bashed over the bonce by MBF. He is completely right in the fact that there is no right to independent appeal, what the leasing company says goes, unless of course you know exactly where you stand by reading the contract and make sure that you have the car professionally checked before you return it. He complained that they overcharged him for 4 tyres which could have been replaced more cheaply at Kwik Fit. That’s as maybe and he’ll probably find that the contract allows for any repairs and replacements to be carried out at a main dealers unless he arranges it himself before the car is returned. But what really disturbs me is that he has had 4 tyres replaced. Now, had he had the tyres checked (as he should do regularly anyway) before the car was returned they would either be considered legal (above the minimum tread limit, in which case the tyres didn’t need replacing) or all 4 were illegal in which case he was a danger to all other road users including himself and his passengers. Mercedes may be trying it on, as they often do, but without the tyre check he won’t know. He complained that the invoice didn’t give him the opportunity to have an independent scrutiny of the damages, just demanded payment within 14 days. Well Mr Bonkers, had you read the contract and realised that you would be charged for any damage and/or illegal items that needed to be replaced, at main dealer prices, you would have had the sense to get the car looked at BEFORE it was returned. I have had so many really bad examples of overcharging on the part of MB Finance but I have to say that this is far from the worst. Even when Mr M had an independent engineer check over the invoice and the photographs the only thing he seems to have challenged was the overcharge on the tyres which we must therefore assume were illegal or they wouldn’t have needed replacing. Mr M should therefore consider himself lucky. If you have a defective tyre you may be given a fixed penalty notice, or, at the discretion of the police officer, you may be sent to court and be given a maximum fine of £2,500 and 3 penalty points. Each faulty tyre is considered as a separate offence and with 4 illegal tyres you are likely to be banned with a fine of up to £10,000. If I’d have been Mr M I’d have shut up and paid the £1,800. Sadly I have fought massive battles with leasing companies over the years but its doughnuts like Mr M that makes life so difficult to fight the good fight! Given the publicity I’m sure that MB finance will back down but will simply make it more difficult for others with a genuine dispute to succeed when challenging the end of contract bill sent out for cleaning the steering wheel or adjusting the rear view mirror. By Graham Hill
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=267ed4f3-daba-4f49-adb7-ac64e24a6195)
stallanzii Says:
Hi
Just came across your comments on MBF etc. Wonder if I can get some advice pls?
Mine is due back for retun in six months – we have gone over the mileague allowance, anticpated by around 30,000 miles by the time we hand over (we re-located unexpecteadly and have been traveeling up and down the M1). Accept we have to pay for the excess, but am reading horror stories about ridiculous charges after collection. My plan is to take to a garage to sort out any alloy scuffs, couple of scratches etc. Then to take photos and poss a vidoe of every part of the car the day it’s returned with that days newspaper in the frame.
My question – is there anything else I should be doing to avoid a bill at the end? Would vaule any input very much!
One thing – we had an accident in the car, insured via another company but we opted to have it fixed via Merc ins. Just looking through the finance agreement, it states we have to make the fin comp aware of any damage during the term – we didn’t make them aware as it was fixed via Merc. Do you think this is a caveat to try and get some more cash out of us? Doubtful, but not sure…
Any help much appreciated! Thank you
Says:
MB Finance are particularly difficult but you just need to prepare yourself. That is a big overmileage, for future reference if you find yourself going over mileage in future contact the leasing company and ask if you can increase your monthly payments, it takes away the pain at the end of the agreement and will work out (generally) much cheaper, the increased payments can save you up to a third of the excess charge that you will now pay at the end of the agreement. When taking photos it would be wiser to use a camera with a film as pictures taken with digital cameras can be modified. The newspaper is a good idea although I would take the pictures a few days before, get them printed, then get the inspector to sign the back of your photos when he inspects the car as a true picture of the car’s condition. Make sure that any alloy scuffs are professionally repaired, you don’t want to be charged for replacement wheels.
As for the accident damage, you should be OK, whilst you are obliged to advise the lender I have never heard of a lessee being penalised, especially as the repair was professionally repaired. In English law they can’t charge a penalty, they can only make a charge for any loss that they suffer and they would have to prove that the repair is sub-standard. If you have any problems or charges that you feel are unfair you should make a formal complaint to the BVRLA nd the Financial Ombudsman Service. Details are in my soon to be launched book – keep an eye on the change of video on this blog. Hope that helped. G