Voluntary termination of Peugeot Just Add Fuel

onlyroz

My car is being collected on Tueday. They say I need to check the tyres are legal, which apparently I can do with a 20p coin. Is it safe to cancel my direct debit and the insurance? I have settled the outstanding amount for the insurance payments, and the letter said that the settlement date is the 9th of Feb, and the next payment would be due on the 17th. Also, I would like to cancel the insurance so that I can transfer the no-claims discount over to my new car...

onlyroz

The car has been handed back. The only noteworthy items on the condition report was a dirty interior and a chip on the bonnet. I did my best to clean it out (I spent a few hours cleaning and hoovering the inside and outside) but as I park it in a swamp the carpets are unavoidably quite dirty. Can they charge me for cleaning?

onlyroz

I have had a letter from Peugeot asking for £235 to cover the repair of some scratches and including £100 to clean the interior. The original inspection only detailed a chip to the bonnet and the dirty interior, and the car was driven 79 miles after collection.

I am going to dispute that the scratches constitute damage above fair wear and tear and point out that they have no evidence that the scratches were caused by me as they were not mentioned in the original report. I am happy to pay for cleaning but £100 is excessive - I believe around £40 would be reasonable for an internal valet.

I'm thinking of sending them a cheque for £40 along with a letter detailing the above, and saying that I consider the matter to be closed.

Any other thoughts?

blackste

Roz,

Did you take pictures of each panel with a daily paper on the day of collection? If so, that is your evidence of the condition of the car. If not, its your word against theirs. While the do an inspection on collection, the paperwork usually mentions that they will do another inspection after collection. It allows for weather, or the car being dirty. Its well worth fighting with them over though. Ask for evidence of the damage. If the work has been carried out, ask for invoices.

In regards the interior clean, yeah £100 is very very steep. A really good valet on a saloon car is £40 to £60, so unless your car was a complete tip, I would offer them £40, as you said.

onlyroz

I took a video of the car on the day of collection which started and finished on a copy of a daily newspaper. Also I have checked out the BVRLA guidelines on acceptable wear and tear which allows for scratches and so I dispute that have to pay for any small marks they found in any case.

blackste

Roz,

definitely fight any charges if you are confident in the wear and tear on the car. Its the finance companies job to get as much of the lost profit out of you, and your job to not part with your hard earned cash.

onlyroz

How does this sound:

Dear Sir/Madam

RE: Voluntary termination of vehicle %%%%, ref %%%%

Many thanks for your letter regarding the Voluntary Termination and return of the above vehicle. I would like to raise a few points regarding your suggestion that I pay damage charges of £282:

You will be aware that upon collection at %% on %% the vehicle was inspected in my presence and the only damage reported to the vehicle was a bonnet chip and a dirty interior. At this point the vehicle had been driven 25589 miles.

The car inspection carried out at %% on %% reports some additional scratches which were not observed during the inspection in my presence. At this point the vehicle had been driven 25668 miles. It is unclear from the photographs sent to me whether these scratches are to the vehicle in question, and whether they were present during the inspection that was carried out in my presence.

I would like to draw your attention to the BVRLA “Industry Fair Wear and Tear Standard for Drivers of Leased and Financed Cars”. This document states that:

- Small areas of chipping, including door edge chipping are acceptable.

- Scratches and abrasions up to 25mm are acceptable, relative to the vehicle’s age and mileage, and provided the primer or bare metal is not showing.

- Scuffs totalling up to 50mm on the total circumference of the wheel trim and on alloy wheels are acceptable

Taking into consideration the above points I dispute that, upon collection of the vehicle at %% on %% any damage beyond fair wear and tear was present. Therefore, I will not be paying your recommended sums quoted for the supposed scratches to the vehicle.

Regarding your quote of £100 for cleaning the interior, I view this amount to be excessive. I have obtained a number of quotations for interior valeting and I judge £50 to be a fair amount.

I enclose a cheque for £50 payable to yourselves to cover the cost of an interior valet. I consider this case to be closed.

Regards

%%%

blackste

I would not enclose the cheque, rather, i would just make the offer.

onlyroz

blackste wrote: »

I would not enclose the cheque, rather, i would just make the offer.

Why? Surely not enclosing the cheque necessitates further correspondence with them, whereas if I send them what I consider to be a fair amount then we could be done and dusted unless they want to draw it out further.

onlyroz

I've found my car up for sale at £7980 - I owed about £7500 on it and I was offered £6300 as a trade in before I decided to voluntarily terminate. Seems like Peugeot are not going to lose money despite chasing me for more.