Leased A Van - Need To Protect Body Coloured Back Bumper

fallen121

Husband is a gardener. Leased a Peugeot van for 4 years, very happy. When the time came to renew, Peugeot vans had doubled in price (Brexit effect), made more sense to go for a Vauxhaull Vivaro. Only trouble is, back bumper is body coloured which is just CRAZY for a works van, it will get scratched to buggery in no time. Leasing companies charge about £100 a scratch when you return them and we've got this for 5 years. We got a bloke round to look at wrapping the bumper. He said it wouldn't protect against lawnmowers and to get a rubber protector online that you stick down with tape. He said at the end of the lease could remove the protector and just get rid of the adhesive with sticky stuff remover or similar. Most of the rubber bumper protectors I've seen online are quite thick, there's not a lot of clearance between the bottom of the door and the bumper so we wouldn't be able to get the doors open which is no good. We DID find several that fit our specific model of van but they have 3M adhesive and you fit using a heat gun or hairdryer. When we spoke to the sellers they told us will damage the paintwork if we try to remove them. And its possible that probably most ones we buy are not really designed to be removed once in place. What solutions for a van we don't actually own? We need something that will last for 5 years but then can remove with no damage. 

BOWFER

Are you sure the lease company will be so harsh?
When it comes to cars, most lease companies follow BVRLA rules, which are surprisingly lenient.
For example, every wheel is alloweed kerb marks and every panel is allowed a dent the size of a £1 coin.
If it's that lenient for cars, you'd think vans would be even more lenient.

fallen121

BOWFER said:

Are you sure the lease company will be so harsh?
When it comes to cars, most lease companies follow BVRLA rules, which are surprisingly lenient.
For example, every wheel is alloweed kerb marks and every panel is allowed a dent the size of a £1 coin.
If it's that lenient for cars, you'd think vans would be even more lenient.

Yes, I'm sure. Victim of bitter experience, I'm afraid. The bill for our old van was £275. That was £10 each for one small crack in a wheel cover, two wheel covers where the silver finish had pitted when using a Jetwash, £75 for a scuff on the (black plastic) rear bumper and £170 for a piece of rust 2mm wide on the front wing which we are appealing as we consider it a manufacturing fault (a van shouldn't rust after just 4 years from new). And it's not the leasing company its  the finance company Hitachi. They send a man with an iPad, he photographs the damage then a computer decides the penalty. They were less bothered about "fair wear and tear" inside the loading bay. So yes, we are SURE because we are using the same leasing company and the same finance company. The guy who inspected the old van, which he said was the best condition works van he'd ever seen, was nice but apologetic. They have no leeway to agree discounts on the spot either. And because of Covid lockdown, the van was returned with 800 miles less than the agreement on the clock for which we received no discount.

Ganga

Is it possible to remove the rear bumper and fit a second hand one from a scrap yard ,when you hand the van back re-fit the original bumper.

fallen121

Ganga said:

Is it possible to remove the rear bumper and fit a second hand one from a scrap yard ,when you hand the van back re-fit the original bumper.

Not something we could do ourselves so we would have to pay someone to do it. Also the 2021 Vivaro vans are a considerably different shape, so not sure that a scrapyard would have something that would fit. We are not auto experts and with the scrapyards still shut in Scotland would have to buy online. We don't have the expertise to know if something would fit just by looking at a photo and none of the online places have anything for such a new van so it could end up being an expensive mistake. Might actually be cheaper to pay the outrageous prices the leasing companies are charging for scratches or pay to get stuff polished out before the lease is up. Either way we are paying the price - NOTHING in the leasing data said anything about bodycoloured bumpers and it's a loony idea for a works van. You really have to question the sanity of the suits that dreamt that one up - clearly never done a day's hard graft in their lives.

Herzlos

Stickers will almost certainly damage the paint work. I'd just leave the van as is and when it comes time to return the van either get it repaired or replaced. In 5 years time there will be plenty of panels available. You never know, you might not damage it, or you might decide to try and buy it off them.

Grumpy_chap

fallen121 said:

NOTHING in the leasing data said anything about bodycoloured bumpers and it's a loony idea for a works van. 

I assume you looked at the manufacturer's brochure?

fallen121

Yup. Sure did.
At no point was the colour of the bumpers even mentioned. And the photos (which were of last year's model) showed black plastic bumpers. When we queried it, we were told that due to taking delivery of the new March 2021 model in March 2021 the photos on the website were of the older 2020 trim and weren't we lucky because it came with loads of extra features like electric mirrors at no extra cost. 
Interestingly, they did try to deliver a 2020 plate in February and we told them to get lost because we still had the old van and had agreed a key for key handover. We don't have the space on the driveway for two vans. So this one came straight from the factory.

burlingtonfl6

Van prices haven't doubled in price due to Brexit so stop that nonsense 

fallen121

burlingtonfl6 said:

Van prices haven't doubled in price due to Brexit so stop that nonsense 

Well were paying £140 a month for a Peugeot Partner van (17 plate) and went back to get another and the best they could offer was £270 for less spec. Ok so I was £10 out. And you can get a Vivaro van which is twice the size for not much more. It wasn't us that said it was Brexit. That was the excuse the leasing company gave. They said a lot of the Vivaros come from UK stock. Plus they said they were having a hard time getting Peugeots so we'd have to wait until May for delivery. Something about a computer glitch wiping the details of all the ones already on the order book. Not just their company but nationwide. That could have been !!!!!!. You can't run a business with no wheels so we went for the Vivaro.

Norman_Castle

Helicoptor tape might help. Does the manufacturer make a cover? Could you fit a drop down mat inside the doors?

I agree that its a stupid idea to have an easily marked and expensive to repair surface in a place where it is likely to get damaged.