Mileage Awareness Communication - Leased Car

PierremontQuaker03

Hi, thanks for looking.
I am 6 months into an 18 month leasing contract - as I could not get into dealers to view used cars (you had to buy it to view it!) -I decided to go with the shortest term lease on offer. So 6 months in, I am on 5k miles and the contract mileage is for 7.5k. I am not sure how they have found out how many miles I have done (unless they are tracking my car) but they have sent me a letter (knowing I have done 5k miles, must be thru the App) saying basically at the current run rate I will do around 14k miles and to make me aware of the excess miles charge  (4.5 pence per mile plus VAT).  
The letter goes on to say for me to consider increasing my contractual mileage allowance.
I don't think I will hit the 14k amount but I was just wondering what sort of fees I should be expecting. I will be looking at around £350 for excess mileage charge if I go on to do around 14k, but I take it there are no further depreciation costs on top? I don't mind paying an extra £20 per month if that will cover me for the excess miles.
Many thanks

AdrianC

PierremontQuaker03 said:

I am 6 months into an 18 month leasing contract - as I could not get into dealers to view used cars (you had to buy it to view it!) -I decided to go with the shortest term lease on offer. So 6 months in, I am on 5k miles and the contract mileage is for 7.5k. I am not sure how they have found out how many miles I have done (unless they are tracking my car) but they have sent me a letter (knowing I have done 5k miles, must be thru the App)

What is this "app"?

Has the car been serviced recently?

You would, though, be surprised how much data modern cars share with the manufacturer. It's not unreasonable for the manufacturer to share that with the car's owner, their customer - who is your financier.

...saying basically at the current run rate I will do around 14k miles and to make me aware of the excess miles charge  (4.5 pence per mile plus VAT).

They aren't wrong.

At the current rate, you will. You've been covering ~830 miles/month so far. You have only 2,500 - three months' - mileage left on your contract before you hit the excess miles.

And you are aware of that excess mileage charge. You may have been before, you certainly are now.

The letter goes on to say for me to consider increasing my contractual mileage allowance.

Probably not a bad idea, depending on the price.

I don't think I will hit the 14k amount but I was just wondering what sort of fees I should be expecting. I will be looking at around £350 for excess mileage charge if I go on to do around 14k, but I take it there are no further depreciation costs on top?

No, the lease will take all the costs into account of the car being returned with ~14k on the clock.

I don't mind paying an extra £20 per month if that will cover me for the excess miles.

It's all down to basic maths.

You have 12 months left.
Is 12 x (monthly uplift) likely to be more or less than (4.5p x 1.2) x (excess mileage)?

Strikes me this is actually very good of them to ensure you are aware of the position, and to offer you a cheaper solution.

Car_54

OP, why not ask the leasing company?

They will give you an exact figure. Random strangers on here can only guess.

jbainbridge

You’ll need to read your contract.

oh_really

All our company supplied lease vehicles come with a device that reports back to the lease company. Data reported included information from a tracker, speed in real time, driver characteristics like heavy braking, cornering at excessive speed. Also reported back this info to our office including every time the vehicle stopped over a set duration, then when the driver restarted the engine again, this was sent to the bosses phone by text alert.

Pain in the @ss tbh, no hiding from it.

ontheroad1970

oh_really said:

All our company supplied lease vehicles come with a device that reports back to the lease company. Data reported included information from a tracker, speed in real time, driver characteristics like heavy braking, cornering at excessive speed. Also reported back this info to our office including every time the vehicle stopped over a set duration, then when the driver restarted the engine again, this was sent to the bosses phone by text alert.

Pain in the @ss tbh, no hiding from it.

Is the company MI5?

flashg67

'No, the lease will take all the costs into account of the car being returned with ~14k on the clock'

Not impossible if the contract states it, but would be very unusual in my experience. The extra depreciation is exactly what the excess mileage charge is designed to cover. It's low in this case because the value of an 18 month old car with 7.5k or 14.5 k is negligible, particularly when you remember the lease co will have got a huge discount on the car initially. Leasing companies are there to make money and these costs are carefully calculated to make sure they don't lose out 

Jenni_D

If you did exactly 14k miles then the excess miles would be 14,000 - 7,500 = 6,500. At 4.5p per mile that's £292.50 in excess mileage charges.

Speak with the lease company and see what they're suggesting/offering ... the above shows you where the tipping point is.  

Username03725

ontheroad1970 said:

oh_really said:

All our company supplied lease vehicles come with a device that reports back to the lease company. Data reported included information from a tracker, speed in real time, driver characteristics like heavy braking, cornering at excessive speed. Also reported back this info to our office including every time the vehicle stopped over a set duration, then when the driver restarted the engine again, this was sent to the bosses phone by text alert.

Pain in the @ss tbh, no hiding from it.

Is the company MI5?

A good friend has this in his company car. I only found out when I teased him about driving like an old granny once, and that was his reasoning - the black box reports all of those factors back to the lease company, who in turn can (don't know if they do or what would trigger one) request a report on the driver's driving style. It'll be wrapped up under a general banner of economy, safety, employee's well-being etc. It certainly exists though.

PierremontQuaker03

So I queried how the lease company got my mileage and they said "the vehicle isn’t being tracked, however we do receive the ‘odometer reading’ plus any ‘fault codes’ from the CANbus on the vehicle, which allows us to (1) advise about potential mileage issues and to advise on service due dates based on time and/or mileage; and (2) to act upon any potential ‘vehicle health issues’ that we may be alerted to".

 

troffasky

It's reporting the mileage back to Big Brother but not the location, therefore it's not "tracked". I am sure if you look hard enough in the lease paperwork you will find that you agreed to this.