Do you have to service or MOT a lease car at the end of the lease?

NibblyPig

I have a 2 year lease which ends in a couple of months. If I return it at the end of lease, let's say a week early, would I have to pay to have it serviced? The manufacturer guidelines are a service at 2 years.

I tried asking them but they didn't give me a clear answer or not. They just said the car needs to be serviced in line with the guidelines and the contract.

The contract says that the car must be serviced along with the manufacturer guidelines. So it's a loop.

Service is £280 so would be nice to avoid it when returning the car. Same goes for MOT, if I decide to pay it and extend the lease, I'll be in a similar position with the MOT.

DullGreyGuy

MOT isnt until a vehicles 3rd birthday (unless a taxi) so unless you leased a secondhand car on 2 years then MOT wouldnt come into play.

What exactly are the manufacturers guidelines? Within 2 years? On its 2nd birthday? Within a few weeks of its 2nd Birthday?

I arranged for our PCP car to go back a few days before the full three years by which point the dash was warning "service due soon" and didnt get charged anything. Cannot say what would have happened had I waited and the dash changed to Service Now or Overdue but the 3rd year service was more than the monthly installments so wasnt risking having to pay that. 

NibblyPig

Thanks for the reply. The manual says you have to go into the car settings, which says "Service 9300 Miles Or 63 Days"

It's unclear if 9300 Miles means 9300 more miles, or after the car HAS 9300 miles. I would guess the latter, just by coincidence perhaps my car has 9302 miles on the clock... I will have to drive a bit more and see if it changes.

The manual says you get a warning and it tells you the number of km you can drive before getting an inspection when you're close though, so hopefully it's ok.

63 days from now would be Monday, 7 August 2023.

My contract ends 2nd August.

sevenhills

You cannot take it back early to avoid the conditions of the lease.

NibblyPig

sevenhills said:

You cannot take it back early to avoid the conditions of the lease.

The date the service is required is 5 days after I return it.

But I ask because you could view the service as something that is done after ownership, like cleaning the car before you give it back, or something that has to be done so it operates nicely for the next year, in which case you'd expect the owner of the vehicle to take care of it, like when you rent a hotel room and they clean it when you leave for the next guest.

MikeyPGT

If the display says service at 9300 mile or 63 days it's surely whichever comes first.  If you are on 9302 then your service is overdue ... 

Grumpy_chap

MikeyPGT said:

If the display says service at 9300 mile or 63 days it's surely whichever comes first.  If you are on 9302 then your service is overdue ... 

Possibly, depending what the 9,300 miles refers to.  Does it mean 9,300 miles from now?  That would be a service interval of 18k miles, which is possible.  If it meant 9,300 miles from new and the car was on 9,302 miles, then the display should really show "-2 miles" to be consistent with 63 days remaining.
Perhaps the OP needs to look at the service guide for the car.

Grey_Critic

MikeyPGT said:

If the display says service at 9300 mile or 63 days it's surely whichever comes first.  If you are on 9302 then your service is overdue ... 

the various vehicles I have owned over the years say services and items such as timing belts should be carried out on a Time or Mileage basis - WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.

Herzlos

NibblyPig said:

Thanks for the reply. The manual says you have to go into the car settings, which says "Service 9300 Miles Or 63 Days"

It probably means in another 9300 miles, but you'll presumably see it change over the next few hundred miles.

If the service isn't due until the car goes back (it'll be on it's 2nd birthday) then you don't need to service it.

NibblyPig

Yeah I agree I would also expect it to say 9298 miles or something, unless they rounded it. I will drive around a bit. It does say it warns the pants off you when you're getting close though in the manual and nothing has come up on the screen yet.

Grumpy_chap

NibblyPig said:

It does say it warns the pants off you when you're getting close though in the manual and nothing has come up on the screen yet.

What does the manual say about the recommended service interval for the car?