LeasePlan/Ayvens admitted “persistent issues” – unsafe VW ID.4, 6 videos, still trapped...

xilverhawk

Hi all,  

Looking for advice and shared experience. After 3 years and £14k+, LeasePlan (now Ayvens) finally admitted in writing that my VW ID.4 has “persistent issues.” Their remedy? A 10% discount – while I keep paying £391.76/month for a car that’s unsafe.  

Evidence bundle:  

- 6 videos: 5 showing daily Android Auto failures, plus one catastrophic head‑unit blackout (lost speedometer while driving, Jan 2024).  

- Written admission Oct 2025: “persistent issues with the vehicle.”  

- Service records showing repeated resets/part swaps, never resolution.  

The litany since 2022:  

- Infotainment instability culminating in blackout  

- ACC/safety systems: phantom braking, false collision warnings, emergency braking when reversing  

- Windows malfunction (“Why do the windows go mental, Dad?”)  

- Android Auto: daily roulette across multiple failure modes  

(There’s more – TSR misreads, reversing sensors triggering on bushes – but you get the picture)  

Timeline of denials/admissions:  

- Sept 2023: CRA #1 rejected (“just reversing camera”)  

- Feb 2024: CRA #2 rejected again despite video evidence, £4,701 termination fee quoted  

- Oct 2025: Complaint finally upheld and Ayvens admits persistent issues.....
.....
offers 10% goodwill only  🤔

Impact:  

- Unsafe to drive (speedometer blackout, phantom braking)  

- Family disruption (school runs, courtesy car swaps, anxiety for kids)  

- Financial trap: hidden 50% termination formula only revealed after admission  

What I’ve done:  

- Trustpilot reviews 🟡⚫⚫⚫⚫ https://uk.trustpilot.com/reviews/6910fe4868df6fa1d1b9f80b

- Complaint escalated to Financial Ombudsman Service  👍🏾

- Complained to BVRLA ... Guess what, they backed their member 🙃

Questions for MSE community:  

1. Has anyone forced fair resolution using video evidence of safety‑critical faults?  

2. Does “continued use under protest” protect rights when the car is essential?  

3. What practical pressure works while Ombudsman processes drag on?  

I'd suggest Ayvens are banking on delay while I keep paying full price for admitted faults. Any advice from those who’ve fought similar battles would be hugely appreciated.  

Thanks,  

Xilverhawk  

MattMattMattUK

xilverhawk said:

Hi all,  

Looking for advice and shared experience. After 3 years and £14k+, LeasePlan (now Ayvens) finally admitted in writing that my VW ID.4 has “persistent issues.” Their remedy? A 10% discount – while I keep paying £391.76/month for a car that’s unsafe.  

Evidence bundle:  

- 6 videos: 5 showing daily Android Auto failures, plus one catastrophic head‑unit blackout (lost speedometer while driving, Jan 2024).  

- Written admission Oct 2025: “persistent issues with the vehicle.”  

- Service records showing repeated resets/part swaps, never resolution.  

The litany since 2022:  

- Infotainment instability culminating in blackout  

- ACC/safety systems: phantom braking, false collision warnings, emergency braking when reversing  

- Windows malfunction (“Why do the windows go mental, Dad?”)  

- Android Auto: daily roulette across multiple failure modes  

(There’s more – TSR misreads, reversing sensors triggering on bushes – but you get the picture)  

Timeline of denials/admissions:  

- Sept 2023: CRA #1 rejected (“just reversing camera”)  

- Feb 2024: CRA #2 rejected again despite video evidence, £4,701 termination fee quoted  

- Oct 2025: Complaint finally upheld and Ayvens admits persistent issues.....
.....
offers 10% goodwill only  🤔

Impact:  

- Unsafe to drive (speedometer blackout, phantom braking)  

- Family disruption (school runs, courtesy car swaps, anxiety for kids)  

- Financial trap: hidden 50% termination formula only revealed after admission  

What I’ve done:  

- Trustpilot reviews 🟡⚫⚫⚫⚫ https://uk.trustpilot.com/reviews/6910fe4868df6fa1d1b9f80b

- Complaint escalated to Financial Ombudsman Service  👍🏾

- Complained to BVRLA ... Guess what, they backed their member 🙃

Questions for MSE community:  

1. Has anyone forced fair resolution using video evidence of safety‑critical faults?  

2. Does “continued use under protest” protect rights when the car is essential?  

3. What practical pressure works while Ombudsman processes drag on?  

I'd suggest Ayvens are banking on delay while I keep paying full price for admitted faults. Any advice from those who’ve fought similar battles would be hugely appreciated.  

Thanks,  

Xilverhawk  

I think your issue here is that you have never rejected the vehicle, if you rejected the vehicle then you would be able to exercise your rights on that basis, but you did not, you kept driving it. If you as a driver believe that a vehicle is unsafe then you should not be driving it, so you need to be mindful of admitting you were knowingly driving an "unsafe vehicle".

In regard to your questions.
1. Largely irrelevant, if you can evidence that a vehicle is unsafe then that is enough, however that also evidences you driving a vehicle which you know to be unsafe.
2. No, it does not protect any rights. The term "continued use under protest" means absolutely nothing, you did not reject the vehicle, you continued to use the vehicle despite claiming that it was unsafe, that would indicate that you do not really believe it is unsafe or you would not drive it. You also did not reject the vehicle.
3. You have the choice of the Ombudsman, then if you do not like the result taking Leaseplan to court, or you can bypass the Ombudsman and take Leaseplan to court. The motor ombudsman is slow and often sides with dealers/lease companies, court is slow and follows the law. 

They key point is, if you believe the vehicle is unsafe then you should not be driving it, you should be looking to reject the vehicle. However you mention that the lease has been 3+ years, how much longer is left on the lease? If you have or are about to hand the car back then the reality is you have little if any leverage which is largely caused by you continuing to drive the vehicle, in which case their 10% is probably all you will get.

Grumpy_chap

Is this a true lease?
If so, is this a personal arrangement or is it a business lease?

born_again

Grumpy_chap said:

Is this a true lease?
If so, is this a personal arrangement or is it a business lease?

Salary sacrifice? which would drop under the latter.

Grumpy_chap

born_again said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Is this a true lease?
If so, is this a personal arrangement or is it a business lease?

Salary sacrifice? which would drop under the latter.

And take us to this thread (where the outcome is not yet verified, but the consensus seems to be that consumer rights do not apply):
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6628996/salary-sacrifice-car-schemes-consumer-rights-warning/p1

Except the OP refers to making claims under CRA:

xilverhawk said:

Timeline of denials/admissions:  

- Sept 2023: CRA #1 rejected (“just reversing camera”)  

- Feb 2024: CRA #2 rejected again despite video evidence, £4,701 termination fee quoted  

- Oct 2025: Complaint finally upheld and Ayvens admits persistent issues.....
.....
offers 10% goodwill only  🤔

The 10% goodwill might be a level of money back worth having.
Is that 10% of the lease cost over the full term, or just the remaining term?  
Full term would be quite worth grabbing.
Remaining term might be quite small value, given the OP states the story began in 2022, there might not be many months of lease remaining.

I wonder what response the OP received from the Ombudsman?

xilverhawk said:

What I’ve done:  

- Complaint escalated to Financial Ombudsman Service  👍🏾

PHK

Can I point out that in a dispute like this you are going to need an inspectors report detailing not just what's wrong with the car but why it has gone wrong. 

At the moment you got lots of apparent/alleged faults but not commentary from a professional 

molerat

Interestingly I know someone with a Hyundai Tucson that suffered from regular dash blackouts that they couldn't fix and got the car replaced.

xilverhawk

Grumpy_chap said:

Is this a true lease?
If so, is this a personal arrangement or is it a business lease?

PCH - personal lease

xilverhawk

PHK said:

Can I point out that in a dispute like this you are going to need an inspectors report detailing not just what's wrong with the car but why it has gone wrong. 

At the moment you got lots of apparent/alleged faults but not commentary from a professional 

These faults have been documented via the local VW garage and they could never resolve them.  At no point did Ayvens fight for me, their customer though... They just kept taking my money and whatever VW said was 'working as intended'... Never mind what a reasonable person would consider fit for purpose.

xilverhawk

Grumpy_chap said:

born_again said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Is this a true lease?
If so, is this a personal arrangement or is it a business lease?

Salary sacrifice? which would drop under the latter.

And take us to this thread (where the outcome is not yet verified, but the consensus seems to be that consumer rights do not apply):
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6628996/salary-sacrifice-car-schemes-consumer-rights-warning/p1

Except the OP refers to making claims under CRA:

xilverhawk said:

Timeline of denials/admissions:  

- Sept 2023: CRA #1 rejected (“just reversing camera”)  

- Feb 2024: CRA #2 rejected again despite video evidence, £4,701 termination fee quoted  

- Oct 2025: Complaint finally upheld and Ayvens admits persistent issues.....
.....
offers 10% goodwill only  🤔

The 10% goodwill might be a level of money back worth having.
Is that 10% of the lease cost over the full term, or just the remaining term?  
Full term would be quite worth grabbing.
Remaining term might be quite small value, given the OP states the story began in 2022, there might not be many months of lease remaining.

I wonder what response the OP received from the Ombudsman?

xilverhawk said:

What I’ve done:  

- Complaint escalated to Financial Ombudsman Service  👍🏾

I'm waiting on the Ombudsman. I just want to hand the car back and walk away clean... Not even looking for recompense at this stage

xilverhawk

MattMattMattUK said:

xilverhawk said:

Hi all,  

Looking for advice and shared experience. After 3 years and £14k+, LeasePlan (now Ayvens) finally admitted in writing that my VW ID.4 has “persistent issues.” Their remedy? A 10% discount – while I keep paying £391.76/month for a car that’s unsafe.  

Evidence bundle:  

- 6 videos: 5 showing daily Android Auto failures, plus one catastrophic head‑unit blackout (lost speedometer while driving, Jan 2024).  

- Written admission Oct 2025: “persistent issues with the vehicle.”  

- Service records showing repeated resets/part swaps, never resolution.  

The litany since 2022:  

- Infotainment instability culminating in blackout  

- ACC/safety systems: phantom braking, false collision warnings, emergency braking when reversing  

- Windows malfunction (“Why do the windows go mental, Dad?”)  

- Android Auto: daily roulette across multiple failure modes  

(There’s more – TSR misreads, reversing sensors triggering on bushes – but you get the picture)  

Timeline of denials/admissions:  

- Sept 2023: CRA #1 rejected (“just reversing camera”)  

- Feb 2024: CRA #2 rejected again despite video evidence, £4,701 termination fee quoted  

- Oct 2025: Complaint finally upheld and Ayvens admits persistent issues.....
.....
offers 10% goodwill only  🤔

Impact:  

- Unsafe to drive (speedometer blackout, phantom braking)  

- Family disruption (school runs, courtesy car swaps, anxiety for kids)  

- Financial trap: hidden 50% termination formula only revealed after admission  

What I’ve done:  

- Trustpilot reviews 🟡⚫⚫⚫⚫ https://uk.trustpilot.com/reviews/6910fe4868df6fa1d1b9f80b

- Complaint escalated to Financial Ombudsman Service  👍🏾

- Complained to BVRLA ... Guess what, they backed their member 🙃

Questions for MSE community:  

1. Has anyone forced fair resolution using video evidence of safety‑critical faults?  

2. Does “continued use under protest” protect rights when the car is essential?  

3. What practical pressure works while Ombudsman processes drag on?  

I'd suggest Ayvens are banking on delay while I keep paying full price for admitted faults. Any advice from those who’ve fought similar battles would be hugely appreciated.  

Thanks,  

Xilverhawk  

I think your issue here is that you have never rejected the vehicle, if you rejected the vehicle then you would be able to exercise your rights on that basis, but you did not, you kept driving it. If you as a driver believe that a vehicle is unsafe then you should not be driving it, so you need to be mindful of admitting you were knowingly driving an "unsafe vehicle".

In regard to your questions.
1. Largely irrelevant, if you can evidence that a vehicle is unsafe then that is enough, however that also evidences you driving a vehicle which you know to be unsafe.
2. No, it does not protect any rights. The term "continued use under protest" means absolutely nothing, you did not reject the vehicle, you continued to use the vehicle despite claiming that it was unsafe, that would indicate that you do not really believe it is unsafe or you would not drive it. You also did not reject the vehicle.
3. You have the choice of the Ombudsman, then if you do not like the result taking Leaseplan to court, or you can bypass the Ombudsman and take Leaseplan to court. The motor ombudsman is slow and often sides with dealers/lease companies, court is slow and follows the law. 

They key point is, if you believe the vehicle is unsafe then you should not be driving it, you should be looking to reject the vehicle. However you mention that the lease has been 3+ years, how much longer is left on the lease? If you have or are about to hand the car back then the reality is you have little if any leverage which is largely caused by you continuing to drive the vehicle, in which case their 10% is probably all you will get.

look at the timeline...I distinctly mentioned CRA and rejecting the vehicle TWICE. They blatantly handwaved it the first time and completely ignored it the second time.

Had no choice but to drive the car with work, family, 3 neurodivergent kids and a wife who was working frontline during COVID.

I'm dealing with the financial ombudsman as it's the lease company I have beef with.... At least the agreement ends in march next year