End of car lease - newbie!

davidrob

Handing back my first ever lease car in August - Nissan Qashqai on a 48-month contract with RCI Financial Services. Looking for advice from anyone who's been through this before.

Here's my situation: the car needs a final service before handback. My local Nissan dealer (Aberdeen) wants £300 for it. But looking at my contract, the penalty for a missed service is £210, plus £30 for a missing stamped service record - so £240 total.

On the face of it, skipping the service and taking the £240 hit seems like the rational choice. The service doesn't make wear items disappear - if it needs brake pads, I'm paying for those whether a garage finds them or the lease company does at inspection.

To be clear - I'm not trying to dodge anything I legitimately owe. I fully expect to pay whatever's fair. It's just my first time handing a lease back and I'd rather not pay more than I need to through ignorance.

Even if the cost ends up working out similar, simply not having the hassle of arranging it, driving it to the service and taking a few hours out of work, seems like a positive.

So a few questions for anyone who's been here before:

• Has anyone skipped the final service and just taken the contract penalty? Any hidden gotchas I'm not seeing?
  
• What was the inspection actually like? How strict were they on fair wear and tear?
  
• Anything you wish you'd known before your first handback?
  
• Is there anything worth getting sorted independently before the inspection (tyres, chips etc.) or is it generally cheaper to let them charge you?

The contract mileage allowance is 32,000 over 4 years and I'm comfortably within that, so no excess mileage worries at least.

Any advice appreciated - even if the answer is just "stop overthinking it and get it serviced"!

Isthisforreal99

Whenever I've had lease cars in the past I've always made sure they were returned a month or two before that final service was required (remember service date is from when registered not when delivered). Means a small hit on the remaining monthlies but avoided the costs.

davidrob

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998637#Comment_81998637

I had a hunch that might be how to play it. Unfortunately, I think I've maybe left this one a little bit too late to comfortably do it.

I have to give a month's notice, and hand back with at least a month's MOT to avoid a charge there (although that's only £50!).

It would be tight and a bit of a gamble if there's any delay with my new car arriving. If I'd been a month quicker at sorting this out I'd have maybe been in a better position. Lesson for next time.

sheenas

Rather than return it, I sold my Mini via carwow. I go 4K more than the guaranteed minimum value. Painless process and just tell the the correct service history and all is good. For me it was a quick and painless process. They pay the finance company and the remainder to you. All done

MyRealNameToo

I gave mine back 1 week early plus the penalities were only if it was overdue at the time. They didnt say a thing about the service or first MOT

XRS200

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998697#Comment_81998697

Was yours on a lease?

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998697#Comment_81998697

Not a lease you won't as you are never the owner of the car..

TadleyBaggie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998744#Comment_81998744

Clearly not, as they would not have been the owner of the vehicle. Many people confuse PCP with PCH.

Goudy

This is BVRLA's fair wear and tear guidance. It's the industry standard when it comes to inspecting a car returned from lease/PCP.

Alphabet GB Ltd - Cars by BVRLA - Issuu

Your car will likely go straight to the auctions and the auction company will apprise it. How strict is hard to tell but you need to remember, from then on it's all about making and recouping as much from the car as possible.

The auction company will want a good price for their commission and the finance company will want as much as possible. If used car auction prices are flat, you can bet your last pound they will go through it with a fine toothed comb.

You might be comfortable with the fee for returning it missing a service but what else will they find and charge you for? Your bill could soon rack up, so it's best to give your car and honest appraisal a couple of months before it's due to be returned.

It might be wise to pay for the service now before you return it.

WellKnownSid

Does the car require a main-dealer service - or will any VAT registered independent / Halfords service do? What does the contract say?

Arunmor

A 48 month lease is too long (unless still under manufacturers warranty). There's the potential for a whole heap of pain if anything major goes wrong in that last year.