[mowflow]

We decided to voluntarily terminate my wifes car a few months back and it finally went at the end of January.

Despite my best efforts my wife is crap at looking after a car and she had had a few wee oops! moments in this car. Knowing we would get screwed for this I put the car into a friends body shop and had everything fixed. The car came back looking like new to my extremely critical eyes. Since it's return from the body shop the car was not used. It sat on our drive away from traffic.

When the guy from the finance came to pick the car up (it was a guy with a tow truck and the receipt he left us had the name and address of a car auctioneers on it which i thought was odd) he inspected the car and did point out a few very minor surface scratches on the rear bumper just near the boot opening. He pointed these out to my wife but said it was nothing, just general wear and tear.

We have just received a bill for £120 for these to be fixed. My wife called them and told them what the guy that inspected the car said but we obviously have no proof. They have said that the collection guy marked down that it was wet when he picked the car up so their second inspection shows them as being worse and they want paying.

Anyone know the best course of action here? it's a small amount but i'd rather not pay the bastards for what, in my eyes is nothing. Can you haggle the price down, tell them to get stuffed (what are the repercussions if any?), ignore them etc. Any advice appreciated.


she always seems to absolutely destroy them. This car was no exception. She had hit the wall at the corner of our drive several times mangling the sill under the rear door, clipped our neighbours car and decided to keep driving thus removing the paint and putting a nice crease in both doors and the rear quarter on the drivers side along with several other small parking scrapes etc.

Knowing that the finance company would not like this I put the car in to have everything fixed. The car came back looking like new and there was no real evidence of the work being done in terms of paint match etc. Interior was also cleaned, upholstery shampooed etc. Since it came back it just sat on the drive and wasn't used for a month until

[xenon]

It's a standard charge. I had the same when I returned my 93 Convertible. I phoned them up and argued the toss (fair wear and tear - it's not reasonable to assume a 2 year-old car would be completely unmarked) and they agreed to drop it. Nothing to lose by trying.

[Sportplus]

I handed the old 318D sport plus back with minor damage. Small dent the size of a 5p in the front bumper (someone reversed into it and never left a note) small scratches on offside rear panel. The guy checked it with a magnifying glass. I had the paint work and wheels done 6 months before it was due to go back (a mistake but couldn't handle the wheels been curbed and some prick had keyed the side of the car as well).

5 days before i was handing the car back i hit a pheasant which damaged the bottom grill, this was missed by the guy who first check the car over but was picked up by the second inspection. I was expecting a massive bill for a new front bumper and some paint work.

Bill came in for £45 for new grill that the pheasant had head-butted.

In answer to your question I'm sure you can argue the point and ask for a second opinion and see what they say, best of luck. I don’t think I would lease a car again as I can’t stop dickheads damaging my pride and joy

[mowflow]

This car wasn't even leased. It was a used car on a terrible finance deal that I must have been drunk when I accepted (it got us out of a bad situation with a car that had already blown up on us once).

When the car went back it was 5 years old and will almost certainly be going to auction. i have a feeling it's a standard charge that they try to get from everyone no matter whether the car was immaculate or not.

What has really wound me up is that the guy on the phone was aggressive with my wife, demanding the payment. She called me in tears.

[xenon]

Yes, it's a standard charge that they always try it on. 5 years old is even more reason to tell them to fcuk off.

Alternatively, get the name of the bloke who was rude to your wife and say you'll give him the £120 if he comes round to collect it in person.

[Sportplus]

Did you get charged for the vehicle being picked up? I was charger £196 for the gent to have the pleasure of driving it from London to Leed's.

It maybe a way of paying for that.

Have you phoned them yet?

[willhollin]

Do you have a copy of the collection report that you or your wife signed on collection?

If there is no damage recorded then who is to say it didn't happen on route to it's next destination.

[xenon]

Originally Posted by willhollin

If there is no damage recorded then who is to say it didn't happen on route to it's next destination.

I won't tell you again, Will. Go and stand in the corner.

[peterg1965]

Useful this. VTing the Mini Cooper back to BMW finance as soon as the A3 is delivered. I will be there when it is collected and will take time stamped photos with the inspector. The Mini will be 3.5 years old and although it is in excellent condition there will be wear and tear. I will not be ripped off further by a finance company! Especially when most of these cars go straight to auction where a minor scratch has absolutely no bearing on the value!

[sheps]

The BVRLA (British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association) publish a set of wear & tear standards; I don't know if there is a like-for-like industry standard for straight-forward financed cars (rather than leased), but would argue that if not, using the BVRLA standards in lieu of nothing would be a fair and equitable approach.

As such, a couple of minor scuffs across the entire body surface of a 5 year old vehicle would be more than acceptable.

I'd also admit to having the car prep'd prior to its return (which demonstrates that as a conscientious owner you have expended money in good faith prior to its return to avoid such charges) and that if the scratches were sufficient in scope to warrant it then they would have been addressed.

As such, the charges they are imposing aren't commensurate with the impact on the cars value, nor the cost of making them good. I'd argue and (whilst not committing it to paper) tell them verbally they'll need to go to small claims court to relieve you of any money.

Should do the trick and has done for me on a number of occasions (returning lease cars)

[willhollin]

Originally Posted by xenon

I won't tell you again, Will. Go and stand in the corner.

Sorr'y Ia'n, I wa's o'n m'y phon'e i't mus't hav'e inputte'd i't b'y itsel'f.

[mowflow]

Well thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. Some very useful advice and hopefully it will serve somebody else in the future.

Unfortunately for me my wife decided to call them back despite me explicitly telling her not to and has agreed to pay £90. I'm fucking fuming to say the least. She has denied me the pleasure of telling them to ram it.

[willhollin]

Merc finance wanted over £500 quid off me for "damage" that wasn't recorded by the collection company.

[peterg1965]

I returned our Mercedes GL320 to MB Finance in 2010 at the end of the PCP, it had had a wheelchair hoist fitted in the boot. The hoist company cut a little of the trim in the boot area to get the metal framework in place. When they removed it at the end of the lease I patched it up as best I could. I was not charged anything by MB, the rest of the car was in pristine condition though. Mercedes are notoriously bad for charging, but I must have got away with it, been lucky or they just accepted the 'damage' as fair wear and tear.

[ian_m]

i think it is to do with the type of contract

on HP i believe there are no damage charges,
PCP, lease/contract hire when you arranged to VT or terminate at end of life, they should have sent the BVRLA leaflet that has examples of acceptable damage

when we terminate our pcp and ch hire cars we always take it the local body shop who offer an inspection service and fix damage or get chips away type franchise - cheaper than the charges from the lease/finance co

an HP financed car we handed a car back with crease in the door - no issue, and another with a dent caused by some dick dropping a fence post in the back quarter again no issue,

contract hire car it was picked from home and went over it with a fine tooth comb must have taken 45 mins to inspect it.