My 2 year contract hire is coming to an end, today I had a very nice man on the phone from VWFS wanting to arrange an inspection and uplift.

 

Been told that the inspection / report will take 40 – 45 minutes.

 

Spent the weekend polishing the car touching up stone chips (lots!) and in general give the old girl a bit of a well deserved clean and she’s looking  rather well.

 

Got a couple of light scuffs on the top of the back bumper (due to my tool box) and have booked her into the local body shop for a £20 machine polish.

 

I’ve read the info sent by Skoda and it all looks fairly straight forward.

 

However, would appreciate advice from anyone who’s had their car inspected since I’m a wee bit worried about the number of stone chips that I’ve touched up (soft paint?)  

 

Cheers

 

Rob

Others will maybe be able to advise hopefully.

 

But Skoda Build a car and it has soft paint. 

Then it is Leased for 2 years at a specified mileage to be driven and it gets wear and tear and possible stone chips.

The Lease company should know about the Soft Paint and possible stone chips, so as long as they are not through to the metal 

and there is corrosion, that is what they can expect back to put to auction.

 

Stone chips through the colour coat to the undercoat is not your problem.

It already sounds as though you have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

 

VWFS will expect a 'fair' amount of wear and tear, stone chips and light scratches included.

 

All will be fine!

My last car (VW Passat) which I owned for 9 years had virtually no stone chips. I think it’s all down to the water based paint which is just simply softer.

 

This is the big test for Skoda, for the last 2 years I’ve washed the car most weekends, parked away from other cars in car parks (no parking dings) and not kerbing the alloys (ok 1 small 8 mm scrape), in fact looked after her better than the Passat.

 

So time will tell, maybe the scout coming 1^st September will be the end of the contract hire experiment.

Edited 4 August, 201510 yr by Rob56

My last car (VW Passat) which I owned for 9 years had virtually no stone chips. I think it’s all down to the water based paint which is just simply softer.

 

According to a very well respected local detailer (and painter) it’s only the base coat (colour) that is water based, the clear coat (lacquer) is not water based.

 

VAG paint also has the reputation for being pretty hard.

May be I've just been unlucky, I drive 36 miles on the motorway each day to work (never over 70 - 73  too may cameras) and  have notice quite a few thumps as cars / trucks pass.

 

Today, I touched up stone chips on the centre of the roof and just above the rear window (estate)

They're apparently more fussed with interior and significant bodywork damage, mileage and serviced to VAG standards as this will affect the resale.

I wonder if they also check for unauthorised mods.

great stuff that coloured polish 

covers a multitude of sins, until it rains or you decide to wash it 

 

wont be your problem though 

I wonder if they also check for unauthorised mods.

Might check for signs of mapping.

I think so long as the car has been clealy well kept and also kept in an OEM state, with no mods which are going to limit its resale or something a dealer is going to want to have to reverse at their cost before selling it then you'll be absolutely fine.

An element of wear and tear is to be expected on a 2 year old car so the odd minor chip/dink/scratch and alloy scuffs will generally be acceptable so long as otherwise the car is in good condition.

I wouldnt even go to town on cleaning it; just give it a basic (but decent) wash and vac so its clear the vehicle is tidy.

Edited 5 August, 201510 yr by pipsypreturns

Fair wear and tear is allowed, they will follow the bvrla guidelines.

There are copies of it on the net.

Sorry one last question, got a stone chip on the passenger side which was repaired with my car (window) insurance.

 

The repair is (very) noticeable, when the guy came to repair it he told me that it was boarder line for a new windscreen - drives my wife batty.

 

I'm thinking that if  the windscreen was repaired professionally and I've the paper work I should be ok?

 

 

Car in for a service today (28900 miles) and I've asked the dealer to replace the centre wheel caps which are starting to delaminate.

 

And that's it, just need to drive like the local vicar for the next 3 weeks

Make sure you let us know how you get on Rob if you don't mind? Will be interesting to see how fair their evaluation is in reality. Cheers.

According to a very well respected local detailer (and painter) it’s only the base coat (colour) that is water based, the clear coat (lacquer) is not water based.

VAG paint also has the reputation for being pretty hard.

tHats why it chips, rather than it being soft, harder it is the more brittle it would be

Hi Skodev

 

Will do, booked in for inspecting 27th August.

 

Rob

Wouldnt bother with the wheel caps Rob they wont care mate

That's great Rob. Appreciate that. I'm just about to embark on my own two year PCH adventure, so is of real interest.

+1 for not doing the centre caps, save the £40!

Centre caps should be warranty

I take it you didn't get a quotation for buying the car off VWFS? I'd be interested to see what sort of prices they are looking for at 2 years in as I may opt to buy mine, of course by getting the missus or my dad to "technically" buy it from them!

Agree about BVRLA Fair Wear and Tear condiions (which I think are currently being reviewed), but I'm sure VWFS has its own conditions and I remember seeing their document showing stone chips allowable to front panels only and other stuff not visible from 2 metres away etc. etc.

 

Whether they abide by these strictly is a different matter, but I also recall that  you will need 2mm tread remaining.

 

Look on the VWFS website for info.

Hi Steveo82

 

VWFS did write to me a couple of weeks back asking if I wanted to buy the car (no price given).

 

However, as I was under the impression that with contract hire you could only hand the car back I've ordered a Scout.

 

Interesting consideration for the next time.

 

Rob

Hi Rob,

 

I only found out when I got my Skoda Finance login and it said "request valuation" so I too was under that impression. They can't sell it directly to me, I think it's something to do with VAT purposes but not 100% and not really bothered but they can sell it to someone other than the lease holder so I might see what they throw out there, I can get a quote 90 days before the lease end.

Someone recently had a PCH and looked to buy and was told it wasn't an option