Just had my BCA End of Lease Inspection

[mcscoobs]

So after 3 years and 65,000 miles, the time has come for the Octavia vRS to go. Car is being collected in 1 weeks time. However, just after some advice regards the Vehicle Condition Report. The report states:

 

1) All 4 wheels require refurb @ £36 each (£144)

2) Tyre sealant missing - £47.50 to replace

3) Scratch on bumper, less than 25mm through top coat - £55.20 to repair

4) Dent across swage line on wheel arch - £138 to repair and refinish

5) Dent on LHR Door 10mm-25mm - £36 to pop out

 

So here's my take on the findings....

1) All the alloys are indeed kerbed, but the inspector said they are just slightly over the "wear and tear allowance", so may have to swallow this.

2) My car never came with a spare or the sealant from day one. Was told by VW that it was an optional extra. So why I should I have to pay nearly £50 to replace something that was never there? 

3) Looks like a stone chip of sorts from motorway driving, can't really question it

4) Seems expensive? The dent is tiny

5) I couldn't see this dent even after 3 times of the inspector showing me. Eventually I could see the tiniest of dents by looking at it in a certain light. Its madness.

 

What do I do? Its a bill of £420...  I just feel like they are expecting the car in brand new showroom condition nearly :( Do VW get in touch with me regards payment? Or do I approach them? This has really put me off leasing in the future.... Thanks in advance!

[JohnnyType2]

we have a saying "they saw you coming", i would refuse the small stuff and fight it, that alot of extra money

 

are you any good with rattle cans? 

[ScoutCJB]

1 minute ago, JohnnyType2 said:

we have a saying "they saw you coming", i would refuse the small stuff and fight it, that alot of extra money

 

And in essence it'll probably go straight to auction without any of that work being done.

 

I'd want to know what acceptable kerbing is defined as.  as for the dent removal it all seems a bit expensive. 

[JD52]

Sorry to hear about your woes.

 

The dent across a swage line is not straightforward to repair and needs a body shop and can't be fixed by Dents Away. Hence the higher price.

 

My car is in a body shop at the moment and I am being charged £100 for a small dent on a swage line. The cheaper price is because it is being added on to other work.

 

 

[mcscoobs]

Thing is, i'm happy to fight it, but what's my argument to fight it, other than the tyre sealant? And do I wait for them to ask me for the money? 

 

As for scuffs, the allowance is "totalling up to 50mm on the total circumference of the wheel)

[penguin17]

As above, the work is likely never going to be carried out but let's imagine it is...

 

1.  Alloy refurb price is good.  BVRLA Guide: 

 

"Scuffs totalling 50mm on the total circumference of the wheel trim on alloy wheels is acceptable.  Any damage to the wheels spokes and the hub of the allow wheel is not acceptable" 

 

2.  Tyre sealant - is this something that would ordinarily be printed on the options sticker on the boot floor or stuck to the owners manual?  Can you verify it never had the sealant?  I'd defo contest it.  BVRLA Guide: 

 

"The emergency tyre inflation kit, if supplied when new, should be in full working order, serviceable and ready to use" 

 

3.  Scratch to bumper - can you not have this polished out?  Do you know anyone with a DA polisher who could try? BVRLA Guide: 

 

"Scratches and abrasions up to 25mm are acceptable, relative to the vehicles age and mileage, and provided the primer or bare metal is not showing" 

 

4.  Dent to swage line - does this require any paint?  If not then it should be the same price as the other dent 'pop-out'.  Cost is usually ~£40 to have a paint-less dent repair of that size. 

5.  As above - dent on door is a good price and seems to be the going rate for such repairs. 

 

BVRLA Guide: 

 

Dents (up to 10mm in diameter) are acceptable provided there are no more than two per panel and the paint surface is not broken.  Debs on the roof or swage line on any panels are not acceptable" 

 

So if any of the above fall outside 'fair wear and tear' and outside the BVRLA guides then there's not much you can do.  You may have just been unlucky with who came to inspect the car. 

[Falmouthboy]

As a general principle, what you are experiencing is probably something many owners who have taken ostensibly ‘cheap’ lease deals.  As used values are not holding up well due to PCP and Lease returns companies will be seeking to maximise the equity in their assets.  It will be interesting to see how your challenge progresses.

[deluded]

I just had 2 alloys and a bonnet swage line dent at similar prices to yours.

 

Personally I thought the repair prices were very good - I doubt you could get them sorted for that price anywhere else..

 

I've not tried yet, but since mine went back 2 weeks before end of lease, I'm going to try to get back those 2 weeks which should cover some of the repairs..

[mcscoobs]

Yeah mine's going back about a week early... I think the prices they are charging are relatively reasonable, but just wasn't expecting there to be so many things to be charged for... Always looked after the car, but there's always going to be a fair amount of wear and tear, with 65k mileage, of which 90% of that has been motorway mileage...

[ahenners]

How's the front end for stone chips with so much motorway mileage? Mine is horrendous and only at 40k. Is that covered under the wear and tear?

[mcscoobs]

Front end is surprisingly, ok, bar the chip on the bumper they wanna charge me £55 for. This is what I don't really get... how can they expect a car that can cover 65k mileage to not have more than a stone chip?

[gman1967]

7 minutes ago, mcscoobs said:

Front end is surprisingly, ok, bar the chip on the bumper they wanna charge me £55 for. This is what I don't really get... how can they expect a car that can cover 65k mileage to not have more than a stone chip?

I would concur and look at it this way, if I went to look at the car to buy, would those minor cosmetics put me off given the age and mileage? Of course not. At most a few quid off but in real world probably not....

[themanwithnoaim]

All seems in line with the BVRLA guideline so, kinda guess it's to be expected. You've had a cheap lease & even with these exit costs it's still been cheaper than a PCP

 

Swings and roundabouts really

[logiclee]

Had three cars returned to BCA and never had to pay anything.

 

I tend to get dings ad scrapes done as soon as they happen though as I have an excellent local bodyshop close by.

 

Those BCA prices are reasonable but many dent/paint specialists now offer a pre-lease return service that is usually cheaper than letting BCA find the faults.

 

For anyone around Notts.

http://www.paintchiptechniques.co.uk/

Edited 15 June, 2018 by logiclee

[paddy wagon]

They deduct it from your Direct Debit. 

 

So it came with no spare or tyre repair? That's quite unusual

[SkodaVRS1963]

8 hours ago, Falmouthboy said:

As a general principle, what you are experiencing is probably something many owners who have taken ostensibly ‘cheap’ lease deals.  As used values are not holding up well due to PCP and Lease returns companies will be seeking to maximise the equity in their assets.  It will be interesting to see how your challenge progresses.

 

I sold my 7 year old Ford Focus CC to webuyanycar (or whatever they were trading as back in the day) and they deducted all sorts from the price they offered online for things like "stone chips on the bonnet".

 

The car was seven years old with 50,000+ miles on the clock, what did they expect?

 

When they tried to deduct £50 because the front mats were "worn and would need replacing", I gently pointed out that the mats were mine, the original spec didn't include them and I'd bought them myself to protect the carpet.

 

I showed the guy the door.

 

Unless you sell a car in showroom condition, there will always be sharks out there ready to pull your pants down.

Edited 15 June, 2018 by SkodaVRS1963

[Ootohere]

BCA / British Car Auctions have a multi multi million car preparation & valeting business.

When one of the Auction / Valeting drivers crashed into me he never knew his name or nationality and had to call someone to come give it, and as it was his name was that of the Owner of the company. Only issue was the owner is a different nationality.  Then my insurance turned out to be their insurance and a major shareholder of the business.

Just as well i took the drivers picture and the 'gang masters',  the insurance settlement was agreed with no loss to me.

Vehicle Preparation - British Car Auctions.mhtml

5258_2 BCA Valet.pdf

 

No VED at the time, driver possibly no valid license and a road open to the public, maybe not a public highway, but the police do move people on it being at an Airport.

Edited 15 June, 2018 by Offski

[Guest]

I'm very surprised at the amount of replies which simply imply  "they won't repair the car as it'll go straight to auction".  That's probably true, but the auction price will reflect those imperfections therefore the owner will not receive the price of the car they were expecting. It's all perfectly fair, indeed some of the prices quoted seem reasonable to me.

 

However I'm a tad confused at the mention there was no spare tyre and no sealant at delivery.  So what would you have done if you had a puncture during those 65,000 miles?

 

I'm not saying you're wrong to question it, but you're going to have a damned hard time trying to prove it. This is something that should have been flagged up on delivery / inspected the car, or perhaps a few months after delivery, but for the life of me I can't understand why this wasn't highlighted during servicing. Part of the service is to check tyres etc so the garage should have noted if the sealant was out-of-date or missing. If the service report says tyres / spare were checked then you're liable.

 

I think you're going to have to pay up. 

 

 

Edited 15 June, 2018 by Guest

[ScoutCJB]

17 hours ago, gman1967 said:

I would concur and look at it this way, if I went to look at the car to buy, would those minor cosmetics put me off given the age and mileage? Of course not. At most a few quid off but in real world probably not....

 

 

I'd rather turn up to a dealer and see a used 65,000 mile car with stone chips on the bonnet than a freshly painted front end which might be hiding something (and which may have been repaired poorly).

Edited 16 June, 2018 by ScoutCJB

[Falmouthboy]

 

11 hours ago, SkodaVRS1963 said:

 

I sold my 7 year old Ford Focus CC to webuyanycar (or whatever they were trading as back in the day) and they deducted all sorts from the price they offered online for things like "stone chips on the bonnet".

 

The car was seven years old with 50,000+ miles on the clock, what did they expect?

 

When they tried to deduct £50 because the front mats were "worn and would need replacing", I gently pointed out that the mats were mine, the original spec didn't include them and I'd bought them myself to protect the carpet.

 

I showed the guy the door.

 

Unless you sell a car in showroom condition, there will always be sharks out there ready to pull your pants down.

But the big difference here is showing him the door was within your gift.  Returning a lease car you don’t have the same freedom to walk away.

[vegit8]

Like others here, I guess you have no option.

However, you might want to ask to see a VAT receipt to prove that all the repairs / replacements were actually carried out.

[ScoutCJB]

4 minutes ago, vegit8 said:

Like others here, I guess you have no option.

However, you might want to ask to see a VAT receipt to prove that all the repairs / replacements were actually carried out.

 

The likelihood of that is between slim and none I expect.

[SashaGrace]

I’d love to see the end of lease return bill for my car at 3 years and 73k miles, must have been horrific! All 4 wheels on mine were trashed on purchase and the car has one dent and lots of paint damage. The leading edge of the bonnet has been painted and there have been some other smart repairs done but it’s impossible to tell if these were done before the car was returned or not. The tyre sealant is an odd one, the rest I’m not sure how you would play it. It would cost a lot more than £420 to sort those issues yourself.

[SkodaVRS1963]

8 hours ago, Falmouthboy said:

 

But the big difference here is showing him the door was within your gift.  Returning a lease car you don’t have the same freedom to walk away.

 

Point conceded; I guess your only recourse on a return under PCP is the BVRLA guidelines and even then it's down to "interpretation".

 

Most people probably cough up just to get rid of the problem.

[silver1011]

Check the boot again for the sealant, I nearly fell foul of this too on our PCH Octavia Scout estate, it's underneath the compressor.

 

You have to lift out the compressor to reveal a deeper compartment that holds the sealant.