Hello everyone - it's my first post so please play nice!

 

I have recently ordered a new Octavia Vrs (Challenge Edition) and I am returning my current Vrs (which is on lease) through BCA Logistics in a couple of weeks time.

 

I have had the car for over 3 years - I am just wondering what condition they will expect it to be in?  There are 1 or 2 minor scratches and a couple of the alloys have scuffs.  But overall nothing that you wouldn't expect on a car that has done 35,000 miles.  

 

It looks like the car is going off to auction (as opposed to a dealer forecourt).  Skoda Finance told me to consult the BCA Logistics website for info about expected car condition on return, so I did:

 

The BCA Logistics guide to 'acceptable wear and tear' is quite confusing + I don't really want to start spending time and money doing repairs if I don't need to.

 

I have read elsewhere that a car of this age and mileage will be straight off to auction and that no-one will care about a bit of reasonable 'wear and tear' and I probably won't get charged.

 

Does anyone have any experience of returning through BCA Logistics?  Should I spend a bit of money sorting the car out to avoid the possibility of a ridiculous bill at their commercial rates?  

 

On he BCA site there is clarification on the size of scratches and wheel scuffs that are acceptable.

 

With wheels the maximum scuff length in total shall be less than 50mm.

 

https://issuu.com/bfwsn67/docs/fwt_volkswagen_financial_services_2?e=2001091%2F12361092

Edited 30 May, 20197 yr by logiclee

Cheers, thanks - I read on another forum that this sometimes isn't 'enforced' and that some people have returned cars with bigger scuffs and not heard anything.

 

Does anyone have any practical experience of dealing with BCA?

I've returned an Alfa, two Skoda's and a BMW and never had any costs come back but I was confident they all made the criteria,

 

I did have an interior repair done on the BMW as one rear door armrest was damaged.

 

My brother in law tends to have Audi's and he doesn't look after them. Nearly everyone he's been stung with costs even through I've told him to get them repaired first.

 

It's going to be down to how bad they are and how strict the assessor is and no one can really answer that for you.

 

 

The assessor came out today.  He was anal in the extreme and I suspect this is a ploy to try and get as much money out of me as possible for fairly minor repairs.  

 

I got hit for 2 alloys at £35 a go and then £110 for a scuff on the rear bumper that has gone all the way through.  I totally agree with these charges and I am happy to pay £180.

 

He then 'found' 2 scratches he wasn't happy with on separate doors.  Both were fairly insignificant (in my view) and I am genuinely surprised he picked them up.  He then tried to charge me £110 per door!!!

 

I am willing to pay for the alloys and the rear bumper.  I don't accept his assessment of the rest of the damage considering reasonable wear and tear to a 3 and a half year old car that has done 35,000 miles.  When I took out the lease the contract simply made reference to reasonable wear and tear - I don't recall ever having my attention drawn to the lengthily list of extremely anal things BCA would try and charge for.  

 

I didn't sign anything and am going to offer them a couple of hundred quid on the basis I think anything above that is totally excessive.  It's like BCA have turned up and uni-laterally decided that the damage to the car is worth £420.    

 

What do you think they will do?  If they decide to 'go legal' am genuinely happy to go to the Small Claims Court and argue that the damage to the doors is so minor it should fall under 'reasonable wear and tear'.  

 

Sounds like one of these scams car hire companies do - charge people for minor damage then never repair it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by Emkay

it depends what it says in the contract small print

at the end of the day , if the cars damaged/ scratched etc, it's likely to effect the resale value, so someone has to pay the cost.

Were the door scratches over 25mm and too deep to be polished out?

 

If that is the case you will have to pay.

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by logiclee

@Emkay The fair wear and tear guidelines seem pretty clear to me, and specify the size of scratches and dings that would be seen as reasonable or chargeable - have you studied them? And your contract was not with BCA, so I guess you can contact Skoda (VW) Finance and make the case. 

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by Sweephand

4 minutes ago, Sweephand said:

@Emkay The fair wear and tear guidelines seem pretty clear to me, and specify the size of scratches and dings that would be seen as reasonable or chargeable - have you studied them? And your contract was not with BCA, so I guess you can contact Skoda (VW) Finance and make the case. 

 

The link in post 2 is from VW finance and is what VW Finance and BCA both work to. But yes it's worth contacting VW

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by logiclee

I don't have a problem with paying £180 for the alloys and the rear bumper and throwing in £20 as a gesture of goodwill.  I totally agree that I have to pay something.  

 

My issue is that the extra scratches identified, for which they are attempting to charge me £220 are small and, in my view, reasonable in the context of a 3.5 year old car.

 

What would happen if I refused to pay the extra?  Would they really bother taking me to Court for £220?

 

 

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by Emkay

15 minutes ago, Emkay said:

I don't have a problem with paying £180 for the alloys and the rear bumper and throwing in £20 as a gesture of goodwill.  I totally agree that I have to pay something.  

 

My issue is that the extra scratches identified, for which they are attempting to charge me £220 are small and, in my view, reasonable in the context of a 3.5 year old car.

 

What would happen if I refused to pay the extra?  Would they really bother taking me to Court for £220?

 

 

 

If the scratches are over 25mm and can't be polished out then you are liable to pay. That's your T&C's on the lease.

If you refuse to pay T&C's on a finance contract then be prepared for summons letters, Baliffs and a screwed credit rating. It's whether that hassle is worth £220

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by logiclee

I don't recall seeing anything about the exact size / depth of scratches in the context of reasonable wear and tear.  

Page 13 of the booklet describes them - see link in Logiclee's first post

 

3 minutes ago, Emkay said:

I don't recall seeing anything about the exact size / depth of scratches in the context of reasonable wear and tear.  

 

Read the link in post 2

This is toss - it's 3.5 year car which is going straight off to auction.  

 

I can't for one moment imagine anyone is actually going to bother doing the work.  A bit like airport hire car companies! :-(  

 

Growl.  Just looking round the internet - apparently Mercedes are even worse for this type of thing.

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by Emkay

I agree, it's very unlikely they will repair the car b4 selling it on but with all due respect, once you've handed it back it's none of your business what they then do with their car. If you agreed to return their car in a specific condition then that's what you must do.

 

Take you to court for £220?  Well apart from the issues logiclee mentions above, you'll have your own expnses of going to court, then if you loose the case not only will you be liable for the full amount they quoted to repair the car, but you may have to pay court fees and the finance companies out-of-pocket exenses.  Unless you're confident of winning it's not worth it.

 

If the scratches are as minor as you say, why not have them repaired at a local bodyshop or one of those dent repair specialists? Bodyshops usually cost a fortune but ask how much for cash / tell them the situation and you might be pleasently surprised with their quote. They may even be able to polish it out if you can't do it yourself.

Edited 10 June, 20197 yr by Guest

3 hours ago, Emkay said:

This is toss - it's 3.5 year car which is going straight off to auction.  

 

I can't for one moment imagine anyone is actually going to bother doing the work.  A bit like airport hire car companies! 😞  

 

Growl.  Just looking round the internet - apparently Mercedes are even worse for this type of thing.

if the work doesn'nt get done before it goes to auction,  the car sells for say £10k

if it was unmarked it makes £10,500,  do you expect the lease company to suffer the loss because you havent looked after it ?

 

7 hours ago, Scot5 said:

If the scratches are as minor as you say, why not have them repaired at a local bodyshop or one of those dent repair specialists? Bodyshops usually cost a fortune but ask how much for cash / tell them the situation and you might be pleasently surprised with their quote. They may even be able to polish it out if you can't do it yourself.

 

Always this ^

 

I have a local paintshop/PDR place that will do a pre PCP/Lease repair and inspection. Much cheaper than paying BCA repair costs.

 

But to be honest scratches/dents/scuffs bug me that much I have them done straight away so I don't have the issue.

You basically have a choice, get your local chips away type person to fix it and get it reinspected (although most people with scratches would get this done first before BCA come), don’t bother with bodyshops too expensive for minor work

 

Or you pay up, it will be invoiced by VW finance and taken by direct debit, and if you close the direct debit expect all the credit hassle that goes with it including possible escalating debt and bailiffs.

 

When my Yeti was collected 9 months ago, the BCA collector insisted on re inspecting it (even though it has been done day before, hadn’t moved on my drive, had an inspected sticker on it) then decided it was dirty to cover his own backside (it had been cleaned fully 2 days earlier, and was clean on previous day’s report).   Basically BCA inspectors are inconsistent.

 

Luckily for me both missed a big deep white scratch 50mm long as I had got some touch up paint (nearest colour I could get, but not Skoda petrol blue) and worked it in with kitchen sponge, buffing with sponge about 5-15 minutes later made it almost invisible (touch up paint dries in that 5-15 mins with the sponge, and if wipe too much off just put more on, allows you to fill the scratch and end up invisibilly level).  So a few pounds and half hour wiping over the scratch can save lots of money.

 

 

 

Edited 11 June, 20197 yr by SurreyJohn

Always get a quote from a 'Bodyshop' for minor repairs.  They are not 'always' more expensive than a Man or Woman in a van that comes to you to do work.

No point generalising as all Bodyshops are not the type of places that just do Insurance jobs at inflated prices because they have Courtesy Cars etc.

51 minutes ago, SurreyJohn said:

You basically have a choice, get your local chips away type person to fix it and get it reinspected (although most people with scratches would get this done first before BCA come), don’t bother with bodyshops too expensive for minor work

 

Or you pay up, it will be invoiced by VW finance and taken by direct debit, and if you close the direct debit expect all the credit hassle that goes with it including possible escalating debt and bailiffs.

 

When my Yeti was collected 9 months ago, the BCA collector insisted on re inspecting it (even though it has been done day before, hadn’t moved on my drive, had an inspected sticker on it) then decided it was dirty to cover his own backside (it had been cleaned fully 2 days earlier, and was clean on previous day’s report).   Basically BCA inspectors are inconsistent.

 

Luckily for me both missed a big deep white scratch 50mm long as I had got some touch up paint (nearest colour I could get, but not Skoda petrol blue) and worked it in with kitchen sponge, buffing with sponge about 5-15 minutes later made it almost invisible (touch up paint dries in that 5-15 mins with the sponge, and if wipe too much off just put more on, allows you to fill the scratch and end up invisibilly level).  So a few pounds and half hour wiping over the scratch can save lots of money.

 

 

 

Coloured polish is easier to use

Great for hiding light scratches, temporary fix, but ideal in this situation.

7 hours ago, 310golfr said:

if the work doesn'nt get done before it goes to auction,  the car sells for say £10k

if it was unmarked it makes £10,500,  do you expect the lease company to suffer the loss because you havent looked after it ?

 

 

Maybe I was naive with this being my first lease return as I fundamentally saw little wrong with the car apart from the rear bumper and a couple of scuffed alloys, which I was totally happy to pay for.  

 

My (admittedly limited) experience of auctions is that cars go through on a conveyor belt basis and most buyers are unconcerned by minor dents and scratches as this is to be expected in cars of a certain age.

 

I have no problem with paying some money to solve problems that I caused.  I simply dispute that the cost of fixing 2 (fairly minor) scratches on 2 separate doors runs to £220.  I don't even think one of them properly falls under the criteria of chargeable damage.  I was not even aware it was there until the guy came round and started going across the car with his weird device and getting super anal about everything - if you need some weird device to see it then the naked eye is certainly not going to spot it at auction!

 

Either way, and as someone who picked up a brand new Skoda on the day my old one went back, it has certainly left a sour taste in the mouth.  Especially as I pretty much know the damage is not going to get fixed and that the amount they are charging probably doesn't properly reflect the 'loss' they will suffer at auction. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 11 June, 20197 yr by Emkay

Sometimes it's just a case that of lessons being learnt, accepting the occasional unfair outcomes, moving on, but knowing what will be expected in the future. 🛠️

Agreed - albeit I have been reading various forums and it seems that 'unfair outcomes' are not uncommon.  

 

Some people have been 'hit' for non-manufacturer approved repairs when they have made good damage (to an extremely high standard) through places such as chips away or body shops.  One dude even got hit for insurer approved repairs at a body shop - the car had already been sold by the auction company and there was no 'loss', but they were still trying to charge him £700 because the light didn't 'bounce' right when they held some device up to the car (totally undetectable with the naked eye).  

 

It's like the end of a tenancy - you just know the landlord is going to find minor things that are wrong, try and charge you for them, not do the repairs then try and pass the cost on to the next tenant when they leave in 2 years time!

 

 

Edited 11 June, 20197 yr by Emkay