Returning a leased car

[stevec]

This is for someone who had this experience, or someone who knows the auto lease business.

A friend is returning a leased car (2005 C Class Mercedes) next month that was keyed. I wonder if I could use touch up paint and then detail the entire car.

Will it take care of the problem so she isn't charged for the scratch by the lease company? Or, will they charge her no matter how good the touch up tuns out.

What can she expect - full body shop price to repaint? It's a single scratch that runs the length of the door and front quarter panel.

[HagFan]

Re: Returning a leased car

Stevec,

I've leased both my wife's and my vehicles for the past 20 years . So I've turned a bunch of them in-- all in Ohio. I've never been keyed, but I would have paid my deductible and gotten it fixed, unless it happened during the last month or two of the lease.

She should check her lease agreement and see if there is any allowance for "excess wear and tear". Most often there is $400 to $600 forgiveness; the finance branch of the auto manufacturers are the most forgiving, in my experience.

I would not bother with touch up paint unless you know it will be acceptable. Honda Automotive Finance is one that specifically disallows the use of touch-up paint. I believe that's because most people would touch it up and make it look worse than the original scratch.

If there is not a lot of mileage on the vehicle she may find she has some equity in the lease. Last year I ended up trading both of mine to the dealers-- they paid of the leases and credited me with the trade-in equity. This completely avoids the end-of-lease turn-in process. Contact your leasing company and ask them, not what it would cost you to buy it, but what it will cost a dealer to buy it. In some states there are taxes and/or fees involved that make the dealers buyout less than yours. If the trade-in value is higher than the buyout (or close enough to equal), you might be better off having the dealer buy it out.

You can also sell it outright, but to my way of thinking you lose one advantage of leasing-- not having to mess with selling a used car.

Good luck. I'd be glad to help you understanding the lease numbers. I finally --after 20 years-- figured out why APR/2400 = money factor. The dealer's finance guy didn't know.