First of all I've never heard of a car company coming to inspect your car when the lease is over so I have no idea what to expect and I have no idea what they are going to be looking for. Lady on the phone said they would be coming to take pics and inspect my keys. Has anyone had any experience with this before? If so what exactly did they look at or look for?

 

$$$$.....have your credit card handy..

 

They're mostly concerned with obvious damage, paint scratches, wheel rash, broken key fob, etc. And of course mileage. Anything that will adversely affect their resale.

 

The end of my lease recently came due for my 06 RX8...it is a headache, but at the end of the day you should do what i did. I kept my 8!!!

 

Does your car have crazy mods.

 

umm...yeah...so are you planning on giving the car back or buying it out?? if you're giving it back at the end of your lease, you're going to be paying out the a$$ looking at your garage list. please tell me you're buying it out...and if so, it doesn't matter what shape it's in, they'll just take your money for the buy-out!

 

click on his garage link in his sig. he has quite a few ... esp if he won that trophy. seriously dude, i hope you're buying that car. i can't imagine you wouldn't want to buy it out...if not you just wasted a BUNCH of money modding a car that you're going to give back to mazda.

 

You'll will have to pay them for the mods and then you loose the money you paid for the mods unless you swap them out for OEM parts. Bottom line, keep the car

 

+1 on buy out

 

Your mod list is why companies are doing inspections. You could have to pay for all the OEM parts needed to return your car to stock. You should buy out the lease if your still happy with the car.

 

if you part it out to go back to stock...dibs on your rp supercat


yeah but again, buy it out, your mod list is WAY too long to switch back to stock. you could do it, but what a pain...dealers don't want a car that modded b/c even though it looks good, it limits their buyer pool, they'll want it stock or close-to-stock, or money for all the oem parts they have to put on. yowza...

 

You modded a leased car? You will have to buy it out or face serious penalties.

Friend of mine had a bunch of stuff on his leased (he said he didn't know it was a lease) Mustang GT back in 94' and when he returned it on the lease the found out (don't ask how) that he had a Hypertech flash on the PCM (he was dumb and didn't flash it back to stock) so they were gonna hit him with 10k in bullshit fees. So either he could roll that 10k over o a new car or buy it out and so he bought it out for like 15k when the car was only worth like 9k.

then he traded it in on and H3 and rolled what he was upside into the loan for the Hummer.

 

They only inspect if you aren't buying it out. If you buy it out, then all the inspect is the color of your money. Like the other posters, and for your sake based on your mod list, I hope you're buying it out. I did (I leased because the straight financing terms my dealer had were insanely bad - bigger payments and huge balloon payment at the end) and then I bought it out.

 

Inspecting lease returns is what I do for a living.

All lease companies, whether it be a manufacturer's finance division or a private bank, inspect vehicles at lease maturity. Some will perform an initial inspection before the vehicle is returned to the dealership. The reasons for this vary, but it is a common practice. A home based inspection will likely be performed by a third party inspector like myself.

The inspector will take photos and write a condition report listing all of the wear & tear they find on your car (this is done for re-marketing purposes). Many small items like stone chips, clear coat scratches, etc. are considered normal wear & tear. However, every finance company is different with what they classify as normal verses excessive. If there is a damage that the finance company classifies as excessive, then you will be charged for it at a predetermined cost. The finance company provides me with guidelines on everything from interior cleanliness, to tread depth, to quality of previous paint work. If they say a 4" scratch is a $200 excessive charge, then that is what I must report (I cannot change the guide). While I cannot speak on behalf of any finance company, I can say that they all charge for a vehicle to be returned to stock if physically modified. Aftermarket wheels, body panels, and stereos are all chargeable. However, if you add something to the vehicle that doesn't physically modify it (drop in bed liner or window tint) they usually don't care.

One of the man advantages to a home based inspection is that you are given a heads-up of what charges you will occur when you turn your car in. Since the condition report that the inspector writes is not a final bill, you have the opportunity to fix the car yourself if you believe it can be done for cheaper than the finance company is going to charge.

 

Good insight. BTW, I love the MSP Miata.

 

I would think any dealer looking at your car would be like "sign here have a nice day" that would be a wicked easy sale.

 

I leased 1 vehicle in my life... it will be the last... It was a 2000 ext cab chevy. I babied that truck the whole time I had it.. Before the inspection I had it professional detailed. they were taking $1000 for a rock chip..$1000 for a door ding.. Crazy stuff. I was so mad I went down to the dealership and just about got arrested for threatening the finance manger.

I will NEVER lease another vehicle, and would not reccomend anyone else to lease.

 

snipaz doesn't have many of those mods anymore... so I wouldn't go by his garage list....

If he wants too I guess he will tell you the rest of his car story...

 

ahh, well then...go by one that one guy said, s13lover. if your car is back to stock, or close to it, i wouldn't sweat the pre-inspection or whatever it is, seems pretty run of the mill. of course, you still might get raped with rock chips, etc., but that just depends on the company i guess! good luck.

 

yeah please don't go by my garage i have 90% of the mods off i apologize for not mentioning that. basically what i'm worried about is that i still have my UIM painted purple and i don't know if i will be able to get it painted black in time. i wasn't sure if they would be going in my engine bay looking for things. i have rear burnout spats and my vertex lip spoiler that are impossible to take off so they have to go with the car. i'm not keeping the car because i was in a pretty bad accident with it 2 years ago and i know i wouldnt be able to sell it in a few years because of it. it's not worth spending the $ to buy it now and then sell it for $5k in 3-4 years

 

That accident will show up on the car report if the accident was reported to the police or your insurance. They will hit you for that accident too. You will have to see what the buyout is vs what they are going to charge you for the accident and such.

Could be a horse a piece.

 

seriously will NEVER lease or let any family members lease another car ... my dad had a 05 7 series on lease and when time came to return it the COUNTED yes LITERALLY counted 400 odd chips i dont remember anymore and wanted like 5k JUST for the chips and then a door ding and other issues too like having a non factory wheel lock on the dam rims! wtf we bought it out and my mom drives it right now but what a rip off ..

 

Yep, similar experience. Leased a car once and that will be the last time. They absolutely *** rape you in fees when you turn it in. I completely babied that car, I mean it had zero door dings overall almost looked brand new. And then, even if you fix something from the initial report (two of the tires had literally 1mm less tread than they required), it is the biggest PITA ever to get them to recognize it and not charge you for it.

 

Hold on.. if you do a buyout, you still have to pay the extra ****?

I thought it was either you buyout for the remainder which is X months of payments at Y price subtracted from the original price of car, or you gave it back to dealer and paid w/e they asked.

 

I leased an Audi that I returned like a year ago...I was having personal problems and was doing really bad with money so I kept the car like a month longer than I was supposed to...returned it and never heard from them again.