This is my first lease, but anyways was curious on how they will hit me with this in the end. I noticed a small, quarter-dime size puncture in my passenger seat leather. It did not go all the way through, but enough to show the white from the inside part of the leather. Now at the end of the lease what are my options with this. Will I just have to fork up the cash to get it fixed before I can be released of the car? Is there any other options? This is a 5 year lease and not sure of the what they call normal wear....tear.......

 

Unless the lease agreement is more specific than just "normal wear and tear", whoever inspects the car when you turn it in will make a subjective judgment on what constitutes normal wear and tear, and what does not. Obviously, if the person judges that this particular item is in that category, you will not be charged. If they judge that it is not normal wear and tear, you will be charged for a repair. That will be true for any other dings/scratches/etc. that occur during the remainder of the lease. I wouldn't worry too much about it now sihce you will have that and other things to take care of before you turn it in and best to worry about that when the lease period is nearly up.

Of course, you could always purchase the car for the residual value after the lease is up and then you wouldn't have to worry about these things at all.

 

That sounds like a large puncture... how did it happen?

There are MANY leather repair shops (in any large town) that have qualified people who can replace that panel - match the stitching, etc

 

I think someone had like keys in their pocket or something, its wierd it is only half the outline of it, almost like you could take a black magic marker and color in the white and no one would know. I did not even notice for a few days, then was like wtf. I'm just thinking the cost might suck to get it fixed

 

That's normal wear and tear. At worst, the material can be patched up and color matched. It won't be perfect, but noone will notice. It costs very little to patch up and it ensures that the leather won't rip further.

Don't let the dealer charge you for it at the end of the lease.

 

if you call mazda you can request the lease ending package NOW, vs near the end of your lease...it will explain in detail what things are normal wear/tear and what isnt, it covers the drivetrain/mechanical, inside and outside, even down to how much tread depth and brake pad has to be left when you turn it in.

It also comes with a kind of laminated template that is clear, it has circles and boxes and stuff that you can put over a paint chip, or tear in the seat, if it fits in the box and doesnt go over the ammount of 'problems' per item then you are in the clear and it will be normal wear and tear!

For example, most auto makers allow paint chips/scraches as long as they fit inside the box (about a 2 inch diameter circle on the last car my family leased) and if you didnt have more than 3 imperfections per panel (ie, a door can have 3 'problems', so can the hood, and a fender...ect)

Also you have the price the dealer will sell you the car for at the end of the lease, its the buyout 'residual' price. If at the end of your lease you decied you want to buy the car (assuming your inside the miliage cap, and dont have any excessive wear and tear) the price they want to sell the car to you at can be higher than what its worth...meaning youll be upside down when you buy it.

What ive done in the past is turn the car in ($0 in charger as far as miliage and wear/tear) and then come back later and find the car as a used lease return on the dealer lot, and haggle with them from the sticker price. you can save a lot of money.

You could always just haggle with them when you turn the car in as well.

 

Thanks alot for the info!!!! All makes sense,

 

No problem, I think if you call mazda you can ask for the lease return/lease buy-out package. It should arive in about 10days with letter and info on buying-out early or turning the car in early....its the same info they will mail to you as you lease is about to end...but its nice to have it in advance, so you can expect what they are gonna do.

And as other have said, its kind of up to the person that does the inspection...if they miss stuff, you can get off realy good, but sometimes they can nit-pick, but you can usualy work out a deal with them.

 

Can it even BE a MAC lease? I didn't know they did those for such a long period of time. With a lot of the captive lease banks they have good pre-lease-end information, but if was lease through a 3rd party bank then they have no "templates" and "we forgive" and such.

I am a big lease fan and I took advantage of the cheap 2yr promo lease to get my 8 , but signing a 5 year lease is just "nuckin' futs" as we say

Dennis

 

I had a similar thing happen on my last car, an Acura TL. I took it to an upholstery shop, and they applied this polymer stuff to it and put a backing patch under the seat to back it up, and applied a textureizer to the surface.

When they were done, you could never see where it was.

By the way, remember the "Leather and Vinyl Repair Kit" they used to sell on TV several years ago? This is the commercial versioin of that. Works like a champ. Go see an upholstery shop.

Stew

 

im not sure i know what you mean as far as "i didnt know they did those for such a long period of time" , i didnt state anywhere a time of a lease....wear and tear for all items is stated for any lease, regardless of length. I also think MAC will do up to a 4yr lease max.

 

You can sometimes negotiate a lower residual value at the end of the lease term than the one quoted in the lease agreement. If market forces have lowered the value of your car at lease end, the leasing company may be willing to lower your buyout price to that value. Simply call your leasing company near the end of your lease term and ask if they'd be willing to take less if you'll buy it. The last thing a leasing company wants is to go through the hassle of reacquiring the vehicle in order to sell it in the used car market for less than you would pay for it.

 

In the original post is says it is a FIVE year lease and I am pretty sure MAC does not do FIVE year leases. So getting a MAC lease-end kit would do them no good, since more than likely this is some 3rd party lease and the "rules" would be different.

As I said, why someone would sign a 5 year lease is beyond me.....

Dennis