Leased Cars Suck

[RAG]

Just another thread in my series of things that "suck"...



As a professional detailer, I hate leased vehicles - it really seems to encourage neglect. First, a large majority of people with leased vehicles don`t even bother to get details, and IMO when they do, they just want to bare minimum - when I inform them that the paint needs more than a basic wax job, the typical response I get is "nah, it`s a lease and I only have a couple years left." :nixweiss



From the car buying and negotiating books I`ve read, leases are a bad idea. In the worst case scenario...they are a complete desiaster, like in my step-father`s case where he has 4 years remaining on a 5-year lease on a pickup, only to have his new job supply the same pickup with now milage or usage restrictions, leaving his leased truck to sit idle 99% of the time :nono

[tensors22288]

i agree. my mom always says "oh dont bother worrying about polishing out those swirly things, im returning it in 2 yrs..." an most of my customers say that as well. then they get all frantic when trade in time comes around an they need it to look spotless as to avoid penalties... its so stupid an i agree. i mean i could see where they are coming from but still its rediculous

[MrSelfDestruct]

I feel your pain. :)



Since all our our used cars are pretty much 5 years old or NEWER, they`re either leased or former rental cars. Dirty interiors/dull paint/scratches. If I had a new car I couldn`t make it look that as bad as those if I tried.. lol

[The"X"]

Most lease contracts will have excess wear sections in thier contracts. I had one leased Toyota Tacoma. When I turned it in at lease end, the guy went over the truck thoughly. Even went around it with a paint thinkness gauge looking for repainting. As an Autopian, I was glad I had no deductions for paint damage :) They also gave me a $500 leeway for damage. More damage than that and it came out of my pocket.

[RAG]

Here`s a laugh - my cousin here in San Diego asked me to help her clean up her leased volvo (BLACK too) before turning it in...it was a bad gig for her, as she had exceeded her mileage allowance a year before the lease was up. But in the end, she got a little payback - basically, the car resided outdoord in SD (the harshest environment I know of due to rust contamination) and was under about a dozen eucalyptus trees. Basically the car was neglected to hell and back and was only washed about 6 times a year. Without exagerating, there were probably 75-100 bird drop and sap etchings (some in a perfect leaf pattern where sap-covered leafs sat on the paint for long periods of time) riddled throughout the paint - heavy compounding didn`t touch them, as they were all the way to the metal. She was prepared to have to pay for a repaint, but I told her to keep the car in the shade so the inspector might not notice...turns out the inspector didn`t show up till late evening and didn`t notice...he only charged her $100 extra for too many door dings. Now I guarentee when somebody later examed this vehicle in light, somebody`s butt got chewed, as there is no way it could be resold without repainting.



Also, she had been suckered into buying their magic paint protection coating too - I told her to tell them (if they were to complain about the paint condition) that she was relying on their magic paint coating she paid big bucks for to protect the paint, but she didn`t have to say anything. I`d call this Payback!