Topic: Mazda / Ford Credit Lease Returns

[wing]

So today, a nice guy driving a smart car came by to inspect my Mazda3 for return.

He measured paint depth with a gauge, he measured tire tread depth and looked for any damages.  He was pretty picky.  My car is pristine ... seriously and it was dirty so even the VERY few tiny tiny paint chips (over 13,500km I might add) were hard to see.

So he finds the tiniest, I mean tiniest looks like a TINY spec of dust on the windshield.  And he claims this is NOT normal wear and tear.  WHAT?  WHAT?

So they want to charge me $75 for something you can't even see without a magnifying glass.  I took out some sandpaper to the windshield and the buffer and got rid of most of it.  But yeah it's still there.

This really peeved me off I can't believe how picky they are!  I am trying to think how the heck could ANYONE return a car after 4 years or even 2 years and 40,000km like the car was suppose to have.  Only having 13,500km think about how rocks hit you when driving.

The guy told me that when I return it to the dealership to just tell them it is fixed and they will probably just mark it off and fixed and I won't have to worry about it.  But he said it is his job to mark the stuff, I can take it up with Mazda.

[Giant Dwarf]

Yikes, this definitely worries me for the return of the MX5 next year then.  I've got few little nit-picks around the car, but with what will be 100,000 kms on it, it's certainly going to be far from perfect. I guess it'll depend on how badly the next dealership wants to make a deal.

[JSCC]

So today, a nice guy driving a smart car came by to inspect my Mazda3 for return.

He measured paint depth with a gauge, he measured tire tread depth and looked for any damages.  He was pretty picky.  My car is pristine ... seriously and it was dirty so even the VERY few tiny tiny paint chips (over 13,500km I might add) were hard to see.

So he finds the tiniest, I mean tiniest looks like a TINY spec of dust on the windshield.  And he claims this is NOT normal wear and tear.  WHAT?  WHAT?

So they want to charge me $75 for something you can't even see without a magnifying glass.  I took out some sandpaper to the windshield and the buffer and got rid of most of it.  But yeah it's still there.

This really peeved me off I can't believe how picky they are!  I am trying to think how the heck could ANYONE return a car after 4 years or even 2 years and 40,000km like the car was suppose to have.  Only having 13,500km think about how rocks hit you when driving.

The guy told me that when I return it to the dealership to just tell them it is fixed and they will probably just mark it off and fixed and I won't have to worry about it.  But he said it is his job to mark the stuff, I can take it up with Mazda.

AutoVin became very picky about lease return inspections a few months just before I left VW, I see the same with current Mazda lease returns too.
I heard they changed management and are really tightening the inspections.

[quadzilla]

Maybe the guy was so pissed that he couldn't find anything wrong with your car he kept looking for the smallest of details? They just wanted to ding (pun intended) you for something as its 'usually' easy money.  Think of it as an admin fee for returning the car.

[wing]

Yes it is AutoVin the company. 

I don't plan on paying it -- I think returning the car with 13,500km more than makes up for the "damage".  We all know they would not fix it before trying to sell it again.

[JSCC]

Yes it is AutoVin the company. 

I don't plan on paying it -- I think returning the car with 13,500km more than makes up for the "damage".  We all know they would not fix it before trying to sell it again.

It is their job to find out all the tiny things and make you pay. 
I believe AutoVin is an independent inspection company hired by the manufacturers to do the inspection.
If they weren't detailed and picky, the manufacturers wouldn't continue to use them. 

AutoVin doesn't care how many KMs you have, Mazda Canada does.

[JSCC]

Side tracking this thread:
those crazy 2 year, 0% interest, high residue leases from Mazda in 2006 are killing Mazda right now.

0 down, $200~$300/month tax-in for a 2 year lease on Mazda3s was nuts.
We can't even match the same payment with a 5 year lease for 2008.5 Mazda3s right now.

Our only hope is to pursude customers to go from leasing (or lease buyouts) to financing (0% right now).

[Cortina]

This really peeved me off I can't believe how picky they are!  I am trying to think how the heck could ANYONE return a car after 4 years or even 2 years and 40,000km like the car was suppose to have.  Only having 13,500km think about how rocks hit you when driving.

Awww thats just mean. 

I wonder if would be better to pretend to buy a Mazda product. Would they be a lot less of a stick in the mud, with them thinking ya gonna buy another Mazda.

[airbalancer]

This is one reason I do not lease anymore, to much of a pain in the a$$.

[TopGun]

This is one reason I do not lease anymore, to much of a pain in the a$$.

Yes, plenty of family members have had plenty of surprises that have amounted to way more than $75.

I wonder if the increased focus is due to the lease position of some of these cars.  Given the decreases in MSRPs...I can see it being difficult selling off-lease returns and making a profit...are they trying to get more folks to buy them out by adding these "fees"?

[Benhaze]

This is one reason I do not lease anymore, to much of a pain in the a$$.

Ditto. And we never had to deal with a 3rd party back then. We received a kit in the mail from GM to allow us to assess what the extra fees may be charged for lour ast leased car. I also remember a statement that GM may also charged up to a certain amount if it found something not agreeing with their standards after the car was inspected and returned to the dealer.

A relative had lots of problems returning an Acura RL a couple of years ago. One would think a luxury brand would not behave in this manner, especially when considering the poor sales of this model. The relative was so aggravated by the poor customer service that he ended up leasing a Jag and vowed to never lease an Acura vehicle again.

[ghost]

As our lease ends with our Saab. GMAC has been quite nonchalant about this whole process. They just referred us to their lease return website about what items will be charged if found damaged. Other than that, just drop off the car at any GM dealership. Which is great as the nearest Saab dealership is an hour away! 

[initial_D]

My Mazda lease will be up in 15 months or so, not looking forward to that process.

[Guy]

Before I gave back the XC90 I had about $1,000.00 of repair to do. The windshield got broken 3 weeks prior to lease end ($500.00) deductible and I had a few dents and scratches that really needed attention. AutoVin was OK however because they accepted that I put back the original tires on it. They were between 3 and 4/32 and they accepted them anyway. (I then proceeded to sell the Nokians for $500.)

Now Volvo offer Excessive Wear Insurance. For $750. upfront at the start of the lease, they will accept up to $3,500 of damage at the end of the lease. So the $750 refundable security deposit becomes "non-refundable" but then you don't have to worry about anything (broken glass, weared out tires, dings) up to $3,500. I tought it was a good deal so I took it for the XC70.

[Oz]

So you only put 13.5K on it when you were allowed 40K? How long was the lease?

How does it work, are the charges put down by the inspection agency what mazda will charge you for?

I showed my car to a leasing manager at a local Mazda and he said my car should be fine even with the minor dings and scratches.. I had room for 80K kms but only put on 60. Said I should just drop the car off at the dealership and not worry about an inspection because it looks fine.

[JSCC]

Now Volvo offer Excessive Wear Insurance. For $750. upfront at the start of the lease, they will accept up to $3,500 of damage at the end of the lease. So the $750 refundable security deposit becomes "non-refundable" but then you don't have to worry about anything (broken glass, weared out tires, dings) up to $3,500. I tought it was a good deal so I took it for the XC70.

Mazda has the same "wear and care" program.
I think it's worth a set of tires alone.

[wing]

So you only put 13.5K on it when you were allowed 40K? How long was the lease?

How does it work, are the charges put down by the inspection agency what mazda will charge you for?

Lease was 2 years.  Yeah the dealership said don't worry but this autovin company is more picky.

Mazda said they would bill me, I said, go ahead I'll never pay it. hahaha

[DockMan]

Mazda said they would bill me, I said, go ahead I'll never pay it. hahaha

My sentiments exactly....come get me.

[Trainman]

wing, the title of the post also refers to Ford Credit.  Are they now being this picky as well?  That would be good to know..........

[Oz]

Mazda said they would bill me, I said, go ahead I'll never pay it. hahaha

My sentiments exactly....come get me.

Cant they get a collection agency after you and chase you down in that scenario?