PCP car lease problem

Flanging_Fred

My car has come to the end of its pcp lease and I have been dumped with a pretty stressful problem.  

A couple of months ago I returned from my grocery shopping to find someone had put a big scratch and dent down the side of the car. No note was left so I had to claim on my own insurance to get it sorted (paying the excess and losing my ncb)  The insurance company sent the car to one of their approved garages and they fixed the car.

Now yesterday the PCP leasing people inspected the car before I return it to them next week. However they have failed all the repair work done by the garage and given me a hefty bill to respray the car. I contacted the garage to let them know what had happened and they sent someone out to recheck the car.  Of course the garage are saying the repair is good (and to be honest I agree with them - I can't see a damn thing wrong with it).  

So what the hell do I do? Do I really have to pay to have the car fixed twice? I'm caught between two faceless companies that disagree with each other over a detail that it's practically impossible to spot unless you are some sort of car paint expert.

any advice?

olafgarten

How did they know it's been repaired? Did you tell them or did they notice?

Flanging_Fred

The guy inspecting it noticed. He looked right over the car from a distance of about 4 inches.

octatonic

Let's have a look ta the repair then.
Take some photos from a similar distance and post them.

The cynic in me would assume the PCP company are trying it on to make some profit.
They pocket the respray fee and sell the car to a dealer which gets sold as is.

How much are they charging you for a respray?

TTony

Flanging_Fred said:

 it's practically impossible to spot unless you are some sort of car paint expert.

The car should have been repaired and resprayed by someone who was a car paint expert.  The repair is supposed to repair the car back to its original condition.

Sounds like you should be rejecting the original repair/respray arranged by your insurance company on the grounds that it's not of sufficient quality, and ask them to get it sorted such that the leasing company don't have a problem with it.

Or you tell the insurance company that the leasing company have rejected the repair, and tell the insurer that you'll be claiming back the cost of having the job done to the satisfaction of the leasing company.


We're going to see many more issues of this type over the coming months and years as more of these lease deals (which have become super popular in the last few years) mature and the leasing companies start to get picky with the state of the returned cars ...

olafgarten

In this case I think you should get the repair company to cover it, if the lease people say it's bad, and you can still notice it no matter how close, then they should repair it prope

Axe_meister

Odd, whenever Honda call me up (every two years) to sell me a new car on PCP any dents, alloy wheel scuffs are completely ignored the sales guy even says "I didn't see that", then again we're getting a new car from them.
Are you looking to get a new car from a different maker? They will usually part exchange and pay of the PCP to sell you a new car (assuming there is some equity in the car)

simonk

This isn't really your problem and you should hand it over to the insurance company to sort.

We see this all the time now and it's frustrating. It boils down to a very easy way for the leasing company to make extra money. The car will just end up in an auction anyway.

Flanging_Fred

octatonic said:

Let's have a look ta the repair then.
Take some photos from a similar distance and post them.

The cynic in me would assume the PCP company are trying it on to make some profit.
They pocket the respray fee and sell the car to a dealer which gets sold as is.

How much are they charging you for a respray?

 I can't see any problem but my eye site isn't great. One of the defects is apparently right the centre of this photo.

Flanging_Fred

The other main offending item...  

octatonic

Yeah that seems like the PCP company are just trying it on.
I actually don't know what this means for you- I assume there is some sort of contract restriction which means they can reject the car.

Are you in a position to buy the car/pay out the rest of the finance with a personal loan etc?

I don't understand why they need to respray the entire car for such a small issue.
Why can't they just sort out the offending panel?

DanR

This is why I do t sell friends and family contract hire.

If he noticed straight away without you mentioning it then you need to speak to who did the work.

I'm surprised you are getting a chance to sort it honestly normally it's just a case of that's wrong here's your bill.

prowla

The insurance repair should have a warranty.

Flanging_Fred

Well that is better news, the garage have said that they will contest it on my behalf and whatever occurs, I'll not be out pocket for the work they did.  It will be interesting to see how it progresses now.

duotone

Sounds like they are trying it on.  Good Luck!

Nunogilberto

In an ideal world (in my opinion at least), the insurance company should be mediating this, because it's a matter between them, the repair place and the lease firm. It does sound like they're being overly picky.

prowla

Flanging_Fred said:

Well that is better news, the garage have said that they will contest it on my behalf and whatever occurs, I'll not be out pocket for the work they did.  It will be interesting to see how it progresses now.

Erm, on your behalf?
The owner of the car has said that their work is not acceptable...
I suppose you can indulge them in any word games they feel they wish, but I think I would involve the insurance company.

m_c

The expected return condition of a vehicle should allow for fair wear and tear, however a sub-standard repair is not acceptable. The only good repair is one you can't see, and looking at those photos, I'd say they've done a poor job of filling the scratch, and then they've got dirt in/under the lacquer. Plus it looks like they've got a bit orange peel effect going on.

As has already been said, get on to the insurance company, as they are the one responsible to you for the repair, and any warranty on the repair.