lease return but with body damage?

[gat89]

Hi everyone, my 2016 lease is almost up and I was wondering if I should return it with body damage. I never had a lease before so not sure how this works.

I accidentally scratched the car when driving into my garage and in my attempt to correct, I also then damaged the other side. These are major dents and scratches on both sides so I am not sure what to do. Should I use my insurance to fix the damage since it was a parking accident? Or should I just return it as is and let VW charge me for the damages? I am not sure what will cost more -- my deductible is $500. Also if I go the insurance route, should I let VW know? thanks for the help!

 

[2016golfse]

Repair it first. VW is sure to charge more than $500.

 

[gat89]

thanks, do you think it makes sense to get a pre-inspection first so I know everything they want fixed before going to a shop to do the repairs?

 

[RonDawg]

thanks, do you think it makes sense to get a pre-inspection first so I know everything they want fixed before going to a shop to do the repairs?

I would. Sometimes you’ll be surprised what they let you get away with, and that it might cost less than you think. However, schedule the inspection so you have adequate time to get any objections addressed before the car is due to be turned in.

I would avoid using insurance unless the repair cost is beyond your ability to pay. As these will be considered “at fault” you’ll lose any good driver discount and your rates will more than make up for the insurance company’s losses.

 

[mfennell]

I'm going through this right now and I agree with everyone else that you should have it repaired. I was days away from buying out my own e-golf lease when my wife hit a red-light-runner. A friend of mine suggested I just show up with the car and say 'here you go and here's the other driver's insurance info' but I thought that might get ugly.

Car's been cosmetically fixed for a week but they had to send it to the local dealer when the park distance control kept acting up. It needed another sensor replaced. Hope to get it tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm effectively renting it. They charge a daily fee of my payment divided by the days in the month and we settle up when I return it. I had already extended the lease the maximum of 6 months so that wasn't an option.

In an unexpected turn, I think the accident saved me money. I thought the $11,800 buy out was a no-brainer because I was seeing local asking prices of $14k or so. Then a week ago a few of the latest cars from auction hit a dealer nearby. There's a '16 SEL for $10,500. A '16 SE for $8k! If advertised prices are to be believed, I can buy a '19 SE for <$15k net of the tax credit too. Decisions...

 

[mfennell]

I would avoid using insurance unless the repair cost is beyond your ability to pay. As these will be considered “at fault” you’ll lose any good driver discount and your rates will more than make up for the insurance company’s losses.

It depends. My wife scraped another car in a parking lot several years ago. The fix for the other car was close to $2k (I had liability-only on the car she was driving) and our insurance was unaffected.

YMMV, as they say. We insure a number of cars and have a 20 year history of not running into things. I'm sure both points affected the outcome.