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My Dad and my sister/brother in law have been leasing card from GM for the last decade plus. Recently they discovered when they turn the lease car back in, they get a bill for some odd repair like "loose chrome piece" or "replace bumper" It is usually 4200 - $800. After a while they became suspicious and started asking to see the repaired car or the removed and replaced part and they are told the car has already been resold and/or the part is gone. The last time my Dad turned one in he went over the car carefully checking to make certain there were no flaws or damage. He got a bill for "repair loose passenger mirror" My sister went online and found hundreds of complaints about this - all form turning in GM leased cars.
Have other people encountered the same thing?
I cannot make sense of this. It seems odd a company as big as whomever handles GM financing would be pulling a scam to rip people off for $200 - $800, each, but that is low enough no one can afford to do anything about it and if it is applied to hundreds of thousands of cars, that is big money.
I would just snort at the concept if it happened once, but it happens every time. even after checking the car thoroughly, they still get a bill. Plus there are hundreds of identical complaints.
My dad is about to turn in another lease car. We are going to go over it with video inch by inch. But if they come back with a BS charge, what are we going to do. Dad is 87, he would rather just pay it than go through the stress of bringing a small claims action. If this is a scam, it is a pretty clever one but they are eventually going to get caught and go to jail.
My Dad and my sister/brother in law have been leasing card from GM for the last decade plus. Recently they discovered when they turn the lease car back in, they get a bill for some odd repair like "loose chrome piece" or "replace bumper" It is usually 4200 - $800. After a while they became suspicious and started asking to see the repaired car or the removed and replaced part and they are told the car has already been resold and/or the part is gone. The last time my Dad turned one in he went over the car carefully checking to make certain there were no flaws or damage. He got a bill for "repair loose passenger mirror" My sister went online and found hundreds of complaints about this - all form turning in GM leased cars.
Have other people encountered the same thing?
I cannot make sense of this. It seems odd a company as big as whomever handles GM financing would be pulling a scam to rip people off for $200 - $800, each, but that is low enough no one can afford to do anything about it and if it is applied to hundreds of thousands of cars, that is big money.
I would just snort at the concept if it happened once, but it happens every time. even after checking the car thoroughly, they still get a bill. Plus there are hundreds of identical complaints.
My dad is about to turn in another lease car. We are going to go over it with video inch by inch. But if they come back with a BS charge, what are we going to do. Dad is 87, he would rather just pay it than go through the stress of bringing a small claims action. If this is a scam, it is a pretty clever one but they are eventually going to get caught and go to jail.
Usually this should all be settled when the car is turned in at the dealership. There is usually paperwork to sign when dropping the car off. The dealer typically does a condition report and the few times I've leased cars I've had them do it on the spot before walking away. To protect yourself take a whole bunch of pictures of the car, on the dealership's lot, before you walk away from it. (Do the same when renting cars, too.)
This scenario seems awfully strange. I would not consider this to be normal. I would also say that most of those complaints online were legit charges back to those customers. It's amazing how many of them don't pay attention to the condition of their cars and think dents and dings are normal. 3-year leases have increased the number of these issues because the cars are older (more dents & dings) and certain components wear out before 45K miles sometimes, like tires.
Usually this should all be settled when the car is turned in at the dealership. There is usually paperwork to sign when dropping the car off. The dealer typically does a condition report and the few times I've leased cars I've had them do it on the spot before walking away.
Wrong, well, at least I know in my case this is incorrect. I am not sure how GM does their inspection BUT I can shed some light on this in terms of how VW handles it.
Recently I went to turn in my Jetta lease at the VW dealer. Now, the dealer is not the owner of the car nor are they owned by VW. The owner of the car was "VW credit leasing" and they send an inspector on a schedule to the dealers to inspect and take back the lease turns ins.
No official inspection by the dealer happens in VW's case. Rather, it can be over a week later that it happens. What happens to the car during that time I do not know but I would assume it sits there.
So, I had recently put new tires on it so it would pass inspection, these tires were in GREAT shape. I also had kept the car in immaculate condition despite it being in two wrecks (both fixed professionally).
A few weeks ago I get the final letter or whatever saying they had processed my lease turn in, right there is a charge for a left front tire (punctured) replacement ($150)! I think HOW IN THE HELL??? I drove the car 2 HOURS to the dealer! There is NO WAY in hell it needed a new left front tire! I specifically remember checking all 4 tires at the dealer making sure on my final personal inspection that everything was good.
I went through great lengths to be sure that when I turned the car in, that I would not be charged. I mean this thing looked new, no lie.
I argued with the VW credit people and they claimed I was not really "charged" because I got another VW with them but that they could have charged me.
The only advice they offered was to have them come out to my house and do the inspection with me there rather than do the typical thing and leave it at the dealer. They said as far as they were concerned, their inspectors word was the law if it makes it onto the report. So its best to schedule the guy to come out so you can be there.
I agree with OP, I don't know what it is, but this is a real and evident epidemic. Turning in a lease blindly = blank check for the lessor to rake you over the coals. Of course, they may waive those fees, if you choose to lease again......
Several different dealerships, but the same leasing company, same region. Same dealership for my Dad, two different dealerships for Sister & BIL. Other dealerships form the complaints they found online. From what I understand, dealerships do not handle the leasing. They receive the car, but then ship it to the leasing company who sells it. Leasing company is somehow related to GMAC I think, but I am not positive. I do not have all the details. I will get copies of everything and a video before Dad turns in his current lease. He just spent $2000 having all the door dings and a scratch professionally repaired so he would not get charged their inflated prices.
Several different dealerships, but the same leasing company, same region. Same dealership for my Dad, two different dealerships for Sister & BIL. Other dealerships form the complaints they found online. From what I understand, dealerships do not handle the leasing. They receive the car, but then ship it to the leasing company who sells it. Leasing company is somehow related to GMAC I think.
This is true and I explained it above. Something happens to the car during shipping = you get the bill.
That's why VW credit told me to schedule a pre turn in inspection next time. As if, I purchased my next car!
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