lease return experiences? (curb rash)

[maestroak]

I had a bit of curb rash on my Model 3, I took all the photos requested and uploaded them over week before the return and heard nothing. I turned it in and all they did was have me sign a odometer disclosure statement. Never mentioned any wear and tear or other fees. I was also picking up a new one I purchased so they mostly focused on that.

After I got home I got a single page "Quote" for ~2300 with one line $1800 for wear and tear with no itemization.

Because I turned the car is my account was locked and they immediately (within like 2 hours of sending me the one page "quote") debited the money directly from my bank account and there was no way I could stop it or even get an itemization beforehand.

I still have no idea what the $1800 was for, there is no way it was for tread I turned it in with 10K less miles than lease and other than maybe 3 road rash rims (which i understand should be like $750) so basically they just took $1000 and I have no idea why?

Is this a common process of how this goes down? I was excited to get my new one but the lease turn in left me with a really bad taste in my mouth. It's a day after and still have no itemization or explanation. Fun.

 

[jjrandorin]

I had a bit of curb rash on my Model 3, I took all the photos requested and uploaded them over week before the return and heard nothing. I turned it in and all they did was have me sign a odometer disclosure statement. Never mentioned any wear and tear or other fees. I was also picking up a new one I purchased so they mostly focused on that.

After I got home I got a single page "Quote" for ~2300 with one line $1800 for wear and tear with no itemization.

Because I turned the car is my account was locked and they immediately (within like 2 hours of sending me the one page "quote") debited the money directly from my bank account and there was no way I could stop it or even get an itemization beforehand.

I still have no idea what the $1800 was for, there is no way it was for tread I turned it in with 10K less miles than lease and other than maybe 3 road rash rims (which i understand should be like $750) so basically they just took $1000 and I have no idea why?

Is this a common process of how this goes down? I was excited to get my new one but the lease turn in left me with a really bad taste in my mouth. It's a day after and still have no itemization or explanation. Fun.

That would be pretty upsetting, especially the charge without itemization, and debiting the amount from your bank account. If that was me, even if the amount was itemized somewhere, I would have been pretty upset about what sounds like a debit from my account with express permission.

I dont know how they would be able to do that, honestly. How did they have access to your bank account and approval to remove money from it? Were you already signed up for automatic payments or something?

I dont think I would have done very well with that experience, and I am normally a pretty mellow person, in most circumstances.

 

[MP3Mike]

there is no way it was for tread I turned it in with 10K less miles than lease

Tread wear is based on a minimum amount of tread being left, it has nothing to do with how many miles you have driven. (Did you measure the tread to see if it met the minimum requirements the lease agreements require?)

Excess Wear and Use Guide | Tesla Support

Learn how to do a self-inspection using our guidelines to see if your vehicle wear and tear is normal or excessive.

www.tesla.com

Tires
Tire tread must be 4/32” or greater. Use a penny to determine if the tire tread meets our requirements by placing the coin upside-down in the lowest tread on the tire. If the tread passes Lincoln’s face, the tread should be acceptable.

Did you include the mobile charger when you returned it?

 

[maestroak]

I know tread wear is based on measurement, but tread wears by driving it. I drive the car normally, how on earth would it wear excessively with 2/3 of the miles driven. If that's possible they need to re-define what is normal wear and tear. Anyway doesn't much matter because I have no idea what they charged me for, zero, none. Just took $1800 out of my bank account.

Also, I returned everything both keys and the charger. And yes to the first response I had my bank account setup to automatically make lease payments. As soon as I saw this "quote" with the single line item of "wear and tear" sent like an hour after leaving the dealer, I went to try to remove the auto-debit but my account for the leased car had changed to closed or something and I couldn't edit my payment options. They said it was a "final invoice" in an e-mail and said it would be automatically debited from my bank account. In the account I could see the "Quote" with the $1800 line item for "Wear and Tear." I contacted support and responded to that e-mail and still have not gotten any itemization. I'm assuming this type of billing is SOP for anyone with automated lease payment setup. Really crappy practice either way.

 

[SlimJim]

So $1800 seems to be what I will get charged.
Good to know.

Do they waive the charge if you lease or purchase another Tesla?

 

[maestroak]

Not, they charged me $2300, the $500 was the fee for just turning it in. And no, they don't waive that fee. As for the $1800 they could charge you $1000 or $3000 who knows considering I haven't gotten anything itemized. Part of the problem for me is I was going month-to-month on a lease extension and they pushed my new Tesla delivery out until November then suddenly I got an e-mail it was ready in like two week (months earlier than their projection). So I just did the online upload of pics. I guess you can take it to them early and have them do an inspection and tell you to give you opportunity to fix it.

At the very least, undo all your automatic payments on the lease if possible before the end so they can't just take money from you.

 

[maestroak]

Sorry, the disposition fee was $395 plus tax, so like $430 here.

 

[astrorob]

OP here, i'm finally ready to turn in the car. i replaced the rear tires as they were definitely below the tread-wear limit, but the fronts should be OK. i had this mobile curb rash repair guy come out and it cost about $100 per wheel. it looks fantastic, i don't know how these guys do it. very hard to tell it was ever scratched up.

i think maybe the inspection process has changed - the tesla app, under financing, has a button to request an in-person inspection. it's been two days since i clicked that button and i have not heard anything from anyone. but there doesn't seem to be any self-inspection component to this, nor have i been asked to take any pictures. it looks more like a traditional lease return. at the beginning of the process there's a check box giving tesla permission to just go ahead and use your preferred payment method to bill the end-of-lease charges. i unticked that box - i don't want any surprises here.

 

[beachsideev]

In person inspections seem to be location dependent. They don't do them in my area so I had to send in pics. Based on the report I got and others here, they seem to change $85 per wheel for excessive curb rash.

 

[astrorob]

In person inspections seem to be location dependent. They don't do them in my area so I had to send in pics. Based on the report I got and others here, they seem to change $85 per wheel for excessive curb rash.

makes sense, there are a trillion teslas in the bay area and a bunch of service centers. i hadn't considered that. i just know in general tesla is a "self service" company so i figured they were just cutting costs by making you do the inspection in all markets.