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Lease return woes

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Hi all: we have loved our 2018 model S. We made the mistake of getting the 21" turbine wheels with the car, and they bent and eventually cracked. Instead of getting another set of $6000 wheels only to have them crack, we bought a set of replica OEM turbine wheels. These have actually been very reliable and we have had no issues.

As our model S lease came to an end, we bought some new tires and cleaned up the car for the lease return. Everything is in great condition as we have loved and cared for the car. I was surprised to receive an email today saying that we owe $7500 for a new set of turbine wheels. This seems outrageous for numerous reasons, foremost among them the fact that a set of new turbine wheels only costs $6000 on the Tesla website.

Do we have any recourse here? Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
 
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With the high market value of used cars and the fact that you had non-OEM wheels, you would have probably been better off buying the Model S and selling it privately. You probably could have made $7500 or more, instead of owing it.
Unfortunately if you returned your vehicle with replica wheels, Tesla has a right to charge you to replace them with OEM wheels. When you return a leased vehicle, you need to return it in the same condition you received it in.
They may be charging you more for new tires along with the wheels and/or the labor costs to install those wheels/tires. To make it worse, since you already turned the car in, they won't give you back the replica wheels to sell to at least get some money back.
Sometimes you can request lease return costs be reduced, but this one seems pretty black & white. Sorry but it looks like you're SOL.
 
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Others have had issues with questionable Tesla lease end charges/fees. Here is one recent thread on the subject:



Seeing how quickly Tesla reduced or eliminated charges/fees in some of these cases, it does raise the question as to how legit they really were. It's almost like they throw them out there to see how many will actually pay.

Given that you can buy a Model S 21” Turbine Wheel and Tire Package for $6,000 including four Continental tires, shipping, installation, etc., the $7,500 charge does seems unreasonably high.
 
Hi all: thank you for the helpful replies. I bought a set of OEM wheels, had them express shipped, and then fitted to the car. Now I get a reply saying that I owe them a new set of tires. I just bought a new set of tires. Get this: they are refusing the tires because they are not Z rated. The issue is that every single tire website I am searching on does not show any Z rated options in the Tesla OEM size. I bought Y+ rated tires. ?????

So they are charging me for tires that don't exist....this feels like a shakedown. So disappointing.
 
@mrewright

Read your lease, this is what mine says:

"Excess Wear. The charge for excess wear will be our estimated or actual cost of repairing wear beyond that reasonably expected with ordinary, everyday use and maintenance according to this lease. It includes: ...any tire with less than 1/8 inch of tread or not part of a matching set of four;..."
 
@mrewright

Read your lease, this is what mine says:

"Excess Wear. The charge for excess wear will be our estimated or actual cost of repairing wear beyond that reasonably expected with ordinary, everyday use and maintenance according to this lease. It includes: ...any tire with less than 1/8 inch of tread or not part of a matching set of four;..."
Exactly. I didn’t see anything about a speed rating?
 
Odd, in my 30+ years in leasing I have never just turned in a car. There has always been a turn-in inspection done ahead of time. Otherwise, at the very least, you should require an inspection at the time the car is turned requiring they identify all issues in your presence.

@mrewright - Sure sounds like someone is trying to get away with things. I would quote the lease and decline to pay them.
 
Thinking about it, I don't believe Tesla sets up lease end inspections. Prior to purchasing my Model S lease last month, I requested an early lease termination quote. All Tesla requested was a bunch of photos of the exterior, interior and wheels/tires be submitted within a certain amount of days. Then they would coordinate for me to drop the car off at Tesla. Since the end of lease inspection is paid by the leaser, I think Tesla is just too cheap to pay for it. My advise would be to take a lot of time stamped photos just prior to dropping the car off.