MS Lease Turn In Fees

[LBDan]

So I turned in my VERY well maintained 2018 MS lease to the Costa Mesa, CA Tesla Center when I picked up my new MYP. Two weeks later I'm hit with $3,330 in damage fees for front bumper painting, 4 new tires and 1 past due lease payment. None of these are true! My vehicle was 13,000 miles UNDER my allotment. I contacted the lease turn in department and put in a reassessment request. They ended up reducing the charges to $447 for new tires which I paid to get this over with. I am furious that Tesla would do this to a repeat customer. I have leased about 4 Lexus vehicles prior and never had to pay a dime. I'll never lease another vehicle from Tesla. Does anyone else have any lease fee horror stories or am I the only one?

 

[jjrandorin]

what does being 13k under your lease alottment have to do with them saying you had a damaged bumper, 4 new tires, and missed a lease payment? Not saying any of that is true, but you didnt refute any of it, either. You laid out what they charged you for, and said "I am 13k miles under my mileage alottment", which doesnt have anything to do with those things.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Any automaker will charge for new tires if the tread depth is below a certain point, and they tell you ahead of time exactly what that point is.

 

[jjrandorin]

Any automaker will charge for new tires if the tread depth is below a certain point, and they tell you ahead of time exactly what that point is.

Yeah, the difference is, this OP is comparing this to their lexus dealer, which was probably just absorbing the lease end fees because they wrapped it into the new car deal (like many new car dealerships do).

At a traditional dealer, if they waive damage on a lease turn in when you are getting a new car, it generally means you left a lot of meat on the bone on the new car deal. In any case, none of that has anything to do with these lease end charges. I suspect the OP had what they thought was " a small scrape on the bumper" but it was larger than the allowable, and had tread under the allowable turn in limit.

The past due lease payment is either true or false, either the OP missed a payment, or they didnt. All that stuff is computerized normally, but tesla messes up so much other stuff its not out of the realm of possibility that the missed payment was a mistake / crossed in the timing of the vehicle turn in etc.

Tesla likely didnt just "make up" charges (although thats possible), so thats why I am guessing the OP had "some" damage to the front bumper that they expected to just be "magic wanded" away, and never even considered tread depth on turn for tires, even though the lease agreement for all makes will have that stuff in it.

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

Regarding the exterior condition, from the link on teslas website:

 

[Kairide]

As a serial leaser, your biggest mistake was doing a lease return. With a legacy car lease, pre-pandemic at least, you can just trade the car in when purchasing/leasing another. That way you don't get hit with any mileage, excess wear/tear, lease return fees, etc.. Just curious why you returned the Model S with the way the car market is. I'm assuming your residual in the lease contract was somewhere in the mid $40k range since it was set pre-pandemic. Used Model S' from that year are going private party from $60k - $75k in this market. Sounds like you could have purchased the lease and turned it around as a quick sale and pocketed a lot of cash on the deal.

Going back to your question. You would have completed an inspection at least 30 days prior to returning the lease. They should note these issues on the inspection and you have a chance to fix them prior to returning the car. They can always tack on additional penalties obviously if the car gets damaged between the inspection and lease return. You should take pictures yourself of the entire car, including tire tread depth at the time your returning your car. It sounds like a pain, but pictures are the only way to prove the condition that the car was returned in.

 

[CapeOne]

So I turned in my VERY well maintained 2018 MS lease to the Costa Mesa, CA Tesla Center when I picked up my new MYP. Two weeks later I'm hit with $3,330 in damage fees for front bumper painting, 4 new tires and 1 past due lease payment. None of these are true! My vehicle was 13,000 miles UNDER my allotment. I contacted the lease turn in department and put in a reassessment request. They ended up reducing the charges to $447 for new tires which I paid to get this over with. I am furious that Tesla would do this to a repeat customer. I have leased about 4 Lexus vehicles prior and never had to pay a dime. I'll never lease another vehicle from Tesla. Does anyone else have any lease fee horror stories or am I the only one?

Given that Tesla seems to have rather easily reduced the lease end charges/fees by over $2,800 or 87%, the takeaway here may be for others to fight Tesla on these potential charges/fees; especially if you bought another Tesla as you did in this case. It does raise the question as to how legit some of these charges really were if they removed them so quickly without a "fight." It's almost like they throw them out there to see how many will actually pay.

 

[VikH]

Yeah, the difference is, this OP is comparing this to their lexus dealer, which was probably just absorbing the lease end fees because they wrapped it into the new car deal (like many new car dealerships do).

At a traditional dealer, if they waive damage on a lease turn in when you are getting a new car, it generally means you left a lot of meat on the bone on the new car deal. In any case, none of that has anything to do with these lease end charges. I suspect the OP had what they thought was " a small scrape on the bumper" but it was larger than the allowable, and had tread under the allowable turn in limit.

The past due lease payment is either true or false, either the OP missed a payment, or they didnt. All that stuff is computerized normally, but tesla messes up so much other stuff its not out of the realm of possibility that the missed payment was a mistake / crossed in the timing of the vehicle turn in etc.

Tesla likely didnt just "make up" charges (although thats possible), so thats why I am guessing the OP had "some" damage to the front bumper that they expected to just be "magic wanded" away, and never even considered tread depth on turn for tires, even though the lease agreement for all makes will have that stuff in it.

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

Regarding the exterior condition, from the link on teslas website:

View attachment 693213

You’re wrong. I just returned my MX lease on Monday and had the exact same experience as OP. Tesla automatically charged me for a full set of tires even though they are in good condition and above the 4/32” requirement. They also tried charging me a Disposition Fee and miscalculated the mileage overage. And charged for an extra lease payment.

What a mess. Seems like a blatant money grab.

 

[outdoors]

I suspect the OP had what they thought was " a small scrape on the bumper" but it was larger than the allowable, and had tread under the allowable turn in limit.

The past due lease payment is either true or false, either the OP missed a payment, or they didnt. All that stuff is computerized normally, but tesla messes up so much other stuff its not out of the realm of possibility that the missed payment was a mistake / crossed in the timing of the vehicle turn in etc.

Tesla likely didnt just "make up" charges (although thats possible), so thats why I am guessing the OP had "some" damage to the front bumper that they expected to just be "magic wanded" away, and never even considered tread depth on turn for tires

Suspect
Guessing
Magic wanded

I am glad you aren't my lease turn specialist. For the OP I feel you. Leasing is arbitrary at best on a turn in and can depend on the mood or the current situation in the lease take back in. Stick it to em sometimes, and sometimes we need them back as customers.

The OP did say none of this is true. Also with a ! point..... Also been a member for longer than you. So don't jump too hard.
Have you ever turned in a lease vehicle? Or just feel like chiming in

 

[jjrandorin]

Suspect
Guessing
Magic wanded

I am glad you aren't my lease turn specialist. For the OP I feel you. Leasing is arbitrary at best on a turn in and can depend on the mood or the current situation in the lease take back in. Stick it to em sometimes, and sometimes we need them back as customers.

The OP did say none of this is true. Also with a ! point..... Also been a member for longer than you. So don't jump too hard.
Have you ever turned in a lease vehicle? Or just feel like chiming in

8 of them in fact, but not 8 teslas.

 

[outdoors]

8 of them in fact, but not 8 teslas.

How come you couldn't wait like 30 minutes to basically jump on the OP. Then tacked on about a tire post.

You would likely be an expert witness in a lease arbitration. Congrats.

 

[bandido]

I returned my lease last year pre-pandemic and had similar issues. They miscalculated my mileage and charged me the disposition fee. It took about 10-15 phone calls/emails until they were able to do the proper math.
The actual issues… Issue#1, I purchased a new Tesla which should have resulted in no disposition fee. Issue #2, My lease had had mealy a thousand miles on it when purchased. It was a demo car, they charged me miles over as if no miles. End result, I finally got it fixed, but it was a major pain. I was hoping this kind of issue was a fluke…

 

[LBDan]

what does being 13k under your lease alottment have to do with them saying you had a damaged bumper, 4 new tires, and missed a lease payment? Not saying any of that is true, but you didnt refute any of it, either. You laid out what they charged you for, and said "I am 13k miles under my mileage alottment", which doesnt have anything to do with those things.

what does being 13k under your lease alottment have to do with them saying you had a damaged bumper, 4 new tires, and missed a lease payment? Not saying any of that is true, but you didnt refute any of it, either. You laid out what they charged you for, and said "I am 13k miles under my mileage alottment", which doesnt have anything to do with those things.

I did refute it. I wrote them a long email objecting to all of it. I had pictures and receipts to prove it. They should have reduced it to zero but instead I got stuck with paying for a set of 4 tires. My point is, legacy car makers never do this to their repeat customers. Why are you a moderator on this site when you are so rude and opinionated?

 

[LBDan]

Any automaker will charge for new tires if the tread depth is below a certain point, and they tell you ahead of time exactly what that point is.

I replaced the two front tires about a year ago AT THAT SERVICE CENTER, they could have easily looked that up.

 

[LBDan]

As a serial leaser, your biggest mistake was doing a lease return. With a legacy car lease, pre-pandemic at least, you can just trade the car in when purchasing/leasing another. That way you don't get hit with any mileage, excess wear/tear, lease return fees, etc.. Just curious why you returned the Model S with the way the car market is. I'm assuming your residual in the lease contract was somewhere in the mid $40k range since it was set pre-pandemic. Used Model S' from that year are going private party from $60k - $75k in this market. Sounds like you could have purchased the lease and turned it around as a quick sale and pocketed a lot of cash on the deal.

Going back to your question. You would have completed an inspection at least 30 days prior to returning the lease. They should note these issues on the inspection and you have a chance to fix them prior to returning the car. They can always tack on additional penalties obviously if the car gets damaged between the inspection and lease return. You should take pictures yourself of the entire car, including tire tread depth at the time your returning your car. It sounds like a pain, but pictures are the only way to prove the condition that the car was returned in.

The residual was more like $60K if I had purchased it. Completing a pre inspection is a ridiculous hassle that a returning customer should not be burdened with. I did not want to purchase a 3 year old MS that was rapidly becoming outdated.

 

[LBDan]

I returned my lease last year pre-pandemic and had similar issues. They miscalculated my mileage and charged me the disposition fee. It took about 10-15 phone calls/emails until they were able to do the proper math.
The actual issues… Issue#1, I purchased a new Tesla which should have resulted in no disposition fee. Issue #2, My lease had had mealy a thousand miles on it when purchased. It was a demo car, they charged me miles over as if no miles. End result, I finally got it fixed, but it was a major pain. I was hoping this kind of issue was a fluke…

It was no fluke. Tesla needs to get their act together when it comes to lease returns and listen to the "voice of the customer" or just stop leasing cars altogether.

 

[Kairide]

From the order agreement: View attachment 686584

The residual was more like $60K if I had purchased it. Completing a pre inspection is a ridiculous hassle that a returning customer should not be burdened with. I did not want to purchase a 3 year old MS that was rapidly becoming outdated.

Wow, your residual was $60k!? My 2019 Model S lease was set to expire in March 2022. The residual was $46k, so we bought it early at $53k since the market value is $65k and up.
The Model S may be 3 years old, but I’d disagree that it’s outdated.
You should have had to complete an end of lease inspection no matter what. Unless you were trading, which it doesn’t sound like you were.
It doesn’t matter what brand you lease, returning them is a crap shoot. I returned an Audi a few months ago and they tried to charge me $900 for a new front grill even though there was nothing wrong with it. That was my 6th Audi, so brand loyalty means nothing these days.

 

[JPoldo]

I had a bad lease return experience on a 2017 ms. Although end of lease was Aug 2020, I asked for a 3 month extension anticipating some MS end of year improvements. I ordered a 2021 ms-LR on Jan 6, 2022 with a estimated delivery of March so asked for another 3 month extension at same monthly payment. My 2021 ms was not delivered so I asked for a 3rd extension and finally returned it in June. Hindsight is 20-20, I should have bought it due to used car price inflation.

They billed me for 4 new tires at $1000 plus one wheel repair at $125. I appealed citing the 4/32” tread is for 36 month lease and I deserve extra tire wear allowance by funding 9 addition months of lease. They refused and I haven’t paid them. Could this $1125 fee be added to down payment when picking up my leased 2021 ms, whenever it arrives? Should I take issue to arbitration?

 

[CapeOne]

Speaking of lease residuals, back when Teslas qualified for federal tax credits, the company would add the credit to the residual instead of using it to lower the cap cost. This artificially increased the residual value and would essentially force the lessee to pay for the federal tax credit if they decided to buy at lease end.

For example, if the residual or LEV was $50,000 and the federal tax credit was $7,500 then the residual would become $57,500. Other than perhaps wanting to discourage customers from buying the car at lease end, I never really understood why Tesla did it that way. It would have been better for customers, at least those wanting to buy at lease end, if they used the $7,500 to lower cap costs.

 

[AMPd]

I had an opposite experience turning in my vehicle, they did not charge me for rim damage, 3/4 wheels had curb rash.
They also didn’t charge me for all the miles I went over.

This was pre pandy in 2018

 

[mrewright]

Just wanted to chime in here because I am getting hit with some unreasonable requests at the end of our model S lease. Similarly, our MS has been very well maintained and kept clean. Two of our wheels bent and subsequently cracked so I replaced them with turbine wheels I bought online (which I thought were OEM, but turned out to be replicas). Fine: I replaced them with OEM wheels and new tires. I am now told that they want to charge us for a new set of tires because the tires we bought were not Z rated (they are Y rated). But I can't find any Z rated tires in Tesla OEM size online, only Y rated and Y+. So they want to charge us for a set of new tires that don't exist......