Lease damage repair

[PhoKingGuy]

One month shy of the lease ending on my GTI and I get rear ended last night, go figure. Is there any special way it should be repaired? (Do I have to let the vw finance know or something) Or should I just take it to a shop and have them fix it. I don't want to be hit with some fee when the time comes to turn it in cause of something that wasn't even my doing. Thanks guys.

 

[Vette73]

I would contact the lease company first if it is not your fault and let them and the insurance company deal with it.

 

[PricklyPete]

Sorry to hear that man. I would definitely let the lease company know so that you have your butt covered in case they have any specific policies.

 

[lastig21]

There is no special reason to let the lease company know about it. You will need to have a quality repair performed, and it will be assessed by the dealer. Since it isn't your fault, this isn't a big deal. I would just let the dealer body shop handle the repair since the other guy's insurance is picking up the tab. The dealer can't fault you for poor repair work if they are the ones that performed the body work.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

There is no special reason to let the lease company know about it. You will need to have a quality repair performed, and it will be assessed by the dealer. Since it isn't your fault, this isn't a big deal. I would just let the dealer body shop handle the repair since the other guy's insurance is picking up the tab. The dealer can't fault you for poor repair work if they are the ones that performed the body work.

This is what I had planned on doing originally, im going to call VW finance and see if they have anything special for me to do

 

[amdhunter]

Don't sweat it too much. The "big-name" insurance companies have their own shops that are approved by almost all leasing companies.

As a matter of fact, you are taking a chance by taking it to the dealership because 1) you don't know where they are getting the car painted and 2) there is NO warranty against the work they do. Most major insurance companies will cover the repairs for the life of the vehicle.

As long as it isn't a horrific repair, the leasing company won't even care.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I called VW finance and they gave me the name of a shop close by. Seeing as they only had Mercs, BMWs and a Ferrari in their lot I think its a pretty reputable place. 850 for a new bumper isnt too bad though.

 

[Doggiedog]

Is that how much you are getting? I got rear ended too in my 335i. From what I can tell, an OEM bumper for me is like $700, $150 shipping, painting $$, labor $$. It looks like over $1000.

 

[Pacfanweb]

I wouldn't call the lease company at all, unless the car was really hammered. Then, only maybe.
It's your responsibility to take care of the car, not theirs. And it's yours to get it back to them with only normal wear and tear.....I wouldn't give them a reason to nit-pit at turn-in time.

 

[yuppiejr]

Normally a rear-end accident is 100% the other driver's fault even in some "no-fault" states - any reason you don't just get it fixed, document the repair and body shop warranty info and call it good? I had a Mitsubishi take a front fender hit thanks to a dumbshit ex girlfriend 3 months before I returned it on a lease and with documentation of the repair there were no issues. Shouldn't cost you anything out of pocket even for a rental if you have decent insurance.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Yeah, its going in for repairs at the place the dealer recommended me to. I'm all covered now since im going with their bodyshop. I question why the other person is going in for insurance over 800 when their deductible is 500, but that's not my problem.

The bumper is two pieces, only the top needs replacement, thats why its 800 and not 1800, haha.

 

[SearchMaster]

I'm curious - if you owned the car, insurance would give you a few hundred bucks for "dimunition of value" - the loss of value in the car because it's been in an accident. Would this check now go to the leasing company since they own the car?

 

[Pulsar]

I'm not sure why anyone would suggest NOT getting in touch with the lease company.

Yes, they probably don't need to know. However all lease agreements are not created equal. Who knows? They might have it written into his that he must use a lease-company approved shop. They do stupid things like that occasionally.

I'm glad to see you did the safe thing and called them. Something like that could be that silly little "gotcha" at the end of the lease period that ends up costing you big bucks because you didn't know it was written in the fine print in the agreement.

 

[Doggiedog]

From all of the lease returns I've done. No dealership has asked me if I got into an accident. They just do a cursory look at the condition of the car, check the mileage and try to get me to lease another car.

One of my friends is a mechanic at a dealership and since most of these lease returns are slated to go to auction, he vultures some of them for parts. He put the newer front and rear ends of a car onto an older model to look like a newer one for his brother's car. It seems they don't really care. At least that's my experience.

 

[KentState]

When I called my leasing company after being rear ended, they sounded completely dumbfounded that I will be letting the know what happened.

I also was sent a check for diminished value. I figure if the leasing company asks for it one day, I will hand it over, otherwise it's mine.