This week, we have gone slightly out of the box with a question. This one has come from a lady called Sally from Halifax who is currently in a vehicle from one of the major car subscription providers listed on our website.
She asks: “I have damaged all 4 of my wheels quite badly whilst parking due to the high curbs outside my terraced house, will the fair, wear and tear policy cover this?”
Returning Your Car with Damage
Depending on the car subscription provider will depend on how they set their return standards for their vehicles. Some adhere by the BVRLA’s fair, wear and tear, others (especially shorter-term companies) have their return conditions within their contracts or on their websites.
Depending on the severity of the damage, I’d say that a charge will be incurred for the damage to the alloys. This can very from provider-to-provider but will usually be between £80 to £250 depending on the type of alloy wheel.
Should I repair before sending it back?
Whilst it may sound like a good idea to have the alloy wheels repaired before returning the car back to the provider, make sure you use a reputable company. If you go to a back street garage and pay around £50 per wheel, you are opening yourself up to being charged for a previous poor repair. This could be due to foreign objects in the paint work, repair runs or even worse, a complete bodge job!
Before you arrange the return of your vehicle, get in touch with the company who you subscribe with and speak it through with someone who deals with the returns. It may prove to be more cost-effective to go return the car with the damaged alloy and take the charge, instead of the risk of paying twice.
At the return stage
When you are ready to return your car subscription, go around the car with a friend of a colleague and by Uber critical of the paintwork and any damage. Take plenty of photos and videos of the car, and point out things that you may get charged for.
Many of the providers will do an inspection of the vehicle at a de-fleet centre, they will be looking for imperfections in paint, dents that aren’t very visible at the roadside and other areas that damage isn’t easy to spot. This will all be in your terms and conditions
