End of Term Lease of Honda Accord Coupe 2003

Ok, so my lease is coming to an end this month and want to know what I
should expect when this inspection guy comes to my house and does
Honda's end of lease term inspection. I have kept the car in great
condition. It has one small scratch on the driver's side door and 1
ding on the other side. No cracks on any mirrors, windows nothing.
Radio, CD, AC an vents work fine. Heated seats work fine. Everything
is great. The only thing that I have no record of is this stupid 7500
mile maintance record. This is because my father does all of my car
work. We have been extremely diligent with changing the oil, rotating
tires, changing filter, etc, etc....So, I have no records of oil
changes or things like that. The car drives fine. I have always used
Honda brake pads straight from the dealer but we have always put them
on ourselves. Here are my concerns:
-I have absolutely no intentions of leasing another car from Honda, as
a matter of fact I already leased a new Pontiac. I was treated
terribly at the Honda dealership that I went to and plan to never
lease or buy a car from Honda ever again. So will they want to charge
me for erronous things if they see that I am not returning to them?
-There are a few minor scratches on one of my rims, will that be seen
as excessive damage?
-My maintance light has been on for a while now because although we
have done all of the required maintance work on it, I have tried to do
that silly key in the ignition, hold down the button on the odomoter
screen thing, and nothing happens. I have read the manual one hundred
times thinking maybe I was doing this sequence incorrectly but with no
avail. Does anyone know if after a certain amount of mileage, you
definitely have to have Honda turn this stupid light off for you?

I am freakin out because I have taken good care of this car never to
have known that all receipts were necessary at the end of lease term,
nor did anyone tell me that at the dealership when I leased the car
four years ago. Has anyone had experience with Honda and returning
their vehicles. Oh, just as a side note, I am under mileage on the
car, it currently has 48,300 and I am under about 20 thousand miles.

Any opinions or advice would be helpful.

 

BOHICA

 

wrote in @v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

This will be noted. They may charge you for it depending on the exact
nature of the damage. If the scratch is through the paint and there's
rust, you'll almost certainly be charged, because they'll have to
repaint the door.

If you mean curb damage, then yes.

What does this light say on it? Are you not confusing it with the Check
Engine light?

You're not telling us the year of your Accord.

Did you read the lease contract? These things are normally pointed out
to you when you sign the contract.

 

Yes, I checked the lease contract and it doesnt state anything about
having the vehicle taken to Honda always for maintance repairs etc.
The car is a 2003 model. As far as the rim, the damage is minimal, but
yes, it is curb damage. I mean, it's a four year old car (it was a
four year old lease) there has to be some kind of wear and tear on the
vehicle, no? As far as the light, it is not the check engine light. It
is the MAINTANCE LIGHT, and I have tried several times to do what it
says on the manual and it does not work. Although, I have done it is
the past, it wont do it now. Honestly, I looked through all of my
papers yesterday and no, nothing is stated on the contract that the
car had to be returned with all receipts. Nor was this stated to me at
the signing of my contract. My saleswoman was extremely incompetent
and I should have never signed anything because she was very ignorant
about the car to begin with. Honda also has great ways of rising your
lease price once you have decided to lease the car. After the total
amount was told to me, the woman told me I had to then talk to the
lease manager and he was able to convince me into getting all these
stupid extra items like, peace of mind contract with Honda that should
anything ever happen to the car (i.e. I totalled the car) I would be
able to get a new Honda from that particular year. In the end, my
payments ended up being more than what I had originally been told. My
fault since it was my very first car lease, ignorance on my part,
definitely.

But, like I said, the car is in very good to good condition except for
these minor things. No the rim isnt terribly scratched but it is a
little. So, I dont know how that will affect the inspection. I was
thinking about buying a new honda rim myself for cheaper and putting
it on the car. The other thing also is that on the side of the tire it
has some of it was chipped off when I did hit the curb. So, does that
mean I should buy a new tire and rim? Honestly, I would buy a new tire
and rim just because I know Honda will charge me a lot more for all
these things than if I were to go and get them myself.

Never again will I lease a Honda ever again, not just due to this
inspection business being so extremely obnoxious but because of the
way I was treated there last week. I still dont know what dealer to
return to vehicle to considering that two dealerships were extremely
rude to me.

 

wrote in

It never will (but it may "recommend" a franchised Honda dealer). It
just would state you need to service the vehicle according to the
service schedule.

Yes, but curb damage is due to careless parking habits, not normal wear
and tear. You might get lucky and the inspector won't notice or care.

Can't explain that. Get somebody else to try. You HAVE to get that light
turned off before the inspector shows up.

Then you don't need receipts. Don't worry about it. If you get asked
where the car was serviced, tell the truth.

They ALL do that. That's how they make their real money. That's their
job. Your job is to resist that.

Also, American Honda has nothing at all to do with the negotiation of
the lease. That's done by the independent dealership which owns a Honda
franchise. This is why you will find drastic differences from one
dealership to another; they're all independents, just flying the
automaker's banner under license.

All Honda did was sell the car to the dealership. Which, in your case,
eventually sold the car to Honda Finance Corporation once you signed the
lease.

It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. The informed buyer is the successful
buyer.

It's fairly easy to go in buying instead of leasing and to go in asking
for an on-the-road price, and quite a lot harder to go in trying to
lease/finance. That's where they make their money.

Takes a tough, quick, educated mind to deflect the attempts at getting
more cash from you. It may be wise to hire an outside expert to
negotiate your lease for you next time. You may spend less on him than
you would on the additional charges you'd otherwise get suckered into
agreeing to.

Wait until you get called on it. If the inspector says it's a problem,
you can then say you will replace the rim. If he says nothing, you say
nothing.

Never volunteer ANYTHING and never ask questions. Let HIM find any
problems.

You'll pay the same retail price either way unless you obtain the wheel
from a wreckers. Expect to pay about $400 for one new wheel.

And having one new wheel and one tire different from the rest may also
raise red flags for the inspector. It's not considered safe to have two
tires with different tread or different tread depths on the same axle.
And your ABS may even complain if the tires are different enough, so by
replacing just the one wheel/tire, you may be making a real rat's nest
for yourself.

They ALL do it. You won't escape that buying from a different
manufacturer.

 

Thank you for the advice. Ok, I guess I just have one last question.
The first year that I leased the car, one of the tires had a bubble on
it, so I decided to replace it. Does this mean that I am going to get
charged because I changed a tire that could have in the end caused an
accident? I guess I dont seem to understand this.

As far as the tire thread, if the car has only been driven 48,000
miles (20,000 miles under the lease maximum) then the tire thread
should still be in ok conditions to turn in, right? Or am I mistaken
on this fact? Also, if the inspector says that my tires are too worn,
can I go ahead and buy cheaper tires (all four obviously). I dont see
how a tire would cost me $400. Or were you referring to all four tires
being replaced?

While I understand that this is how all dealerships make their money.
There is a huge difference between getting treated like crap and
getting treated with respect. My husband and I have owned 4 Pontiacs,
all leased. Never have we ever had any problems whatsoever with any
end of lease terms. Nor, have we ever been treated with disrespect.
This is what makes or breaks dealerships, I believe. This is why I
have decided to lease a Pontiac instead of even trying to see if Honda
was willing to waive the fees for the Accord. I want Honda out of my
life forever. Terrible service and dealership tactics. While the cars
may be great, their employees are smug, obnoxious and too sneaky for
me to do business with. Pontiac on the otherhand, I had no problems
whatsoever.

 

wrote in @n33g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

That's not what I mean.

48K miles is plenty to cause tread wear to the point that replacement of
one tire now will be obvious. Replacement of a tire in the car's first
year is fine, as the others will be still-new anyway. Besides, tires
come with warranties, and it's expected that warranty will be exercised
from time to time.

The WHEEL is $400 (that's the metal part you scraped up).
The rubber TIRE is on top of that, and can run you anywhere from $40 to
$400 depending on make, model and size.

Don't worry about this right now. Just turn off the Maint. light and
leave the tire and wheel alone.

If the inspector tells you the tire and wheel are a problem, he can
advise you how best and cheapest to get it fixed. He's not making a
commission or anything on this, just inspecting the car, so he has no
incentive to try to rip you off.

Certainly is.

I did say there is a wide difference between dealerships on account of
them being separate companies. What's not fair is your denigration of
Honda corporate for the actions of a bad dealership. Honda had zero to
do with your lease and how the dealership handled you.

It's unfortunate that people see the carmaker's company logo on the
building and figure the building is owned and operated by that company.
This is not so.

If you're really dissatisfied with your treatment by the dealership's
employees and the dealership manager won't help, THEN you can call Honda
and tell your tale of woe to them directly. Honda has a vested interest
in not having their dealers give them a bad name.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Honda Automobile Customer Service
1919 Torrance Boulevard
Mail Stop: 500 - 2N - 7D
Torrance, CA 90501-2746
phone: (800) 999-1009

Again, you happened to deal with a nice Pontiac franchise. You have yet
to ever deal with GM or Pontiac at all.

There are plenty of Pontiac dealers who are sharks too.

You've never dealt with Pontiac or GM, just an independent company
flying their flag.

 

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate the help.

 

Bullshit. They handed you the contract, which you signed. They then
handed you a copy of the contract that you signed.

What do you mean "they never told me"?

Oh--you're one of those who never reads things, then complains when
someone doesn't spoon-feed you the details without you having to read
and understand the contract.

You're a fucking idiot. You have the contract right in your hands, and
in FACT you had the contract in your hands BEFORE you signed it. You
had the opportunity then to back out of the deal if the terms were bad.

But you signed, and now you're obligated to the terms of the contract.
Why are you bitching NOW?

Fucking moron. Go away, little child. The world doesn't exist to serve
you.

 

It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. The informed buyer is the successful
buyer.[/QUOTE]

But he's a fucking moron who deserves what he gets.

 

wrote in @n33g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

You're welcome.

And don't be shy about playing up the "helpless female" thing. It's more
effective than you might think (just don't overdo it).

 

But he's a fucking moron who deserves what he gets.
[/QUOTE]

As I recollect, the Honda owners site has quite a bit of info and a
checklist vis damage and what is allowable. Given what was said here is
enough reason to avoid buying a car off lease. Having the work done at
Honda is recorded and available.