I leased my '06 S2000 through the Honda deal ($299/month). The lease ends in about 6 months, and I wanted to get an idea of what condition the car has to be in when I return it.

1. How much thread needs to be on the tires?
2. Does the oil need to be freshly changed?
3. I have very small chips in the paint near the rear tires. I think this is common in S2K's. Should I buy touch up paint and fix this?
4. Do I need to wash the car upon returning it?

Sorry if these questions sound dumb. This is my first leased car. And, with ~6 months to go, I will probably return it exactly at 36k miles. Knowing this, I wanted to plan any additional auto-related maintenance expenses accordingly.

Thanks!

 

Each lessor may have their own requirements. I lease all my business cars. Never had them question maintenance records. Tires had to be more that 25% tread left (I think), and dings and scratches have to be smaller than a 50 piece. My last car had scratches on the rear bumper which I had touched up. They tried to ding me, but I had pictures taken the morning it was turned in (very important) and they didn't even show in the pictures, so they backed off. Washing isn't required, but you want a good impression so they don't look with a magnifying glass.

 

It depends on the person doing the inspection. The guy that looked over my 2002 leased S2K was pretty lenient. The only thing he really looked at was the mileage and tires. I had a big scratch on the hood from a truck tire tread that I hit on the freeway and he said thats normal wear and tear. He didn't look at the maintanence records at all even though I had all of them.

 

The best thing to do is check on the Honda Financial web site. They should have a section on lease turn in/allowances there. As others have said, you will have an inspection before turn in and have time afterwards to get repairs done if necessary. They do allow for wear and tear(and have to as the car was to be driven, right?) Don't let them nickel and dime you. Tires/mileage/major body damage are what they are looking for. I too have an 06 which is due May 31st. If my car wasn't winged by a shopping cart last summer I might have bought it at lease end. Are you getting another S2K?

 

The better your car looks, the more likely you are to avoid fines, but I can tell you my family, especially my brother has turned in cars looking pretty nasty. He's a surfer and had wax all over the seats and half the sand from New Jersey in the car when he turned it in and had no fines.

You are alotted a certain amount of money for damage, excess wear, etc. - if your car is good, maybe it can go toward more worn tires, etc. The inspectors are usually really cool about everything, ask him when he comes and I am sure you will be fine.

 

Just to give you an idea and what to expect, I got a final inspection form from BMW when I turned in my 05 325Ci three months ago.

There's a column listing every body panel with check boxes for small or large under heading of "Charges for dings, dents and scratches"

Charge per incident on each panel: Small $100 / Large $450
Max charge for each bumper: $400
Max charge per panel is $600

On my owner's manual, it said that I was allowed I believe 2 incidents per panel, with a maximum of 6 on each side before they start charging for above. I had around 5 noticeable door dings on each side of my car, but they didn't charge me for anything, I guess the inspector was lenient. Maybe because overall the car looked great, and I only put 18k miles on it.

2 of the door dings I had had a chunk of paint chipped off, I touched those up. My passenger side mirror had a nasty gash so I had to have the resprayed for $150 on my own before I turned it in.

Tires has to be a minimum of 1/8" tread depth measured from lowest depth.

Hope this helps

 

No matter what anyone tells you, they will get you for something. They want each car returned in excellent condition for a used car. The idea is that they should be able to take you car in and sell it certified the next day...so you do the math. Some may be less strict than others, but IMO they will always try to get you for something.

 

Having gone through 8 leases since 1996 I can tell you I have yet to pay $1 in charges upon turning the cars in. I keep my cars in good shape and have only had one issue(on my wifes last car a VW Touareg). They said a light was on in the dash(and sent me a photo to prove it) and wanted to charge me $300. When I explained it was the DRL indicator and was always there since we had driven off the lot(it wasn't a warning light) they realized they would not be scamming me and dropped the charge. I have said it before and will repeat it, leases are great for people who can drive 15K miles/yr or less(and NOT go over) and for people who generally take good care of their cars. If you never clean your car, park anywhere you can squeeze in and skip maintenance, don't lease...

 

what was your money down when you started?

 

I agree chickdr. I have leased 5 cars since the mid 90s and have never paid a dime on turn in. I would add another reason to lease. If you use your car for business, it's much better to lease than purchase. Much bigger write off. The last car I turned in was the first time they tried to ding me, and it didn't work cause I had pictures, and I fought it.
luder, I have never put down more than the first months lease payment, the license fee and a security deposit. Never have, never will.