Tips on Buying Cars: lease turn in damage assesment, kevin harding, subaru impreza

Question
Mr. Paulsen,

I turned in a leased subaru impreza for a forester in June,  I just received the damage list and I am in a fair state of shock.  To give some background, the car was hit in a parking lot in January, in May of this year, I took it to the dealership to see what else would need to be repaired before turn in.  I was told to get the body work done and fix the windshield(cracked), which I then did.  The day I got the car back from the body shop was the day I took it back to the dealer for turn in.(June 23)  The car was inspected on July 14, and I received in the mail today(July 28) a claim for damages totaling $1,487.00.  Under the lease terms the first 1,000 is covered, but I am responsible for anything else.  I am hardly pleased at the idea of having to pay an additional 500, after I have already paid 700 toward repairs, especially since I was told explicitly by the dealer that no additional repairs were required.  Further, one of the stated damages is for something that was repaired prior to turn in.  I have a receipt for the repair, and will be sending that to the finance company.  But what about the other damages they are claiming . . . should I contact my dealer with respect to the conversation we had about what needed to be repaired?  The body shop that did the work is going to be sending me pictures they took of the car while the work was being done, as well but I do not know how useful those will be.  I spoke with the finance company, and they will be researching the claim, but stated that they have no pictures of the vehicle.  Any advice or tips you may have would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you very much.

Kevin Harding
Lansing, MI

Answer
Hi Kevin. Every lease differ in terms, maybe I have some answers, but there are questions I need answered, without going into long detail let's do this, email me a phone # with best time to call,  paulsenray@yahoo.com

When you turned in the Impreza for another vehicle, I am almost sure you made a major mistake, will explain when we talk, also I would like a break down of the $1,487.00.

Ray
http://www.usedcartips.org/