How to Return a Leased Car

The finance company contacts you near the end of the agreement to arrange collection, and the car is collected from you rather than being taken anywhere. Before the day, check the mileage, appraise the condition, gather both keys and all the accessories, and make sure the car is roadworthy.

On the day, have the car clean, be there to hand it over, read the condition report before signing it and take your own photographs. That is the whole process, and the preparation matters far more than the handover itself.

The mileage is recorded and the condition is inspected against fair wear and tear standards, usually by an independent collection agent working for the finance company. What they find is written on a condition report that you are asked to sign.

The car is then taken away and assessed properly, and any charge is raised afterwards rather than agreed at the door. If the vehicle is within its mileage and in acceptable condition, that is the end of the agreement with nothing further to pay.

Yes, charges can apply for excess mileage, damage beyond fair wear and tear, or missing items such as keys, cables or the locking wheel nut. None of them are automatic, and a car returned within its mileage and in line with the standard should attract nothing.

The charges are covered in detail in our end of lease options guide, along with what to do if you think one is wrong. The best way to avoid them is to appraise the car early enough to fix anything yourself.

Fair wear and tear is the deterioration you would expect from normal, everyday use over the term, and it is accepted with no charge. Light scuffing and small marks consistent with the car's age and mileage are fine.

Damage is different and is chargeable. It results from a specific event such as an impact, badly stowed items or neglect, rather than from ordinary use. The BVRLA Fair Wear and Tear Standard is the benchmark most funders assess against and sets out specific limits, so it is worth reading against your own car well before collection.

Yes, and not for appearances. A dirty car cannot be inspected accurately, and marks recorded on a panel that could not properly be seen are much harder to dispute afterwards.

Cleaning it also lets you spot anything yourself before the collection agent does, while there may still be time to act. The car does not need to be immaculate, it needs to be in a state where it can be assessed fairly.

Yes, and starting early is the sensible move. Lining up the next agreement before the current one ends keeps the choice yours rather than leaving you to take whatever can be arranged in the time left.

Each new agreement is a fresh application and a fresh credit decision, not a renewal. You can browse in stock lease deals alongside a factory order, or compare the latest special offers.

10 to 12 weeks before the car is due back, which is the window the BVRLA suggests for appraising it against the fair wear and tear standard. The reason is entirely practical: it leaves time to have any damage repaired at your own choice of repairer.

Leaving it to the final fortnight is the most common mistake, because by then anything you find is going to be charged for rather than fixed. Use the window to walk round the car properly with the standard in hand.

Yes, someone needs to be present to hand the car over, go through the condition report with the collection agent and sign it. It is not a drop off.

Collections are usually booked for a day rather than a specific time slot, so plan for that. If you genuinely cannot be there, arrange for someone else to handle it and tell the funder in advance, because an unattended collection leaves you with no input into what gets recorded.

Contact the finance company as soon as you know and ask to move the date, or nominate someone to hand the car over on your behalf. Both are normal requests and are easier to arrange in advance than at the last minute.

Whoever does the handover should know to read the report before signing and to photograph the car, since they are acting as your eyes. Do not simply leave the vehicle unattended for collection unless the funder has confirmed that arrangement in writing.

Usually yes, if the damage falls outside fair wear and tear and you have time to arrange it. Having a repair done at your own choice of repairer is very often cheaper than the charge that would otherwise be raised.

Have the work done properly and to a good standard, because a poor repair can be treated as damage in its own right. This is exactly why the 10 to 12 week appraisal matters, since it is the only point at which you still have this option.

All your personal belongings, anything in the boot or glovebox, toll tags, parking permits and any aftermarket accessories you want to keep. Also unpair your phone, delete saved home and work addresses from the navigation, and remove the car from any connected services app or account linked to it.

What stays with the car is both keys, the locking wheel nut, the parcel shelf or load cover, charging cables for an EV or plug-in hybrid, the handbook and the service record. Anything supplied with the car when new is expected back with it.

You are responsible for it, because keeping the vehicle roadworthy, taxed and tested during the agreement sits with you. The car has to be returned roadworthy and with a valid MOT if it is old enough to require one.

This only comes up on agreements running beyond three years, since a new car needs no MOT until its third anniversary. On a four or five year lease the test falls due while you have the car, and a maintenance package may cover it, so check whether yours does.

Usually within a few weeks, once the car has been assessed properly away from the driveway. The report signed at collection is the starting point rather than the final decision, so nothing is settled on the day.

Keep your copy of the condition report and your own photographs until the position is resolved. If a charge arrives that you believe is wrong, you can question it with the finance company, and our end of lease options guide explains how.

There is no automatic right to. Contract hire is a fixed term agreement, and the voluntary termination right that applies to PCP and hire purchase under the Consumer Credit Act does not apply to it in the same way.

Where a funder does allow an early return they quote a settlement figure, typically a large proportion of the remaining rentals, and some do not offer it at all. If you are in this position, speak to your funder directly, because the answer depends on their terms rather than on any general rule.

Only if a service is actually due, but the service record does need to be complete and in line with the manufacturer's schedule when the car goes back. A missed or late service can be treated as a failure to maintain the vehicle.

Check the schedule and the record in the final month and make sure the evidence goes back with the car, whether that is a stamped book or a digital record the funder can verify. Skipping a service that falls due just before the end is a false economy.