What happens at the end of my contract?

We'll contact you and ask what you want to do next, but you have a few options to choose from. 

 

Give the vehicle back

If you want to give the vehicle back, it's easy to arrange collection.

Just log in to Manage My Vehicle, select ‘Collect my vehicle’, enter mileage, and choose a date.

 

Find out more about giving the vehicle back

Extend your contract

If you want to keep your vehicle and extend your contract, you can. 

You can do everything online, so log into Manage My Vehicle.

 

Extend contract

Keep the vehicle short-term

An easy, short-term option to continue to drive your vehicle, called informal extension.

Just keep paying your monthly payments and we'll write to you again in 6 months.

 

Find out more about informal extension

Giving your vehicle back

  • To make collecting your vehicle quick and easy, follow these steps:

    1. MOT check - The MOT must be valid when we collect the vehicle. We recommend that your vehicle has at least 14 days left on the MOT. If the vehicle can’t be driven for any reason, please get in touch right away.
    2. Safe to drive - your vehicle must be safe to drive. Make sure it’s in good condition, with no major problems and no warning lights on the dashboard.
    3. Tyres - your tyres must be within legal limits.
    4. Fuel or EV charge - your fuel tank should be at least a quarter full. If it’s an EV, charge the battery to 100%.
    5. Insurance - keep your car insured until we pick it up.

  • If you have a personal number plate on the vehicle you'll need to contact the Lex Autolease Cherished Plates team on 0800 389 3690 (between 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday), around 10-12 weeks before the end of the lease to ensure the transfer goes as smoothly as possible. 

  • Avoid extra charges by following these steps:

    • Documents - leave all the manuals, service books, and other important papers in the glove box.
    • Keys - give back all the keys, including any spare keys. Make sure the locking wheel nut is in the glove box.
    • Personal data - delete all your personal data from the satellite navigation and any connected services, e.g. removal of your data from the Tesla app. 

  • When the driver collects your vehicle, they will inspect the vehicle using the BVRLA fair wear and tear guidelines.  It can take up to 45 minutes.

    They’ll record their findings. You’ll be asked to sign on a tablet.

    Then, the driver will take your vehicle away.

    If you don’t agree with what they recorded, you still need to sign and say you disagree. After that, contact us to find out what to do next.

  • We don’t expect you to return your vehicle in the same condition as you received it.

    Wear and tear happens to a vehicle, no matter how carefully you look after it.

    We’ll only note any additional damage that falls outside of the BVRLA Fair Wear and Tear guidelines and we may charge you for any damage to the vehicle.

    Go to our damage page for everything you need to know about damage and fair wear and tear.

    Go to damage page

  • We’ll check how many miles you’ve driven compared to what you agreed on in the lease.

    If you’ve driven more, you’ll need to pay an extra charge. This is called excess mileage charge. You can find this information in your contract.

    If you drove less than the agreed mileage, you won’t get a refund and you can’t use any unused mileage to cover damage costs.

  • Your final payments will depend on your contract type. 

    Invoices for damage are raised within 10 days after your vehicle collection. If you don’t hear from us, you don’t need to pay any charges. 

    We’ll send you an invoice if you need to pay damage or excess mileage charges.

    We’ll take the payment on the same date you usually make your direct debit payment.

  • If you took any payment holidays during Covid, we’ll let you know what you'll need to pay when your contract ends. This could mean you’ll continue to make payments after you’ve returned your vehicle.

    If you want to make the payments you missed now, call us on 0800 302 9160 and select option 3. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8.30am - 5.30pm.

    We're closed at weekends and on bank holidays.

Extra charges

If your vehicle isn’t ready and we can’t collect it, you’ll have to pay a fee.

And, if we have to collect your vehicle after your contract ends, this could cost you even more.

 

Arrange to give back your vehicle

If you're ready to give your vehicle back, just log into Manage My Vehicle, select collect my vehicle, and choose a date that suits you. We'll do our best to work to your preferred date, but this does depend on availability.

If you decide to cancel the collection, you must give at least 48 hours notice before the collection date. If you don't the collection agent will still come to collect the vehicle, and you could be charged an aborted collection fee.

Arrange vehicle collection

Informal extension

Informal extension can be a good short term option because:

  • It’s flexible so it can be useful if you’re waiting for a new vehicle but don’t have a delivery date
  • You don’t need to apply for a new lease or go through any credit checks again as there’s no formal agreement
  • You’ll continue paying the same maintenance rates you did when the vehicle was new.

Informal extension is not supposed to be a long-term option for leasing a vehicle.

This is because you pay a fixed amount for a car that continues to depreciate in value, and you can't ever own it.

  • Once you're in informal extension, you've got 3 options:

    1. Change your vehicle - you can contact your broker or dealership to see if they have a better option for you, rather than keeping your existing vehicle. Once you've chosen a new vehicle, you'll start a new agreement. 
    2. Extend your lease - you can enter a new agreement, where you can change your mileage if you want to. You can only extend your lease if your vehicle is less than 5 years old. 
    3. Give the vehicle back - If you’re ready to end your contract and hand your vehicle back. Go to Manage My Vehicle and arrange collection. As soon as the car is back with us, your agreement will end automatically – you don’t need to do anything else.

    If you stay in informal extension, we'll write to you again in 6 months.

    • You can’t change your annual mileage allowance. If you’re using your vehicle more that you’d originally expected, you may need to pay for extra mileage when you return it.
    • If you’re driving fewer miles than your allowance, we can’t reduce your monthly payments to reflect this
    • If you're staying in informal extension for a long time,  you may end up paying a lot more than the original cost of the vehicle – and you can’t ever own it

 

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