Mercedes C200 End-of-Lease Inspection

This Mercedes C200 came in for a pre-return lease inspection. A 3-year lease extended by a year, around 20,000 miles -- well looked after by any measure. But lease companies don't charge by how well you've looked after it; they charge by what they can see. Gary carries out the inspection to BVRLA standards, which is the same framework the lease company will use when the car goes back.

What the inspection found

Starting at the front: headlights clean, number plate fine. Bird etch marks on the bonnet -- nothing structural but in the wrong light they show. Front bumper has a scuff underneath, visible in the photographs. No cracks, no structural damage; Gary checks underneath carefully.

Nearside: a small scratch that's gone through the paint, but it's on plastic trim so no rust risk. Tyres all good. Alloy wheels mostly clean -- a couple of scuffs on one, noted with yellow tape. A light scratch runs along the wing and into the door, all within polishable depth. Rear wing has a small dent; Gary puts the measuring gauge on it and confirms it's below the 15mm BVRLA threshold -- chargeable dents start above that.

Opening the door: no smell, no smoking damage, door shuts clean. Some chemical marks on the sill -- car wash residue, nothing serious. Roof and seals are fine. Rear door has minor corrosion coming out of a scratch -- at four years old that's not unusual, but it's worth noting because corrosion reads differently to a plain scratch on the inspector's sheet. Rear bumper clean, no damage underneath. Boot: spare wheel is missing (tools are there, photographed). Driver's side rear quarter all in good condition, that wheel is perfect.

Inside: carpets reasonable, fabric could do with a wipe. Mats in good condition. Steering wheel and centre console clean. Overall the interior is well kept for the mileage.

Driver's side: mirrors fine. Front wheel has a couple of scuffs and some corrosion, noted. Windscreen original, no damage.

The verdict -- and what we did

Overall a well-maintained car. The scratches are all minor; none had been previously repaired. Gary's assessment: a few items worth polishing out before return, the rest either below threshold or not worth the repair cost.

After the inspection, the polishable scratches were corrected -- the door edge, the wing scratch, the bird etch marks on the bonnet. In the after shots, you'd be hard pressed to find them.

That's the point of a pre-return inspection: go in knowing exactly what you're handing back, fix what makes financial sense, and don't get surprised by a recharge bill you weren't expecting.

Book an end-of-lease car inspection before your return date -- our report tells you what to fix and what to leave alone.