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If you purchase your vehicles, one of the biggest financial hits that you will take comes in the form of depreciation. If you lease your vehicles and you haven't taken care of them you are likely to incur end of contract charges.
In a cost conscious world these are expenses that you can, and should, aim to mitigate during the life of the vehicle and when you come to dispose of it.
Of course, we all have minor scrapes, and after a few years our vehicles are never in the perfect condition that a new one is, but there are things that you can do to ensure that disposing of your vehicle isn't a painful process.
The first is obviously to avoid damage; which as we know can be self inflicted or caused by other drivers. We see from the stats that the way you drive has a big impact on your accident risk. Operate at lower speeds, less aggressively and more carefully, you can avoid incidents and vehicle damage.
Taking care when parking and manoeuvring also reduces the chances of minor bumps and damage to the alloys, small incidents but things that still impact the vehicle value.
While it's always advisable to think about where you park; avoiding spaces next to heavily damaged vehicles or where there isn't a lot of room. Unfortunately it is now common for drivers to ignore damage that they have caused and just drive off.
Throughout its life, you should also ensure that the vehicle is properly serviced as per the manufacturer's guidelines and by reputable service centres. It's also worth getting damage fixed as quickly as you can before a small issue becomes a bigger one.
Finally when you come to sell or return the vehicle, do so with the accessories that came with it. The spare set of keys, the service book, the vehicle manual and satellite navigation discs are examples of things that the next owner will want. If they are not there, it impacts the value of the vehicle.
It is important to have a clear understanding of the things that reduce the value of a vehicle, or class as unfair wear and tear on a lease vehicle. These are things that you should be thinking about throughout its life, and not just when you hand it back, otherwise you could end up paying the price.
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