Returning Fiat 500e Lease! Help

[crzy2bealive]

Couple questions

I'm having a hard time finding a dealer that will except my Fiat 500e for lease return. The dealer I leased it from closed down their Fiat department. (OC Fiat)

I also didn't receive any information for a pre-inspection and I'm out of town all next week. I'm not over the miles.

My lease is up on March 16th.

I know there was a bunch of people that leased it around the same time I did so wonder if your going through the same thing.

1. Do I need a pre-inspection? I got the wear and tear additional insurance so should it matter?
2. Tires are bald should I get them replaced or say fuck it let them charge me.
3. What dealer did you go to that excepted lease returns.

 

[78Southwind]

1. Both my friend and girlfriend had the inspection done and a company came out to their work.
2. My friend had about 29,000 miles on his and my girlfriend had 36,000 miles on hers. They both just replaced the 2 worst tires and they didn't get charged for the other two.
3. I think my friend went to Burbank Fiat and my girlfriend went to OC Fiat in Dec 2019.

I have heard of others in Northern California having problems returning the cars too. If there aren't any dealers local to you, I would call up the leasing company and see if you could just keep on leasing it until they can pick it up for you. I have heard of others keeping their cars for months after the lease was supposed to be up because of the same issues.

 

[LuauLounge]

We had a business lease on a Hyundai that we weren’t sure whether we were going to purchase. Got an extension, up to 6 months, that the buyout would be reduced by the full monthly payment, other than taxes. Mileage was also increased at the same terms as the lease. Made it easy to deal with it on our timeline.

 

[crzy2bealive]

1. Both my friend and girlfriend had the inspection done and a company came out to their work.
2. My friend had about 29,000 miles on his and my girlfriend had 36,000 miles on hers. They both just replaced the 2 worst tires and they didn't get charged for the other two.
3. I think my friend went to Burbank Fiat and my girlfriend went to OC Fiat in Dec 2019.

I have heard of others in Northern California having problems returning the cars too. If there aren't any dealers local to you, I would call up the leasing company and see if you could just keep on leasing it until they can pick it up for you. I have heard of others keeping their cars for months after the lease was supposed to be up because of the same issues.

Thanks!! There is hope.

I'll keep calling around!!

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[pronstar]

I ran into this as well. Fiat doesn’t sell the car in Texas.

Call the Fiat customer care line and they’ll help you out.

I also had the lease-damage waiver, and returned the car lowered with a bunch of dents and scratches...wife had hit a parking pole, and a drunk gal side-swiped me.

Plus three near-bald tires and one brand-new tire.

I wasn’t charged for anything.

Edit:
Now that I think about it, I did get an inspection. The guy noted all of the things I mentioned above.

The only thing I was charged for was the lease-disposition fee, which I think was $395

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[HALLETT BOY]

You guys make a nice case to NOT buy a lease return Fiat anything...

 

[Cole Trickle]

I returned mine back in december to Orange Coast Fleet Sales (2861 Harbor Blvd Costa Mesa)

714-444-5325 ...super easy call them and advise you have a Fiat 500e you need to lease return.

I was contacted by Chrysler capital about 500x a month or two before my lease ended to find out if I wanted to buy the car or return it. I advised I wanted to return it and they set me up with an inspector that came to my work.....Is it me or are Chrysler capital employees pretty hood

855-563-5635 Chrysler Capital

I also had the protection plan and only had to pay the $395 about 5 weeks after i returned the car.

 

[Ziggy]

That's so weird....Wonder why some dealers won't take them? Are they getting screwed by ChryFin somehow?
.
I took any lease turn in at my bmw store. Allowed me to cherry pick the best ones to buy for inventory. The rest they came and picked up for auctions.

 

[78Southwind]

That's so weird....Wonder why some dealers won't take them? Are they getting screwed by ChryFin somehow?
.
I took any lease turn in at my bmw store. Allowed me to cherry pick the best ones to buy for inventory. The rest they came and picked up for auctions.

I know some of the Dealers were closing the Fiat side of the dealership. The 500e had a lease buy back value of around $19,000 but they are selling at auctions for $4,000 to $6,000 and retail around $8,000. I don't think there is any profit in them for the dealership.

 

[HALLETT BOY]

That's so weird....Wonder why some dealers won't take them? Are they getting screwed by ChryFin somehow?
.
I took any lease turn in at my bmw store. Allowed me to cherry pick the best ones to buy for inventory. The rest they came and picked up for auctions.

Same reason most dealers won’t take a 6.0 Ford , more trouble than their worth .

 

[pronstar]

That's so weird....Wonder why some dealers won't take them? Are they getting screwed by ChryFin somehow?
.
I took any lease turn in at my bmw store. Allowed me to cherry pick the best ones to buy for inventory. The rest they came and picked up for auctions.

Makes no sense to me, either.

In addition to your point, most dealers would pay to have a customer - who’s likely gonna need a car - to come the the dealership.


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[pronstar]

I know some of the Dealers were closing the Fiat side of the dealership. The 500e had a lease buy back value of around $19,000 but they are selling at auctions for $4,000 to $6,000 and retail around $8,000. I don't think there is any profit in them for the dealership.

That’s on FCA and Chrysler Capital. They know what these cars are really worth.

It doesn’t affect money at the dealer level.

Dealers are snapping these up at the auction prices you mention, and selling them for $6k - $8k.






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[Cole Trickle]

That's so weird....Wonder why some dealers won't take them? Are they getting screwed by ChryFin somehow?
.
I took any lease turn in at my bmw store. Allowed me to cherry pick the best ones to buy for inventory. The rest they came and picked up for auctions.

Fiat shut down a bunch of stores. They stopped us production on the 500/500e models. They took a giant bath on every single 500e they sold/leased. They only build the car to satisfy CARB standards for the rest of the line.

 

[78Southwind]

That’s on FCA and Chrysler Capital. They know what these cars are really worth.

It doesn’t affect money at the dealer level.

Dealers are snapping these up at the auction prices you mention, and selling them for $6k - $8k.






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Where's the profit for a Dealer by taking in a leased 500e? I don't know a lot about this business but the only way I would think they would see a profit is if they bought the 500e from an auction and sold it for more.

 

[pronstar]

Where's the profit for a Dealer by taking in a leased 500e? I don't know a lot about this business but the only way I would think they would see a profit is if they bought the 500e from an auction and sold it for more.

Your math is right.
But the car may not go to auction.

Chrysler Capital could offer it to the dealer at the going auction rate [emoji106]

They know it’s not going to fetch $18k at auction.



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[Orange Juice]

I lease a Camaro SS for 3 years/45k miles in Phoenix. I turned it in with tires worn out, and 46k miles.

I dropped it off at a Chevy dealer in Memphis, while I was on a road trip, and then rented a car to get me home. All they did was start it, check mileage, and a walk around. They said thank you, and waived the additional 1000+ miles.

 

[crzy2bealive]

They sent me to some lease returning company in Orange County of beach Blvd


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[Paradox]

I lease a Camaro SS for 3 years/45k miles in Phoenix. I turned it in with tires worn out, and 46k miles.

I dropped it off at a Chevy dealer in Memphis, while I was on a road trip, and then rented a car to get me home. All they did was start it, check mileage, and a walk around. They said thank you, and waived the additional 1000+ miles.

Same here but different experience. SS 1LE. 3 years, 36,000 miles, 2014 to 2017. Returned it with 36,211 miles. They nailed me for $1800.

Majority of it was for tires and a pitted front valance and windshield. I went through 4 sets of tires (plus the charge) while I had the car. Drove Angeles Crest (Big Tujunga between the 210 and 14) twice a week for fun on the way to or from work. The car was a ton of fun.