The disadvantage of leasing: the day comes all too quickly when you have to return your beloved Tesla. We at Teslabs also recently had this Tesla lease return experience when a Model 3 reached the end of its "loan period".
The advantage: We can now pass on valuable and helpful information that we have learned during the process to you - and that is exactly what this article is intended to do.
Tesla leasing return: what to do
In order to return a leased vehicle to Tesla, a so-called inspection report is required. This records whether there are any defects or damage and what the actual mileage was. This information is then used to determine whether you will incur any additional costs.
The nice thing about this is that you can take care of rectifying the defects yourself before returning the vehicle and thus reduce the costs or even avoid them altogether. The prerequisite for this is, of course, that you take care of the inspection report in good time - Tesla recommends at least 18 days before the lease expires.
What are the options?
Tesla has commissioned DEKRA to assess the vehicle and prepare the report. This offers you three options.
Inspection on your own: You can upload images and information about your vehicle via the free DEKRA Handover Webportal. The software guides you through the process and explains exactly where and how to take pictures. At the end, you sign digitally - done!
Remote inspection: Those who prefer to be guided through the inspection by a person can opt for the second option, which is also free of charge. You will be connected via video call to a DEKRA employee who will guide you accordingly. For this, an appointment must be made by email or telephone (0049 69587096339).
Inspection by DEKRA expert: If you want to leave the work entirely to a professional, an expert can also visit you. However, this costs 127.75 euros; you can make an appointment using the contact details above.
Tesla Leasing Return Experience: Our Journey
Our return journey began with an email from Tesla. "Your Tesla mileage lease ends in 120 days" was the information, along with the request to take care of the inspection report. We decided to carry out the inspection ourselves - the method "preferred" by Tesla and explicitly mentioned in the email - and can therefore only report on this option.
A DEKRA handover account was quickly created. All you need is the VIN and, of course, an e-mail. Here you can read what the Tesla VIN actually is.
Afterwards we got started and were diligently snapping pictures. Information on any damage could also be easily provided by selecting the relevant component. It always helps to clean the car beforehand and then park it in an easily accessible and well-lit place such as a garage.
At the end, contact details were requested, a signature was provided and our work was done!
The status report
A few days later, we received the completed inspection report with - fortunately - only two minor complaints. The HU was no longer valid for long enough, for which a lump sum of €150 was charged. A short trip to the TÜV, which renewed the HU for €95, at least brought us a small saving.
In addition, a sticker could be seen on the vehicle images, which Tesla would have charged €15 to remove. Of course, we also took care of this ourselves and saved ourselves this lump sum.
It is important that you actively object to the defects that you want to solve yourself so that Tesla can remove them from the status report - and fortunately there are quite a few of them. You can even repair minor paint and rim damage thanks to the Teslabs touch-up pen .
The handover
After all the defects had been rectified, we made an appointment with Tesla for the handover and this was completed without any further problems. If you cannot or do not want to resolve all complaints yourself, you must pay the corresponding amount in the Tesla app before handover.
Tesla lease return tires: Further findings
It is also important to return all accessories present at the time of delivery. This includes the charging equipment as well as the original key cards. Tires are also a much-discussed topic.
The tires that you get when you pick them up (usually summer tires) Tesla would of course also like them back. Since we had put on all-season tires, we asked Tesla and were able to simply bring the original summer tires in the trunk - there was no need to move them.
Do you have any further questions about our Tesla leasing return experience? Feel free to write us a comment!
