Please HELP!

[leafhell]

My lease for 2014 Nissan leaf SE is coming up by end of this month. This is my first lease and excuse my ignorance.
I have gently used it for these 2 years, as I was out of country for most of the first year interning and didn't get to use it. So instead of 24000 miles/2yrs, now my Leaf has just 15000 miles for 2 years. Also because of above, it looks brand new, and I never bothered with maintenance other than one time having my good friend help me with tire rotation once the first year (no official records or anything). Also unfortunately just when I was interning last year, I had a minor parking lot accident at airport where the tires had to be changed and dent removed and repainted at dealer that cost nearly 5 grand for insurance. Now my lease is about to be done, when I contacted for maintenance at 2 year term before turning int he car, one dealer is quoting me 230$ for a brake fluid and in-cabin micro-filter change, and scaring me that Nissan would add this fees when car is turned in, if I don't take care of it now. He is saying since there is no service record on the vehicle till now, even it is brand new, nissan will fine me at the lease-end. I couldn't believe it and shopped around only to find another dealer surprisingly saying that a tire rotation and simple fluid change at any service center costing around $35 is more than sufficient. My friend agrees with second dealer and he says all this tire rotation would have been taken care of during the service at accident time, so the first dealer is simply ripping me off.

All Lease leasing experts out there, can you please suggest what's the best course of action?
Is extending my lease for 1 more year any better option in my vehicle's situation even if I am not finding much use for it?

 

[Firetruck41]

They can not force you to use a dealer for service. You can change the filter for about $15 and ten minutes of your time, there is a "how to" on the forums. I would either do a cheap brake fluid/flush at an independent mechanic/shop (or DIY), or just forget about it.

 

[GerryAZ]

Brake fluid change is required at 2 years in non-severe service so you could argue that it is not your responsibility to change it before 2 years from in-service date (1 year is for severe service). You are missing the annual battery test (first 2 are free) so if the dealer complains about that, just tell them to do it without charge.

Gerry

 

[leafhell]

Thanks Gerry and Firetruck for your responses! Will do so.

 

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

I know I'm a little late, but hoping it'll be useful anyway.

My 2013 leaf had over 46,000 miles on it at turn in, and all I did (and had to do) was the annual battery checks. Did my own tire rotations, and the brakes had plenty of pad life left. I did replace the tires, since the originals wore out at 35,000 miles. I also had a dent in the rear bumper that I had to pay out of pocket to fix (needs to be in saleable condition afterall).

Here in SoCal, they offered a pre-inspection service that would itemize every fault and give you a chance to resolve them before turning the vehicles in. So I took advantage of it, and they sent out an inspector that spent ~30 minutes checking everything out. These were my line items:
- missing right-rear hubcap cover (under $100)
- missing left foglight cover (might've been knocked off by debris on the freeway - $160+)
- deep scratch in front left corner of bumper (probably same thing that took out the foglight - ~$100)

All in all, about $350 worth of "excess" wear and tear, plus another $300 for excess mileage (my limit was 15,000 miles / yr).

No comments about brake flushes, coolant flushes, or nothing like that. I think the first dealer was being despicable.