The BVRLA Fair Wear and Tear Guide is the leasing industry’s standard for separating normal wear, which is not recharged at the end of a lease, from damage, which is. It assesses a returned car area by area — bodywork and paint, glass, wheels and tyres, interior, mechanical condition, and the documents and equipment that come back with it.
What is the BVRLA fair wear and tear guide?
The guide is published by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association and used by its member leasing companies at end-of-lease inspections. Its principle is simple: wear consistent with the car’s age and mileage is acceptable; damage beyond that can be recharged. Most contract hire agreements refer to it, so it is the benchmark a returned car is measured against.
The exact tolerances — how large a scratch or dent can be, how many chips a panel can carry — are set out in the guide itself and in each lease contract. Check both before a return, because the contract can be stricter than the guide.
Which areas does an end-of-lease inspection assess?
An inspection works through the car in sections:
| Area | What the inspector looks at |
|---|---|
| Bodywork and paint | Scratches, chips, dents, scuffs, previous repairs and colour match |
| Glass and lights | Windscreen chips and cracks, damaged lenses |
| Wheels and tyres | Kerbed or corroded alloys, tread depth, sidewall damage |
| Interior | Stains, burns, tears, odours, damaged trim and controls |
| Mechanical and electrical | Warning lights, faults, service history |
| Documents and equipment | Keys, service record, handbook, spare wheel or repair kit |
A shortfall in any single area produces a charge for that item, whatever the state of the rest of the car.
What is usually charged?
Charges arise where damage goes beyond what is reasonable for the car’s age and mileage. Common examples:
- chips or scratches that have gone through to bare metal or started to rust
- windscreen chips and cracks, especially in the driver’s line of sight
- alloy wheels kerbed beyond light scuffing
- tyres below the legal minimum tread of 1.6mm, or with sidewall damage
- burns, tears or permanent stains in the upholstery
- missing keys, service history or equipment
Each item is valued separately, and the charges accumulate across a car and across a fleet.
Why is paintwork the most disputed area?
Paintwork is disputed most because most paint damage is slow. Bird lime and tree sap etch the clearcoat over weeks; a chip left untreated starts to oxidise; brake dust left on a wheel eats into the lacquer. None of it looks like much on the day it happens, and all of it is visible at the inspection. The fleet manager usually meets the damage for the first time on the condition report.
How does scheduled valeting keep cars within fair wear and tear?
Scheduled valeting removes contamination before it becomes damage, and records the car’s condition while there is still time to act. A regular waterless valet takes off traffic film, bird lime, sap and brake dust at each visit, and a ceramic-grade protection layer makes the next round of contamination harder to bond to the paint.
The record matters as much as the clean. Each MMCC visit includes a 20-point Vehicle Health Check, with each point marked OK, Advisory or Urgent and photographed where flagged. A chip logged as Advisory mid-lease is a small repair. The same chip found at return is a recharge, and a dated history of consistent care strengthens the fleet’s hand when a charge is contested.
When should a fleet start preparing for a lease return?
Start at handover, not in the weeks before return. Condition built up over the lease cannot be recovered by one clean at the end, and damage that went unrecorded for two years is hard to argue about. Our piece on reducing end-of-lease charges sets out a valeting programme across the lease term.
Fleets in Surrey and London are on our regular rounds, including mobile car valeting in Walton-on-Thames and car valeting in Kingston upon Thames. Programme options for multi-site fleets are on our Corporate fleet services page.
Fleet managers can map their lease-return exposure car by car through a Fleet Readiness Audit.