[Dexter123]

Hi Everyone!

I have recently brought a Zoe Renault Dynamique Intens 2014 reg plate from a third party dealership for £5,995. However upon buying the car I was told that the battery was a battery owned not a battery lease. I have had the car 2 weeks now and have discovered that infact it is a battery lease not a battery owned. After speaking to the dealership around this issue they have apologised and offered to the lease for one year at £49 per month (£588), I believe this is not enough as to buy the battery outright it is £2300. Do you think I should argue that the car battery should be brought outright as advertised or to return the vehicle as it is not sold as advertised.

Furthermore, I was just wondering what everyones experience was with both a battery lease or buying the battery outright. Due to the Zoe being a slightly older model I wasn't sure if it would be best to continue to lease the battery or buy it outright if I decide to keep the vehicle.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Tandy0]

If you take the garage's offer of a year's lease, it should be cheaper to buy the battery in a year's time, as it will be another year older. That's what I'd do.

(Recently bought my Fluence battery for £2300.)

 

[Dexter123]

If you take the garage's offer of a year's lease, it should be cheaper to buy the battery in a year's time, as it will be another year older. That's what I'd do.

(Recently bought my Fluence battery for £2300.)

Hi,

thanks for the advice, is there any particular reason you decided to buy the battery outright rather than going through a battery lease? I was thinking about counter offering the dealership to see if they would be willing to pay for the lease for 2 years (£1,176) as 'technically' through the advertisement I should not have to pay at all. It is however good to know that the price of the battery will decrease in value.

 

[DrEskimo]

Hi Everyone!

I have recently brought a Zoe Renault Dynamique Intens 2014 reg plate from a third party dealership for £5,995. However upon buying the car I was told that the battery was a battery owned not a battery lease. I have had the car 2 weeks now and have discovered that infact it is a battery lease not a battery owned. After speaking to the dealership around this issue they have apologised and offered to the lease for one year at £49 per month (£588), I believe this is not enough as to buy the battery outright it is £2300. Do you think I should argue that the car battery should be brought outright as advertised or to return the vehicle as it is not sold as advertised.

Furthermore, I was just wondering what everyones experience was with both a battery lease or buying the battery outright. Due to the Zoe being a slightly older model I wasn't sure if it would be best to continue to lease the battery or buy it outright if I decide to keep the vehicle.

Thanks for any advice.

At £6k that's probably the right price for a lease 2014 model. What's the mileage?

Whether you want to lease or own it really is just personal preference. If you do very high mileage it might get be more sensible to buy it out (or you could just continue paying the low mileage fee and hope RCI dont chase the excess mileage cost, they have been known to be useless at this!).

I have a battery owned 41kWh model and was not interested in a leased battery, but that was just because I hate being tied to any contracts.

If you take the garage's offer of a year's lease, it should be cheaper to buy the battery in a year's time, as it will be another year older. That's what I'd do.

(Recently bought my Fluence battery for £2300.)

Agree with this. Take the year free lease and then reassess. It might not get any cheaper as it might be he lowest the battery offer goes (don't know) but worth holding off for a year and seeing!

 

[Tandy0]

Hi,

thanks for the advice, is there any particular reason you decided to buy the battery outright rather than going through a battery lease? I was thinking about counter offering the dealership to see if they would be willing to pay for the lease for 2 years (£1,176) as 'technically' through the advertisement I should not have to pay at all. It is however good to know that the price of the battery will decrease in value.

I did rent the battery for a year after buying, and bought it as soon as it became possible. I think another benefit of this scheme, is that you will get a good idea over the course of a year, whether the battery is good enough to buy!

 

[Dexter123]

At £6k that's probably the right price for a lease 2014 model. What's the mileage?

Whether you want to lease or own it really is just personal preference. If you do very high mileage it might get be more sensible to buy it out (or you could just continue paying the low mileage fee and hope RCI dont chase the excess mileage cost, they have been known to be useless at this!).



Agree with this. Take the year free lease and then reassess. It might not get any cheaper as it might be he lowest the battery offer goes (don't know) but worth holding off for a year and seeing!

Hi,

Great, thank you very much. First time buying an electric car and I'm not to sure on the value of these things so I appreciate the advise.

The mileage is 38,000 so it hasn't traveled far and I doubt I will be doing more than £65,000 miles in a year.

 

[mikeselectricstuff]

Seems a clear case of misrepresentation.
IANAL so probably worth taking legal advice. If you didn't sign the lease agreement you are not bound by it - if the lease is in the name of the dealer then it's probably their problem not yours. If RCI come after you then you may be able to recover all losses from the dealer due to breach of contract..

 

[Neilew]

as to buy the battery outright it is £2300.

This is quite a good price. I was expecting to pay around £6k for my 40 kWh if I'd have kept it.

Agree with this. Take the year free lease and then reassess. It might not get any cheaper as it might be he lowest the battery offer goes (don't know) but worth holding off for a year and seeing

I agree with this advice, but make sure that the dealer does everything correctly and is above board as RCI don't pull their punches when it comes to the battery lease. My story from March to August this year is somewhere here in the forums.

If RCI come after you then you may be able to recover all losses from the dealer due to breach of contract..

RCI will only be interested in going for the person or dealership who has their name on the agreement. They won't be interested in anyone else. They may be full of sympathy, as they were for me, but, at the end of the day, the signatory is responsible for the lease and all costs.

 

[cheryl ward]

100% you should hand the car back.
What if the dealer doesn't pay the lease?- RCI could disable the battery. There's a whole can of worms waiting to be opened.
If you want to keep the car just negotiate a fat discount of the amount it would cost to buy the battery.
End of day the seller is at fault don't make it your problem.

 

[Rory166]

Hopefully there is something in writing that it is battery owned. They are trying it on to hope you will accept I year.
Salesmen often come out with the supposed advantages of battery lease.
I would try to get what you were told you were buying. Don't hold much hope. It has happened with main dealers, see old threads.

 

[Neilew]

After speaking to the dealership around this issue they have apologised and offered to the lease for one year at £49 per month (£588),

Be careful with this. This is for the least mileage possible. If you go over you will be responsible for the excess. Although, as others have said, they won't chase you if you're less than a 1000 miles over.

Who owns the lease at the moment? As you were lead to believe it's battery owned I'm assuming it's the dealer. This could be good leverage if you refuse to play ball and not take over the lease. It puts the dealer in a sticky place. Don't play hard for too long as eventually RCI will cut off the power. (probably after several months, as RCI didn't bring the threat to stop the batteries until we had been back and forward for nearly 6 months)

 

[Dexter123]

Hopefully there is something in writing that it is battery owned. They are trying it on to hope you will accept I year.
Salesmen often come out with the supposed advantages of battery lease.
I would try to get what you were told you were buying. Don't hold much hope. It has happened with main dealers, see old threads.

Unfortunately there is not, I have spoken to the RCI today and they have definitely confirmed that the battery is still on a lease.

The car dealership I brought this form was quite surprised by this as he had recently brought the car from auction that had also advertised the car as a battery owned. So I believe he will be going to the auction house about the price he also paid for the car.

 

[Dexter123]

Be careful with this. This is for the least mileage possible. If you go over you will be responsible for the excess. Although, as others have said, they won't chase you if you're less than a 1000 miles over.

Who owns the lease at the moment? As you were lead to believe it's battery owned I'm assuming it's the dealer. This could be good leverage if you refuse to play ball and not take over the lease. It puts the dealer in a sticky place. Don't play hard for too long as eventually RCI will cut off the power. (probably after several months, as RCI didn't bring the threat to stop the batteries until we had been back and forward for nearly 6 months)

I don't think that I would go over the milage as I live quite close to my place of work so would only really use it for small commutes- but that is definitely something I will need to calculate so thank you for drawing attention to this.

I am actually unsure who the lease is under at the moment as it is not under the dealership as they were under the impression that the battery was also a battery owned. I am also unable to find this out as when I asked RCI they said that they were unable to inform me due to GDPR - which I understand, while it is not very helpful.

 

[Dexter123]

100% you should hand the car back.
What if the dealer doesn't pay the lease?- RCI could disable the battery. There's a whole can of worms waiting to be opened.
If you want to keep the car just negotiate a fat discount of the amount it would cost to buy the battery.
End of day the seller is at fault don't make it your problem.

Yeah, I have considered returning the car to the dealership however £5,995 seems to be a good value price for the car even if it is a battery lease.

I plan to call the RCI tomorrow to confirm how much it would cost for the battery to be brought outright and then return to the dealership with a counter offer of either paying for the battery outright/paying of the lease for 2 years/or take the car back.

 

[Rory166]

Why complicate matters with options. You want what you paid for. Let them chase the auction house for their losses.
If a deal is too good to be true then it probably isn't true.
You may be lucky.

 

[Johnny Read]

Be aware charging can be remotely disabled, so there's a risk sitting tight waiting for a decision in your favour. Remember you've effectively got a 7 year old car/battery... Is the warranty extended, otherwise your opinion of a good value price may be challenged.

In my opinion due diligence for anyone buying that vintage Zoe should be:
1. phone RCI before handing over any money
2. phone ?? to check the status of the manufacturers warranty

@Sputnik72 may be able to add some comments as he was looking at Zoes a few months ago.

 

[Edd Beesley]

The car dealership I brought this form was quite surprised by this as he had recently brought the car from auction that had also advertised the car as a battery owned. So I believe he will be going to the auction house about the price he also paid for the car.

WALK AWAY NOW. This dealer is sitting somewhere on a spectrum that has Totally incompetent on one end and Swindler on the other. Neither are any good at all for you, and if you keep playing ball you’ll never get satisfaction. Reject and return the car and go to a different dealer.

 

[ArthurGreenWorld]

I agree with many comments on here.. it's a 6/7 year old Zoe and without extended warranty 'could' become very expensive if something does go wrong.
Although a lease battery has a few plusses it will imo become harder to sell on as it gets older. If you need to wash your hands of the car, two or three years down the line, and couldn't find any buyer or dealer wishing to take on a battery lease you would be forced to either buy the battery from RCI in order to sell or scrap it.
Unless you gift the car to RCI and pay for them to remove their battery.
Give it back to the dealer and save possible heartache.

 

[cah197]

Well, well. I'm enjoying all these negative comments, as it only means the Zoe will remain affordable as a second car.

Too many people buying Zoes right now keeps the price up!

 

[Adrian Herridge]

I leased a battery for years from RCI, replaced it under warranty and covered 6 weeks of a hire car. Free breakdown insurance and charge assistance was worth it almost alone.


Went 6k over on miles, was not ever mentioned. Getting out of the lease at the end (because dealer wouldn't sign the paperwork was awkward, but actually they were very helpful at applying the thumbscrews).


£49 for peace of mind is pretty good. My Zoe was not a bad car, just had a few dodgy cells because it was left on charge at Renault head office for well over a year and only did 11 miles (which I assume was to go and have an mot), before that it was suspended as a showpiece in offices, and used briefly in the adverts. Once the pack was replaced, there were no problems and no "Danger: Electrical system failure" messages 

I thought buying a 4 year old car with less than 4k would have been a safe bet. But actually, well used examples have far better battery health. Leasing solves all that, and if you treat it right and keep it in good condition, you can then buy it.