Leased Vehicle & Volvo On Call

[encroute]

So, it appears my Leasing company (Lex/Lloyds) do not allow "connected services" to be in their vehicles.
Therefore they will not authorise the dealer to provide the PIN to register the Volvo On Call, despite that this is now a free service, a standard feature of the MY19 XC60, and has no liability to Lex.

They quote: We have been liaising with each manufacturer to understand their individual connected technology systems and to advise them that Lex Autolease will not be utilising such systems. Feedback so far has been extremely positive with one manufacturer confirming that almost all leasing companies have adopted the same approach (i.e. opting out of such technology in their vehicles) in order for them to manage their customers’ driver experience in line with their contracted responsibilities.

Furthermore, the use of connected services could result in increased costs and reduced flexibility for both Lex Autolease and our customers. At present, we utilise a mixture of franchise, non-franchise and independent garages to carry out maintenance activities. This provides flexibility for our customers and ensures our maintenance maintenance budgets remain as competitive as possible without compromising on service levels. By enabling connected services which direct customers only to franchised dealers, our maintenance costs would increase due to higher labour rates and this additional cost would have to be passed on to customers, something we are keen to avoid.

For note I have no maintenance/recovery programme with Lex.
And I HAVE to use Volvo dealers for any servicing and maintenance according to my contract!

The VOC was a quoted key requirement, and as a standard feature, was expected to be present.
The broker will have know this wasn't going to be possible, despite his protestations to the contrary now, but ultimately my contract is not with him, but Lex.

4 years this resentment is not a fun thought.
I am seriously thinking about siting a breach of contract / Fit for purpose and returning the car.

Thoughts/Ideas/solutions?

[Director76]

Doesn’t help your specific case but VOC was activated without any issue, question or discussion for my business non-maintenance contract hire XC90.

Broker sourced, but a different finance house to you

D76

[RobQuads]

That really sucks.

I would expect that if they are not supply the standard spec car then it would need to be called out in a visible way and not tucked away in some terms & conditions.

[macklij]

This really does suck.

Are you still in any cooling off period?

I would have thought the real truth of the matter is that they don't want to get involved in any voc registration/deregistration issues, which I kind of get.

One way would be to point out that you are responsible for maintenance and which would they prefer: (a) you had voc and did dealer maintenance in their vehicle or (b) didn't and used cheaper independent maintenance as per their suggestion?

Or maybe better, write to them, tell them that doesn't match what you signed up for, and if they don't change their mind then you will pursue legally under breach of contract, and charge them your expenses. Then hopefully someone will look at it and decide that giving you a PIN is the cheaper and easier option. Especially if you assure them you will deregister as keeper at end of lease.

What a PIA! It certainly takes the joy away.

[Philip Fisher]

I have a Lex car.

Mine is on full maintenance.

I had VOC activated without any issue. The PIN came from the dealer.

Who is your suppling dealer? If it is a Lex car then there is a good chance it is Riverside Doncaster. I have a contact there who I am sure could help you.....

VOC is primarily a safety function so if Lex is refusing it's activation then it needs to be very careful from a liability perspective.....

[Clan]

Originally Posted by encroute

So, it appears my Leasing company (Lex/Lloyds) do not allow "connected services" to be in their vehicles.
Therefore they will not authorise the dealer to provide the PIN to register the Volvo On Call, despite that this is now a free service, a standard feature of the MY19 XC60, and has no liability to Lex.

They quote: We have been liaising with each manufacturer to understand their individual connected technology systems and to advise them that Lex Autolease will not be utilising such systems. Feedback so far has been extremely positive with one manufacturer confirming that almost all leasing companies have adopted the same approach (i.e. opting out of such technology in their vehicles) in order for them to manage their customers’ driver experience in line with their contracted responsibilities.

Furthermore, the use of connected services could result in increased costs and reduced flexibility for both Lex Autolease and our customers. At present, we utilise a mixture of franchise, non-franchise and independent garages to carry out maintenance activities. This provides flexibility for our customers and ensures our maintenance maintenance budgets remain as competitive as possible without compromising on service levels. By enabling connected services which direct customers only to franchised dealers, our maintenance costs would increase due to higher labour rates and this additional cost would have to be passed on to customers, something we are keen to avoid.

For note I have no maintenance/recovery programme with Lex.
And I HAVE to use Volvo dealers for any servicing and maintenance according to my contract!

The VOC was a quoted key requirement, and as a standard feature, was expected to be present.
The broker will have know this wasn't going to be possible, despite his protestations to the contrary now, but ultimately my contract is not with him, but Lex.

4 years this resentment is not a fun thought.
I am seriously thinking about siting a breach of contract / Fit for purpose and returning the car.

Thoughts/Ideas/solutions?

There is their reason above , Now on-call is a completely separate safety system , to the onboard wi-fi system which they are talking about above .
The service reporting system is't in full use yet with volvo ….,

So , no reason why they should refuse on-call , they obviously do not know what it is .

[encroute]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

I have a Lex car.

Mine is on full maintenance.

I had VOC activated without any issue. The PIN came from the dealer.

Who is your suppling dealer? If it is a Lex car then there is a good chance it is Riverside Doncaster. I have a contact there who I am sure could help you.....

VOC is primarily a safety function so if Lex is refusing it's activation then it needs to be very careful from a liability perspective.....

Paul, thank you for this - good to hear. Can you message me your contact's details, and I can ask them if they know someone inside Lex.

My supplier is in fact Marshalls in Peterbrough.
They are in a bind, as it's Lex's car and they won't (unsurprisingly) proceed without authorisation.

Lex's policy is Luddite in it's approach - reflected by the Q&As which basically asks (Paraphrased)- "What about a system that doesn't risk Lex", and they say "for the uniformity of all customers and their safety/benefit, we won't allow any of these systems."

I've attached it for those that are interested!

[encroute]

2nd Attach attempt

[encroute]

Originally Posted by Clan

There is their reason above , Now on-call is a completely separate safety system , to the onboard wi-fi system which they are talking about above .
The service reporting system is't in full use yet with volvo ….,

So , no reason why they should refuse on-call , they obviously do not know what it is .

Their T&C's basically say "We understand that there are different systems out there but No, No, No, fingers in ears, NO NO NO. It's for your own good"
[slightly paraphrased]

[Director76]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

I have a Lex car.

Mine is on full maintenance.

I had VOC activated without any issue. The PIN came from the dealer.

Who is your suppling dealer? If it is a Lex car then there is a good chance it is Riverside Doncaster. I have a contact there who I am sure could help you.....

VOC is primarily a safety function so if Lex is refusing it's activation then it needs to be very careful from a liability perspective.....

Mine was a Riverside Doncaster supplies car (not Lex though)

All my ‘on call’ setup happened directly with the dealer, no one ever mentioned checking with the owner