Guide
What happens at handover, and what to do in the first week
Updated 6 min read Performance & Prestige
Handover takes about fifteen minutes at the car, at the address you chose, on the day the term starts. The licence is checked, the car is walked round and photographed by both sides, mileage and fuel or charge are recorded, and the agreement is signed. That record is what the end of the term is measured against.
What is handover for?
It is where the agreement stops being a document and becomes a car, and on a term of three months or more it does one job above all others: it creates the record that the end of the term will be read against.
Everything contentious that can happen later — a mark, a mileage figure, a fuel level, a dispute about what was already there — is settled by what was written down and photographed on that morning. Fifteen minutes at the kerb decides all of it.
It is also the only time somebody who knows that specific car is standing next to you. That is worth more on an agreement measured in months than on a short booking, because you are about to live with its quirks.
What gets recorded that you will need again?
Four things, and all four come back at collection.
- The odometer reading. Your allowance of 1,000 miles a month is counted from this figure, not from anything the car did before it reached you.
- The fuel or charge level. Recorded now, recorded again at the end, and returned at the level it went out at.
- The condition photographs. Taken by us and by you: every panel, both bumpers, all four wheel faces, the glass, the splitter from low down, and the interior.
- The signed agreement, which was sent to you in advance rather than produced at the kerb with an engine running behind you.
Take your own photographs even though we are taking ours. It costs two minutes and it is the single most useful thing anybody leasing a car can do.
What should you keep afterwards?
Put five things somewhere you will still find them at the end of the term: your photograph set, the signed agreement, the written quote it was built from, the deposit confirmation and the contact number you were given.
The quote matters more than people expect. It is the document that states the monthly figure, the term, the mileage allowance, the per-mile charge, the deposit and the excess, and it is what you check anything against later. Nothing should appear at the end of the term that is not on it.
The contact number matters too, and it is worth testing what it actually reaches. An agreement where somebody answers on a Sunday evening is a different product from one where nobody does.
The first hour: what to set up before you drive
Do these at the kerb while the person who delivered the car is still there.
- Seat, mirrors and steering position, properly, not approximately. Visibility in these cars is not what you are used to.
- The nose lift, if it has one: how to raise it, how long it holds, and at what speed it drops.
- Drive modes, and which one it should be in for a cold start and a first mile.
- Fuel or charge. What it takes, where the flap is and how it releases.
- Tyre pressures, and where to read them.
Then ask the question that matters most: what is the first warning light on this car that you should stop for rather than drive on with. The answer is not the same on every vehicle.
The first week: the checks that matter over months
A short booking never surfaces these. An agreement that runs for months surfaces all of them, usually in week one.
Drive the routes you will actually use and find the pinch points: the ramp into your car park, the speed humps on your road, the width of your garage door, the gradient of your own driveway. A car that is fine on a test drive can be a daily negotiation at home, and it is much better to know in week one.
Find out where it parks. A wide car in a standard bay is a door-opening problem as well as a parking one, and the bays you would normally use may not be the bays you use for the rest of the term. Work out the fuelling or charging routine at the same time — the nearest pump or charger that is actually convenient rather than the nearest one on a map.
What should you report in the first week?
Anything you notice, early, while it is unambiguous.
A mark you find on day two is easy to resolve against the handover photographs. The same mark raised at collection months later is an argument. A rattle, a warning light, a tyre losing pressure or anything that feels wrong is worth a call rather than a wait — over a term of months, a small fault ignored in week one is a large one by collection.
None of this counts against you. A car reported on promptly is a car being looked after, and that is exactly what the record shows.
What if something is wrong at handover itself?
Say so before you sign, at the car, with the person who brought it standing there. That is the whole reason handover happens in person.
If there is a mark that is not on the record, have it added. If the specification is not what your quote described, stop and raise it rather than accepting the car and sorting it out afterwards. If anything about the paperwork does not match the quote, the same applies — nothing should appear at the door that was not agreed in writing beforehand.
Nothing is paid at handover beyond what was agreed in advance. No payment is taken through this website at any point, and a figure appearing at the kerb that was not on your quote is a mistake at our end rather than something to argue about on a pavement.
How does it compare with the end of the term?
Collection is the same exercise in reverse, months later, and it is measured directly against the handover record: the same walk round, the same photographs, the same fuel or charge and mileage readings.
That symmetry is the point. It identifies a new mark, and it proves an old one was already there. Both sides are better off for it, and the side that benefits most is the one with the photographs.
Collection happens from an address you choose, which does not have to be where the car was delivered. How delivery and collection work without a depot sets out the arrangement at both ends.
Common questions
How long does handover take?
About fifteen minutes at the car. It is not a formality to be rushed — it is the record the whole term is measured against, and the time spent on photographs at the start is time you do not spend arguing at the end.
Can somebody else accept the car for me?
No. The named driver has to be present in person with the physical licence, because identity, condition and the agreement are all confirmed at the same moment. A car of this value is not left with a neighbour or a concierge.
What if I forget to take my own photographs?
We take a full set regardless and it is shared with you, so you are not without a record. Taking your own is still worth the two minutes: it is yours, it is timestamped on your own device, and it costs nothing.
Is there anything to sign after handover?
No. The agreement is signed at the car having been sent to you in advance, and nothing else appears later. If a document turns up mid-term that you were not told about, question it rather than signing it.
Related guides
- What happens at handover The handover is the part of a lease people remember and the part that protects both sides afterwards. What happens in it, what to bring, what to photograph, and what to ask before the driver leaves.
- How delivery and collection work when there is no depot Why this operation has no depot, what that means for the address you nominate, where mainland Britain ends, and how collection works from somewhere else entirely.
- What happens if you damage a leased car Damage on an agreement that runs for months is a different problem from damage on a short booking. What happens to the term, the car and the record while it is put right.
- What a prestige car lease includes, and what it does not The full scope of an agreement here — the car, the term, the mileage, the delivery — and an honest list of everything that is not inside the monthly figure.
What happens at handover, and what to do in the first week
Every figure in this guide is published per car, before there is any form to fill in.
A person confirms every booking · No payment taken online · Delivery or collection, your choice
Written by Performance & Prestige against the rates, driver criteria and delivery areas published on this site. Rates are “from” prices inclusive of VAT and are confirmed with you before anything is agreed — see driver requirements, insurance and excess and delivery.