Regarding 72’s comment about the immaculate issue – I think the current system is more realistic. There are very few cars on the road which are truly immaculate after 3 years and up to 60k miles of use. It should, in my opinion, be more related to blame, or fault. I just handed back a Volvo which was as close to immaculate as I think it’s possible to get after 3 years but there were two imperfections, stonechips on the bonnet and a small dent on the rear wheel arch which I’ve always assumed was a car-park door dent. The damage couldn’t have reasonably been avoided (well, I suppose I could have always driven at 10 mph or less and never parked in a car park) so I personally agree with the current system.
I did scuff a bumper corner when the car was a few weeks old, but I chose to have that repaired professionally as that WAS my fault and therefore my responsibility – in retrospect I am sure that it would also have been ignored as fair wear and tear under the scheme rules, but I am still comfortable having had it fixed because that was the “right” thing to do, undoing something I did but there other two things were not my doing so I never felt the need to fix them.
"Man is born in freedom, but he soon becomes a slave, in cages of convention, from the cradle, to the grave."