The eight photos to take before your lease turn-in

A dated set of photos is the only objective record you will have if the turn-in inspection lists damage you do not recognize. The catch is that the photos have to be usable.

Eight angles cover a vehicle completely. It is the protocol Leaxit's guided inspection follows, and you can work through it alone with a phone.

The eight angles

Front left, at 45°. One frame covering the front bumper, grille, headlight, hood and front fender.
Front right, at 45°. The mirror image. Do not skip it — parking damage is usually on one side only.
Left profile. Ten to twelve feet back, square to the middle of the vehicle. Doors, rocker panels and both left wheels.
Right profile. The curb side, and usually the more marked one.
Rear left, at 45°. Rear bumper, taillight, liftgate or trunk, rear quarter.
Rear right, at 45°. The mirror image.
Front interior. Door open, shooting from outside: front seats, dash, steering wheel, console.
Rear interior. Bench, seat backs, floor mats, door panels.

Then add close-ups of every defect you found. The wide shot proves overall condition; the close-up proves what a specific defect actually is.

Most lease inspections use a tool for the small stuff

Many turn-in standards treat damage as chargeable once it exceeds a set size — commonly measured with a credit-card-sized template or a circle of a specific diameter. If your leasing company publishes such a standard, get it before you photograph, and put a coin or a card in frame next to each defect for scale. A photo with a scale reference is far more useful than one without.

The conditions that decide everything

Light

An overcast day is ideal, or early morning and late afternoon. Direct sun creates reflections that hide fine scratches completely; raking light from the side reveals them. Never shoot dark paint in midday sun.

Cleanliness

Wash and dry the vehicle first. On dirty paint you cannot tell a mark that washes off from a scratch that does not — and nobody can settle it later from your photos.

Distance and sharpness

Ten to twelve feet for the wide shots, whole panel in frame. Brace the phone, tap to focus on the paint, and check each photo before moving on. A blurry photo proves nothing.

The most common mistakes

Shooting head-on at eye level. The angle that hides the most. Crouch, change your angle, move the light across the panel.
Forgetting the roof. Rarely inspected, sometimes marked. One shot from a curb or a step stool is enough.
Forgetting the wheels. One photo per wheel, square to the rim edge.
Forgetting the windshield. Shoot it from inside, against the light — chips show up far better that way.
No date. Confirm the timestamp is recorded, or email the set to yourself: the email carries a date you did not write.

When to take them

Twice, not once. Three to six months out, to decide what is worth fixing, and the day before turn-in, after washing, to record the exact condition at handover. The second set is the one that matters when a line on the inspection report surprises you.

What to do with them

Photos only help if you know what they show. That is the point of a guided inspection: you are walked through angle by angle, visible points are highlighted, and you confirm, reject or add to what was found. The result is a readable inventory rather than a folder nobody will open again.