Misterlift- excellent response. This would answer why Europe buys more forklifts than America. I can't think of any company I've dealt with that gets rid of equipment based just on the end of a lease. Very popular option here is the dollar buy out option, which means that at the end of a lease, you can purchase that piece of equipment for 1 dollar.

I do know that there are full service leases here but the few I've been around didn't seem to go well. For a fixed price per month the customers got new forklifts, any warranty issues & PM's included. All damages were billable. The forklift companies replaced anything with just the slightest show of wear/damage- tires w/outside scrub wear, seats with the beginnings of a tear, dented side panels, etc. The forklifts were like new at the end of the leases at the customers expense. The customers were extremely dissatisfied with the entire process- they even tried to break the lease early but couldn't without early termination penalties.

I'd be interested to hear what is covered for the weekly service fee on your side. Since damages are billable, how quick are the dealers to replace items with just the slightest show of wear? (Above I spoke of scrub wear on tires- in a 3 year period one set of forklifts got about 5 sets of tires based on scrub wear- the tread didn't even have a chance to wear). If most companies prescribe to the rent/lease montra, I would assume that -A) dealerships have many more techs than here & -B) there aren't to many small independent forklift repair companies.