ADMIN is not the top of anyone's list of priorities when you take delivery of a new vehicle.

The first thing on your mind is generally to take it for a test drive, and it's a fair assumption that safely storing associated documentation or the spare key is far less appealing.

When one of our lease vehicles is coming up for return, we send the driver a checklist of things to return with the vehicle.

The reason we do this is because there are a number of things to get in order, some of which are easily lost or forgotten and sometimes drivers can underestimate the cost impact.

Examples like documents relating to the vehicle, spare keys, sat nav discs and locking wheel nuts are all important because they are examples of things which can influence re-sale values.

Glass's valuation experts suggest that a lack of service history alone could mean a 10-15 per cent shortfall in value whilst with performance models, the figure could be as high as 30 per cent.

As other rough examples bidders will in general discount £150 for a missing spare key, £50 for missing sat nav discs, £100 for a missing parcel shelf and potentially £50 for a missing handbook, wheel nuts or the radio codes and book.

This ancillary equipment may not seem important but missing or broken items soon add up, and make a used vehicle less attractive to potential buyers.

A little thought from the outset into where to store these things, or ensuring time to find or replace them before the vehicle is returned could save drivers, and their companies, money.

After all, at the point of sale it's in everyone's interests for the vehicle to be in good value and to get the maximum value.