mods and lease

does the dealership let you trade in heavily modded cars?

i have a 4 year lease on my '11 tacoma and haven't done any really heavy modding to it.

i have just the plasti dip wheels, debadged, and removal of the mudflaps, but i'm getting into a retrofit and would like to do other mods such as a grillcraft eventually.

from what i see write now i'm planning on buying my taco after the 4 year lease, but just want to know my options because never know what can change 4 years from now.

any feedback? i know a lot of you guys have done tons of mods to your tacos and just wondering if thats because you don't plan on trading them back in or what.

thanks!

 

you can always take out your mods and sell them here/CL/ebay before you turn in your leased tacoma? Get some money back while putting back on stock parts.

 

my truck when bought and as of today.

 

mainly i'm concerned about the grill and headlights. as far anything else would be a quick fix. for the grill i would need to buy a totally new frame correct? and the dealer wouldn't mind the JDM brand headlights?

 

lol i may or may not have leased this truck

 

you can get a new grill from parts geek for 35 bucks...no big deal. you can get used headlights for around 100...again, no big deal.

I would stay away from snorkles and DB lifts

 

Leasing is for talent agent mailroom guys who need a BMW to try to gain some street cred.

 

or someone who needs a reliable vehicle for a few years with low payments

 

If you are planning on keeping it then mod away!
If you are thinking things might change, you can still mod it, but instead of turning in the lease, you would need to trade it in.
Or you can keep a "stock pile" and sell all your aftermarket goodies.
We don't give any extra money for Modded cars, except bigger wheels and tires.

 

i wonder if a certain new york member is gonna pipe in this thread

 

Trading in a modded vehicle and returning a modded leased vehicle are 2 different things. They wont be happy about you bringing back a modded vehicle. I only leased a vehicle once and never again. Except for tint I returned anything else I did to stock.

 

just trade it in a few months early....It might be worth more than lease value.

 

This.

You're essentially renting a car for a very extended period of time. It isn't yours.

At least when you're making payments on a loan for your rig, you will eventually own it. The bank still probably would prefer you didn't modify THEIR truck until you pay it off.

 

I love the reg cabs! That's a great looking truck man!

 

There's nothing wrong with leasing...if it makes sense to you and fits your style, do it. Leasing a Toyota makes sense because these trucks have awesome resale value. I think if I were to lease it would only be a Toyota....

With that being said....just mod what you can swap out...or if you plan to keep it do whatever you want to it.

 

I am on lease (Tacoma) #3... 5 year lease. I have my own business, and the truck is used for the business as well as personal use. I lease because:

1) Didn't have enough down payment to make the monthly payments low enough to work in my budget.
2) The monthly lease payment is 100% tax deductable.
3) Before the 5 years are up, I trade in for a brand new truck. In the case of trading in my 2005 (with 102,000 miles on it) for the 2010, I didn't need any money down and just had a small increase in my lease payment. No high mileage penalty if you trade for another Toyota!

To the dealership, a lease is NO different than a purchase... They win either way (naturally)... You have lower monthly payments, but if you want to keep that truck at the end of the lease, you have to buy it... so you will pay a lot more in the long run than if you bought it at the beginning.

My 2010 is by far the best Tacoma of the three (but as good as my '01 in quality) and because of the bad economy and drop in my business, I am putting on about half the miles of my other two Tacoma (16,000 miles a year vs. 30,000+). This Tacoma is the one I will buy... and keep perhaps the rest of my life..?

My 2001 had no mods (needed none). My 2005 had Ride Rite air bags and 5100s installed for the harsh ride problem and a custom light bar with 2 Hella 4000s. I removed the light bar and wire harness and the dealer removed my air bags at no charge (which are still in the box he put them in) when I traded the '05 for the '10.

The 2010 does not bottom out, but I wasn't sure if they corrected the soft spring issue when I made the change... and I was already unhappy that the dealer didn't offer to fix the issue on the '05 (I didn't know of the TSB).

Mods on my 2010: I did the rear differential breather mod., removed the mud flaps and trailer wire plug on the bottom of the bumper (Gen. 2 mud flaps break off anyway off roading, and the wire plug gets smashed), and my light bar (which is bolt on).

 

You have to read your lease contract VERY carefully...they probably have the right to CHARGE you to restore the truck back to stock configuration. In that light, modding the truck will DECREASE the value as a used vehicle.

Typically, I only put on serious mods on vehicles that I own or are older...like the 68 Dodge Utiline pickup with holley, headers, glasspacks and stage 1 intake

Howard

 

Wife works for South east toyota. Said could add value depending what you do to it.Or could be charged for excessive damage. Could do you mods go back to the dealership and have then assess the value. Point is keep everything you remove. Might have to reinstall original parts.