Modifying a Leased Rig

So...last summer I made the dumb decision to lease instead of buy my new 2018 off road. I’ve read several different opinions on this but was hoping to get some input from people who have modified their lease. I did a Lease to Buy and fully plan on buying out the truck at the end, possibly even before the lease is up. I want to start building the rig. First up Stage 2 Icon with 33’s. My simple question is this, will there be any impacts from Toyota if I mod the truck while on lease and then buy it out?

 

Only if you sell it back, then you might be met with some fines for damages as well as a loss for the parts you invest.

I did a lease to buy and had no issues.

 

Thanks for the reply. Did you modify anything?

 

I put on a couple lightbars, some light pods, did a suspension swap, plasti-derped the grill, and a ton of interior mods.

Not to mention getting rid of the tonneau and a few other things

 

Cool. Did you ever hear any gripe from the service department when taking it in for service?

 

Never had any issues taking it in for the standard Toyota care or recall stuff. I’m lifted, mounted light bars, drilled into my bed to mount a spare, and a lot of other minor mods.

 

Nope. They did claim that my lightbar voided warranty when I had a leak, which was annoying. But I fixed that on my own.

Service generally doesn't know/care which vehicle is leased vs owned

 

I’m leasing mine for now.
I’d say go for it, especially if you’re pretty set on buying it.

 

Build away. You are keeping it anyway. Mine is leased to.

 

If you mod it, and decide not to keep it, just return it to stock. Keep OEM parts, reinstall and sell your mod parts, or put them on next truck.

 

If you modify it and have the bad luck of having the truck totaled, you will loose the cost of any modifications. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

 

I am leasing mine and I will be keeping all OEM parts until the end of my lease. If I decide to buy the vehicle as planned, I'll sell the OEM parts to make a wee bit of money and to just get rid of them. If I decide to trade in the vehicle because either the then current model year Tacoma is a must have or I want a different truck, then I'll put the OEM stuff back on.

Right now I have OME 90000 & 886 installed with ARB Summit bumper, rails, and steps arriving early next month. Snorkel will be 6 months out.

 

I just turned in my leased 16 and leased a new 19. The 16 TRD Sport DC, was lightly modded with tinted windows, nerf bars, and LED bulbs on all the interior lights. No issues at all returning it.

 

Do whatever you want to it.

If you plan on returning it, keep the stock parts. You can also sell the truck to anyone at any time during your lease.

 

Financially speaking it would be better to pay it off and own it before you started modding it.

Think of it like a snowball going down hill. If you spend $100 for light brackets, $200 for lights, $800 for a roof rack, $2,000 for a lift, etc. you might as well just save it to pay off the truck and own it.

But if you plan on keeping it and you’re financially stable and won’t lose a job do what you want. I wouldn’t do anything in reversible like a snorkel.

 

Snorkels are dumb anyway

 

Icon? Really?

 

I was under the impression leasing was for people that want a new vehicle every 2-3 years.

Now it sounds like the lease is being used as a trial period so see if issues crop up.

Is modding a lease vehicle with intent to purchase a smart financial strategy? Seems like an expensive route.

 

I’ll be completely honest... I made a dumb move by going with the lease. I know that. I’m treating it as though I’m going to own this truck for years to come. I’ll probably buy out the lease at the end of this year or the beginning of next so I can stop being stressed about it. Currently I’m just waiting for credit to improve for better interest rates. Was mainly just conserned about making mods and then getting hit with some fine print when I try to buy it out.

 

It's not a completely bad move. A tacoma is one of the best vehicles to lease.

Dont stress about it. You can do whatever you want to a lease. Just have to return it in original condition. But you can also sell it or buy it out at the end of the lease with or without mods.