Anyone ever done this? What can you get away with?

I would assume GM accesories are fine. (they have some neat slip on body coloured mirror covers--then you have body coloured mirors and they also have an exhaust tip.

I have a problem with the rear fender to tire gap (front is not as bad)

What about lowering springs? Nothing crazy--1.5 inches max And then suppose you put the stock ones back in if you return at the end of the lease?

 

I have never leased but i think u can do whatever u want to the car but they will not pay u anything extra for that stuff, so basicly everything u've done they get for free, unless u remove it, and they can say they don't want something and i think u have to remove it.

that's just what i heard from friends that lease, not 100% sure if it's true

 

I spoke to a GMAC leasing rep at the Toronto Auto Show. He said if you mod the car and make it worth more, they do pay you extra for that when/if you turn it in.

 

I don't know who you talked to, but this is false for several reasons. Leasing is very different than purchasing.

A lease is a contract in which you agree to return the vehicle at the end of a set period of time with agreed stipulations (mileage, acceptable damage, etc). This normally means that if you return the vehicle at the end of the contract (say 36 months) within the acceptable mileage and damage limitations (under 36,000 miles and no dents, holes, broken windshields, flat tires, or other major body damage) you neither owe nothing or are owed nothing on the vehicle.

This is specificially designed for those people who like to get new(er) vehicles every couple of years.

The monthly payments are based on the "Residual Value" of the vehicle. This is the estimated value of the vehicle at the end of the contract. If the vehicle depreciates more than that (meaning that it is worth less than estimated value at the end of the contract) you lose nothing, merely return the car and you owe $0 and they ow you $0. If the vehicle depreciates less (meaning that it is worth more than the estimated value at the end of the contract) you can purchase the vehicle (for a set price in the original lease contract). Then you can either sell it for the actual value, trade it for the equity, or keep it.

If you return the vehicle with too many miles or more than acceptable wear and tear on the vehicle, you do have to pay a penalty. You can purchase additional miles (as many as you want) for something like $0.10 a mile at the beginning of the lease, and if you don't use them, they will refund the $0.10 a mile back to you.

If your lease contract says 36,000 miles (which is considered a "low mileage lease" for 3 years) and you return it with 30,000 miles, you don't get anything back for it.

Here's the tricky part, so I'm going to state it as factual as I possibly can.

What you add to the vehicle, whether it's wheels, a $15,000 stereo system, body mods, whatever... (here's the important part) It doesn't increase the "TRADE IN VALUE" of the vehicle. The trade in value is listed in a black book somewhere that says a 2005 2 door Cobalt LS with an automatic and a sunroof is worth $XXX. So all of that stuff that you do to it, doesn't impress the dealership that assigns the "trade in value." (And while your may know "a guy" that has a black book, they update it every month and it's very tricky to decipher, so the dealerships "trade in value" will still baffle you)

It does increase the retail value, because retail value is decided by supply and demand. If there is a high demand for a product and a low supply of it, retail price in increased. So if you have a special vehicle and there is a large number of people who want that product, the retail value of your product goes up.

This has nothing to do with a lease because the "residual value" is not based on "trade in value" or "retail value." It is "residual value" and it is included in the original lease contract.

Here's where dealerships can confuse you, and some of you that have already purchased your cobalts might have noticed this. The contract that the dealership shows you, it doesn't say retail value or trade in value for your trade... it says "trade allowance" and is one of the most generalized terms in the industry. Allowance is where a dealership can hide numbers, and where a lot of customers get confused.

But "trade allowance" isn't what this topic is about, so if you have any questions about it let me know, otherwise I think this should stay on the topic of returning a lease with aftermarket products.

Like usual, people may disagree with me, but I've tried to include everything as factual as I possibly could. After all, I'm just trying to help.

-Villain

 

For those of you who don't want to read my previous novel, er I mean post... here's a quick clarification for you that addresses this exact situation.

If you lease a vehicle, the residual value is included in the original lease contract. If you increase the value of the vehicle over the life of the lease the only way that you will "get money back" at the end of the lease is as follows: When your lease term is up, you have the option to "buy out" the vehicle at the end of the term, and sell it back for more than you bought it for.

Period, no other way around it.

The "buy out" price is set in the original lease contract, and is based on the residual value but is not always exactly the same. Buying out the contract is just like "purchasing" a used car. It's yours to do with as you see fit, wheras in a lease, the vehicle is owned by the leasing company (GMAC, Bank of America, Joe Blow's Auto Show, whoever), and you have to buy it from them before you can sell it to somebody else.

-Villain

 

i lease and the only modification allowed when returning a lease are tinted windows....as far as i've been told

 

I would read your lease agreement I wouldn't listen to us

 

Yeah I would check for sure.

My motivation for doing a samll mod here and there is not to on increase the value. I don't think you could anyways.

What ever the case--I am sure GM accesories would be fine. But I wonder now if adding lowering springs would void part of the warranty. Maybe GM will come out with there own warranty approved.

 

Yes and no.

Changing any part of the suspension would totally void the warranty, suspension, brakes, and powertrain. Good news is that your muffler warranty would still be good.

GMAccessories is probably not going to come out with an aftermarket lowered suspension kit. That would be the point of the SS/SC model.

GM does work with specific companies that can provide something like that though. I know Joe Gibbs racing and a couple of other Nascar owners (big thing in the central part of North Carolina) offer their conversion kits to vehicles. We had a 2005 Avalanche that was lowered and had a supercharged 5300, not to mention upgraded wheels, tires and braking system, that was all covered under the factory warranty.

But it was a "conversion package" done by an authorized GM Affiliate. So it's a little different than just changing the springs.

-Villain

 

villian is right, u can mod but u wont get sqwat out of it. thats why im i gave back the civic. and i took everything off of it cuz i mean why bother to give them something they didnt give me. u wont get money for any mods u do cuz a lease its really not considered your car. its like renting an apartment. u lease, and it aint yours. if u paint the walls, u dont get money for reinbursements. i say buy instead of lease, cuz ull enjoy it in the long run when u can actually get money for your car and actually say its yours!

 

i think springs would be ok, are they really going to notice a 1.5" drop? i think their only option would be to make u un-install them
im gonna tint mine, maybe do exhaust, and intake, possibly springs
cuz i dont wanna screw myself over too much

 

I heard that even if you put on GM Performance products on the car, deppending on what they are, can VOID the warranty!!!!!! A friend of mine called and asked for his car..

 

I modded a leased car, will do it again with my cobalt. You just have to be prepared to buy it out or sell it privately at the end of the lease.

 

As long as they are certified GMAccessories parts and they are installed by a GM Authorized shop, they are covered under the factory warranty.

And yes, they probably would notice a 1.5" drop. Besides, a lease turn in goes through so many different channels it's not even funny.

-Villain

 

I lease my SRT-4 and basically you can do to the car whatever you want, just so long as you return it back to 100% stock just prior to turning it in. In other words, save your stock parts

 

Thats definetly a good route to take as well.

The moral of the story is if you wanna mod your car buy it

I leased my first S10 and everytime I though about doing something to it I was reminded that I didn't actually own the car...

 

I plan on putting a power sunroof in my leased car soon.

 

Depending on your leasing company and what kind of sunroof you put in (not one of those god awful popup roofs) it shouldn't affect your turn in. I'd go with a Webasto. They make nice power sunroofs.

 

Plain and simple. You can do what you want as long as you return it to 100% stock. If you add things that "better" the car (such as upgrade the speakers) then they don't care. But if you do things like drill holes in the trunk and add a rediculios spolier, then you will be paying to replace that trunk lid at the end of your lease.

 

welcome to the world of DCX...people have had their warranties restriced due to motor mounts and the like. i would assume GM would do the same in the near future, but a super is not the same as a turbo. people were upping the psi to like..20 and expecting nothing bad to happen. they get a blown motor, and expect dcx to cover it under warranty.
unless you know a good dealer, the 'staged upgrades' for our srt's are not covered under warranty either.

 

Im not sure about canadian laws,but for anyone in the U.S considering mods on a a vehicle still under warranty this link may prove useful~~>http://www.granatellimotorsports.com/magnusonmoss.htm

 

This is going to be a long one, it has been raining all day so instead of driving I have been reading posts hear. I feel like offering my .02 on a couple of issues that keep coming up.

1)Modifications voiding warranty-COMMON SENCE will dictate how much of your warranty you void when you mod your car. ie...If you lower your car and your OEM shocks leak,your tires wear wrong (camber adjustment) or you bottom out and your exaust system breaks it will not be covered. The other parts not related to the act of lowering are still covered. If you drill holes to mount a body kit and rust starts to form at that point it will not be covered, this does not mean that the rust spots on the roof will not be covered.
If you stop and think through what you are doing and what else is related to the mod,the question is not that hard, if you are not sure ask a tech that you trust and they will help you. ( I think this Site should have a "Ask Maven" forum but that will be another post in it's self).

2) Dealerships wanting to screw you out of warranty.....Myth. Warranty repairs do not come out of the dealership profits infact they increase them. I own a heavy equipment shop (we are aligned with dealerships) I LOVE warranty repair. We charge a lot more for it and the customer is happy with us so they come back for none warranty repairs. Your dealer may have to represent GM but at the end of the day it is about revenue.

3) Modifications to a leased car.....The first and most important thing to understand is that "leasing" is really just "alternative financing". It is about money and only money.
This is not a bad thing just a fact. I have been involved with leasing and leases for almost 20 years. READ your lease. The uninformed salesman (not all) may seem like a "Gilligan" but the room full of lawyers that wrote the GMAC lease were pretty smart. GM pays them to make sure that they do not lose in court too often. There are many differerent leases out there but the two types that relate to this thread are as follow.

Closed leasor residual guarantee- This is where GM says that the buy out figure on your car is say $ 10,000. They expect it returned in stock condition and there are provisions for normal wear and tear. IF you return it as such, you may buy the car out for this amount or just return it. If the market turns bad on that type of car and it is only worth % 5,000 they eat the loss. They guess the lease end value based on the entire car market not a small percentage of car nuts like us. To 90 % of the market, modifications are "damage". Other then a better grade of tires or an updated stereo most people do not want to buy a modded car. How many of you would buy a car with a "nitro bottle" mounted in the trunk ?
Keep the OEM parts and be ready to conceal the mods that you can not remove.
Will they pay you for the upgrades ? HELL NO ! Will you pay them if the car is only worth 5 instead of 10 at the end. Better yet, you are looking for a used car and you see a 69 Camaro for sale for $ 1000.oo firm. You get there and it is a rag top SS in mint condition being sold by someone who thinks it is an old car and not worth more. Do you do the right thing and tell them "no way a thousand is way too cheap, I will give you $ 10,000 ?

Open leasee residual guarnatee-This is where the lessee guarantees the lease end value.
You the customer promise to cover the shortfall is the value decreases. For example, you agree to $10,000, the market drops and the fair market wholesale value is $8,000, you write them a cheque for $2000 if you take it back or buy it out for $ 10,000. This type of lease is usually private ( sometimes call an "inhouse lease"). For my business I lease Van's for work. We buy a brand new empty van for say $20,000 and mod the **** out of it for us to use it as a service truck ladder racks,shelves, ect...long story short another 10grand. At the end of the lease it is a pain in the ass to take it apart so we turn it in,the dealer gets 3 competative quotes and picks the best of the three. Someone who wants the mods pays $ 15,000 for the unit ( 10,000 for the truck 5000 for the mods), I get a cheque for $ 5000,00 back. To the guy that wants my equipment, he just bonused and got the stuff for free, for the rest of the market who wanted an empty van to deliver bread with,this truck is damaged.

Ok this is getting even too long for me to write,and if you made it this far, I may have stolen 10 minutes of your life LOL. I just felt like I should make up for the months of lurking I have done without contributing anything to the site. I am going to go back to my cave now.

 

if your leasing a car pimp it out and all but keep the stock parts cause if you do decide to return it to the dealer after the contract is over put all the stock back on....... i discussed this with my dealer for 45 minutes and he told me that.... even got him to write it all out and sign it saying that.

 

if you mod a leased car, fine... but keep the stock parts so you can keep your mods when your car's lease is up. thats what i would do... but for most people, its all about being smart, and the smart thing to do is not mod a leased car, unless its a mod that any age group would want on that car.