To Lease or Not to Lease

[twstrchasr]

I have only leased a couple of cars before and was wondering about mods (like say a deluxe ARB bar) and leasing. Do you get screwed ($$$ penalized) if you mod the thing or would it depend on the extent of the mods themselves. Are mods prohibited on lease vehicles? That will definitely be a major point when I get ready to move on an '09 200.

 

[uzj100]

I would think as long as the car was returned in original condition then you should not have a problem. Put the stock bumper back on at the end of the lease. Warranty work should not be an issue unless the weight of the bumper caused a defect. In other words, if the nav fails, they can not by law blame the bumper.

I hope to have a thought of leasing if and when they bring out the turbo diesel in the states. Otherwise, I will stick with my 00.

Have fun.

 

[twstrchasr]

Only problem with that is the bumper has to be trimmed for the ARB bull bar for the 200. I don't know what else has to be modified on the other side of the tupperware. Guess we'll learn more once the bull bars are more available and people start installing them. So, I guess you would have to buy a new cover when your lease ends. Sounds kinda expensive...

 

[Jim_Chow]

The rear bumper also needs trimming, at least with Slee's pics of his 200 prototype bumper. So you'd have to buy two bumpers, plus the little buttons that attach the side valences to the rear. Unless money is no object, you might consider leasing. That way, if gas hits $6/gal or more, you can return the truck and wipe your hands clean. If you want to buy it, you might be able to negotiate a better residual price if gas prices are sky high? (I would think so). Otherwise, if you buy, gas hits $6-8/gal and it's your DD, you're stuck with it, as no one wants to buy a full-sized SUV these days, let alone a used one, and dealers will give pennies on the dollar for a trade-in. The only full-sized SUV that's selling well is the LX570 (2x the sales as the LC although numbers are small), and that's because (1) the typical NEW LX buyer makes like $250K+/yr and doesn't care about the price of gas and (2) it's a new model.