Mods on a leased Prius, yes or no?

I've always modded my leased cars. I modded my leased Prius, including adding on a sharkfin, lighted door sills, and JDM signal mirrors. But all of the mods I did will just take a day's work to remove it all and put it back to stock. Re-wiring some harnesses and removing 3M tape (sharkfin, window visors, other accessories) is very easy to do. The good thing is if you installed the parts yourself, it's very easy to remove them since you know what you did.

I didn't do as much to this car as I've done on other cars I've leased in the past... stuff like replacing the turbo on my old Audi, swapping exhaust systems, installing coilover & bigger brake kits, replacing camshafts & intake/exhaust manifolds, etc. To me, if you're leasing a car for a few years, you might a well enjoy that time with whatever mods you like and want on the car. Just be wary as some thing may affect the warranty (another good thing about doing your own work, so you can replace parts as needed before taking the car in for service).

 

I just turned in a Gen II before the end of the lease to so I could move up to a Gen III. Got the numbers to work so that (with Toyota's 1.8% APR equivalent lease rates) I had almost the same monthly payment on my 2010.

At turn-in, as others have said, they do a damage & excess wear assessment. My trade-in had some adds -- heated leather seats, front 3-M film, better horns, and a block heater -- made because I had a 5-year lease on the Gen II and thought I'd have it long enough to enjoy the upgrades.

The person doing the evaluation marked them as increasing the value of the vehicle vs residual (not that I got any of it). He made a point of asking whether I'd made any electrical mods -- and I hadn't (horns and seat heaters weren't problems ... adding EV mode etc was cited as a problem if I'd done one).

Given the mods, the dealer kept the car for resale instead of sending it to the auction.

 

You are driving a car that can easily last 20 years, buy it at lease end and drive it with all the things that make it uniquely yours. That also saves the depreciation of buying yet another car after loosing the initial depreciation of the new car you can still own beyond the lease. Save up the money to pay down, or pay off the buyout at lease end, and avoid paying more interest. It makes a great deal of sense.

 

Actually buying the vehicle at lease end usually doesn't make much sense, unless the residual is really low. If you're going to buy the vehicle you're better off buying it from the get-go.

If you're going to lease, lease and trade it in.