I am leasing my 2005 TL (4 years), I was thinking about adding all this stuff and duh I realized it's not technically my car! Some things like tint I don't think the dealership would care about but if I add a spoiler or anything else that requires stuff like drilling could they nail me for "damaging" the vehicle at the end of the lease? Has this happened to anyone here?

 

spoiler tint no prob..... stero and stuff like that... prob unless you make it stock again at the end also keep stock rims for the turn in

 

If you plan on modding a leased car...plan on losing it at turn-in AND taking a bit of a hit, depending upon the mods you do. Stay with the A-spec stuff and you should be safe. Obviously you would keep your wheels and anything else you could take off before turn in.

 

Yeah I realized it's kind of dumb to mod a leased car so I'll prob just limit myself to the wing spoiler and the tint, and prob some nice wheels in the future

 

Acura/Honda will charge you for any/all non OEM mods - i.e. if you installed a CAI, and didn't return it back to stock, then they will charge for the OEM intake & labor to both uninstall the CAI and install the stock part... which can add up to quite a bit.

In general, they will not charge you for any OEM accessories & tint, but if you're gonna leave 'em on, you might as well add these accessories onto your lease beforehand.

A lot of people do think it's stupid to mod a leased car, but as long as you keep the stock parts and can swap 'em back on yourself (w/o paying a shop to do the work), it's not too bad... you can always sell the parts afterwards and get some money back.

 

What do you get back on mods. on an owned, vs. leased, car when you sell it or trade it in? Basically nothing. Just like a selling a house with a swimming pool, some buyers want it, and some won't, so it's not worth much. Some buyers will look at your "upgrades" and walk away, as they are "downgrades" to many people. Others want a car customized to their taste, not someone elses, so they don't want many mods. So it really doesn't matter whether you are modifying a leased car vs. owned car from the perspective of an "investment" or gettng your money back.

 

You're probably right, I decided just to do tinting and a wing spoiler, it doesn't add up to much and I don't think the dealership would care about either one, besides right now I like the TL so much I am actually thinking of getting another Acura when the lease expires, which would convince the dealer to "overlook" the mods anyway

 

You know what..Do what you want with the car...at the end of the lease you have the option to buy it right? Do whatever makes you happy...it is your car. Life is too short..whatever makes you happy. You can always take the mods out and re-sell the items to us...

 

exactly^^^

 

This is probably very sound thinking. Life is too short!

 

My car is also leased and I knew I wanted to do mods to it before i even signed the papers. The dealership said tints are allowed as long as they are professionally done. Even though my car is a lease, tints were not doing it for me. I decided to paint the mud flaps and get 19 inch Zenetti 5's. I had no choice lol.......

 

I am looking for a Front Main grill replacement for a 2005 Acura TL maybe the Japanese product. Jbelaval@bellsouth.com

 

Life is too short. That's why I have a CAI (which I can swap out later) as well as I had installed Tein springs (can swap out too). I am planning on doing a CompTECH lower rear sway bar and a Kenwood 10" amp/sub combination and that is it.

Oh, and my car is leased - I have 3 years to go.

This is coming from a guy that has owned tons of cars in the past and heavily modded them all and this is the first lease I have done and lightly modded it. Who knows, I might buy the car in the end.

You can see my prior cars here:

http://home.comcast.net/~heagneybrian/past/collage.htm

 

Ask my dealer here in Indianapolis and they will blast you for Comptech parts -period - and I own my car! I couldnt believe it yesterday when I was talking to the parts guy and he blasted Comptech and how Acura has enough parts on their own that they dont need comptechs help (thats Bob at Ed Martin Acura) and that Comptech has NOTHING to do with Acura period and that Acura as a company frowns on installing ANY aftermarket part on your car...ect, ect, dont warrant the parts, have nothing to do with each other, ect. I thought to myself...what a tool! Ya right....Acura has plenty of performance parts for our cars......other than the A-spec kit, can you tell me what? Dude is WAY off base from my opionion
(pasted from Comptech site)
Because of our long involvement with championship-winning Honda and Acura factory race programs, we understand what is required to develop products that will not compromise the reliability of your vehicle, yet deliver a level of unmatched performance.(end paste)

Gee wiz Bob...somebody needs to fill them in that Acura/Honda/Comptech do have something to do with each other on corporate levels......ME THINKS BOB IS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CIRCLE LOOKING IN AND IS PISSED OR SOMETHING>?

lol...ya thats it.....Bob is now outside the circle of trust!

This is Bob This is the circle of trust O

 

Others already said this, but I say it too. The dealership told me I'm fine as long as it's OEM parts with a leased car. Never asked about tinting, but it's good to know it's ok. You can always put them in now, then remove them when the lease it up and turn the car back in. Then you might be able to make some of the money back by selling the aftermarket stuff on eBay.

Joe

 

First of all If I leased a TL, I would have bought the Comptech exhaust and i would maybe wait for the Comptech Ice Box. I would go with A-Spec everything. I would still change out my lights with LEDS.

 

show ole bob this web page and ask him why so many ACURA Dealers sell Comptech? what a JA

http://www.comptechusa.com/dealers.htm

 

Hmm, well my problem is I'm cheap and so the spoiler I bought on e-bay isn't OEM, so I'll prob get some shit for it when I return it, but like I said earlier there is a good chance I'll get another Acura anyway so the dealer will let me slide I think