Hey guys quick question,

i just got an 09 altima on lease for 39 months and i have stock 16 inch alloys on it to wheels < 17's . i wanted to upgrade to the 05-06 SE-R 18's. Being that these are still nissan altima OEM wheels, albeit from the previous gen, will i get penalized for returning the car like this, or will this be alright?

who could i even ask at nissan about this to know if its ok?

i know i could just trade for oem wheels, but im trying to see before i do anything what kind of options i have.

thanks in advance for any help.

 

What are you going to do with the original equipment? just save it and when you turn it in turn it in with those wheels and sell the others.

 

It will not be all right, you will need to re-equip the car with the original type wheels to keep yourself from getting penalized. Trust me, you will pay a fee. They don't care if its OEM Nissan from some other car; it could be the wheels off of a GT-R and it would still end up on your final bill.

Read the fine print of your lease for confirmation, but plan on having that car look EXACTLY as it did the day you drove it off the lot.

Or else....

-Mirror

 

They wont care.

I have had friends HEAVILY mod leases (dont ask me why...I havent a clue) and the dealer has no issue with them being turned in as such. Usually, they are either tasteful mods, or mods the dealer doesnt even pay attention to. Hell, if its something like tint or wheels, the dealer will usually buy the car to turn around and sell it.

 

why don't you just keep the old rims/tires and when you turn the car in, put them back on.


I am sure some dealers WILL care, your lease is a contract. It is better to follow it to the T than take a chance of being charged.

 

why would anyone want to mod, what is essentially, a rental car? Anyway, I would guess they want it as close tot he way they gave it to you as possible.

 

i just wanted bigger oem wheels, i was going to sell the oems to give me some money towards the new ones, which is why i wouldnt have them. i dont have big plans for the car, but i wanted 18'' wheels, and possibly tint.

i look at it like this, ive had 2 cars that i hadnt kept for more than 1 yr (the first one) and 2.5 yrs (the 2nd) so it will basically be my car longer than any car ive owned.

 

I don't really know, but I'm inclined to agree with Mirror on this one. In fact I would worry about changing anything suspension wise, including tires and rims, on a leased vehicle and turning it back in it's modified state. My concern would be that being these rims were not those that came with the car, some steering and suspension geometry might have changed that may have had a negative affect on the car. Whether it has or not isn't the issue, it's what Nissan feels it to be.

I'd leave the factory wheels on it, or at the very least put them back on before turning the car back in.


Terry

 

One other potential concern, is the 09 undoubtedly has TPMS valves and some older wheels, not designed for TPMS, won't work with the bulkier valves. Whatever you do, make sure the wheels will work with the TPMS valves.

Weather or not the dealer will notice is a roll of the dice, they may not.... but then again they may. Are you prepared to pay retail prices to return it to original if they make a big stink about it? Due to problems like this, nearly every manufacturer has a third party perform an pre turn-in inspection on leases and they tend to be much more thorough then the old guy from the dealership walking around the car and kicking the tire.

 

So...sell them, get the newer wheels you want, and when it comes time to turn the vehicle in, sell the *new* ones and buy the *old* ones again (that is if you HAVE to sell the old ones). It's not that difficult, as I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find the same OEM wheels on any nissan forum for really cheap, or CL and eBay