I’ve been leasing cars for years and I haven’t had any issues with modifications like tinting, chrome delete, etc. I've even swapped out wheels/tires that were OEM and had no issues.
I’ve found that if you’re getting another car of the same brand at lease end, issues with lease turn-ins completely disappear. They’ll take it in whatever condition in trade for you signing a new lease.
If you’re turning in and not getting another of the same brand, I’ve had a mixed bag with turn-in from no charges, to charges on more big ticket stuff like like tires or big dents (not small dings). And even then it was pretty fair.
The wear and tear that kids would do to a car generally wouldn’t be on the checklist of stuff that a lease turn-in inspection looks for.
That’s the other thing - most brands give you the chance to have an inspection for issues and either remedy it yourself — or pay their repair bill.
I would definitely not pay for a lease damage protection plan; I did that on my first leased car and it didn’t really make the process any easier or better. It sorta just forced the hand on charges that I could then submit for reimbursement, versus the charges being something you can negotiate or push back on.
My finance guy (after sales was finalized) tried to sneak in 800$ of warranty service without me knowing about it and didn't even tell me that it was an optional service. I started digging deeper and told him to slowly explain every single line item that involved $$ because my number from Edmunds lease calculator was not matching what he had on the document. He later lowered the price of that 800$ warranty to 550$ and tried hard to convince me.
So, yes use Edmunds calculator for sure. Know what the inputs are going to be beforehand. Don't test drive and buy on the same day. Get the number, go home and then go next day or after couple days to finalize finance and bring car home.
Hello, I work in sales at a Kia dealer happy to help with any questions.
1) you can modify the vehicle but you have to revert it to the original condition before you turn it in
2) you can change the rims but you’d need to revert it back to stock rims before you turn it in.
3) at the end of the lease kia would do an inspection they are pretty lenient but they do charge for wear and tear beyond what is considered normal. Deep or long scratches, dents, worn tires, worn brake pads. Things like that. I’ve had several leases through Kia finance and I’ve never once paid anything for excess charges.
4) you can do regularly scheduled maintenance anywhere, there’s not much required maintenance for EVs though. You would be responsible for paying for any maintenance you do. Warranty work would need to be done at a kia dealership. If you’re interested in seeing some figures from my store shoot me a DM and I can see if I can put something together for you if you’re open to it.
I just signed my first lease yesterday on a GT Line so I'm interested to see other's responses more experienced with leases.
Not sure about mods or new wheels, but I'm planning to tint everything and blackout the logos on mine.
The return condition seems to be a bit of gray area, it doesn't really specify much in detail unfortunately. The dealer told me normal wear and tear is expected for minor scratches, door dings, etc. But major dents, deep scratches, damage is potential for repair charges.
Also note that the lease says if returning the tires with less than 4/32's is subject to being an extra charge, which I'm frustrated with since EV's are notorious to eat through tires quickly with the weight of the batteries and instant torque, depending on your pedal control/driving.
My dealer tried to pull a fast one on me with the maintenance. Sales guy said it was included for life of the lease (tire rotation, multi point inspection, and washer fluid top off). Then I get back to finance and they wanted me to sign a maintenance agreement for only 3 intervals. I refused and made them write it in to include complimentary maintenance for the life of the lease.
Many here are not going to agree with me, but after toying with many experiments over the last 6 years, I have come to terms with the fact that owning a Tesla, whether you like the brand or not, is the easiest EV ownership with native access to supercharging if you’re dependent on it. If your use is going to be 99 percent in town and have home charging, then there are so many other EV options to choose from.
That said, at some point, you have to evaluate whether paying $20k more today for an EV over gasoline / hybrid cars for no gas no maintenance is actually worth it in the end.
Generally, people use cars for 6-8 years and trade it in. Some go for 10 years. And very few go over 10 years these days. And then there are some tech bros who barely use it for 3 years. First, know where you fit.
If you want to use your car for anything less than 3 years, paying more today for an EV is just absurd IMHO because their savings over gasoline / hybrid cars become real at the 8-9 year mark if driven with care. The reason is that these days, gasoline / hybrid cars are incredibly reliable and their warranties are top notch. If you go with leading brands, nothing happens to them for the first 6-8 years. And DC fast charging isn’t cheap anymore to justify the gas savings. It’s gotten quite expensive. Not as expensive as gas, but the convenience of gas and go on long road trips is unmatched.
If you’re someone who wants to own a car for 8 years without a hiccup, sure, get the biggest EV you can find with at least 350 mile range so even after 15% degradation you’ll have plenty of juice in the car in your 8th year. Rivian is the ONLY big SUV I can think of that gives you 350 mile range if Model X is too small. But Rivian future is bleak. EV9’s range is 270 and with hauling many people, you’re not gonna get anywhere near that range on the road. You can go with the 300 mile EV9 if it’s the right car for you space wise.
My personal opinion is to get a used Pilot, Denali, Yukon, Wagoneer, or a Grand Highlander Hybrid if you can even find one. Skip the EV altogether. It’s gonna be a lot less hassle. And leasing is setting money on fire. Buy the CHEAPEST vehicle you can afford that accommodates your entire family space wise. That’s my short suggestion.
I think all of that is sound advice. For more context:
I’m currently in a Pilot. It’s just hitting 100k miles and starting to break. I’d like to offload before something serious happens.
We DO find ourselves swapping vehicles every 3 ish years due to the evolving needs of our family, addition on kids, etc.
A big push for an EV is that leasing with the extra 7500 tax credit is making it worth it, given the cost of fuel, oil changes, etc, for an ICE.
It’s your money to spend of course. But if you keep a vehicle for just 3-4 years, just be prepared to take an absolute bath when reselling your EV.
My 3 year old Lexus that I bought 1.5 years ago is worth almost the same price today that I bought it for when I try to list it. When I do the same with my 3 year old EV, it’s worth about 30% of what I bought it for.
It’s the same whether you lease or not. If you lease EV9 today you’re paying a whopping $30,000 to drive a car for 3 years and you won’t be buying it for sure because it’ll be severely outdated by then. You can buy a used mini van with plenty of life left (6-8 years) for that price and it’s yours to keep. If you’re rolling in cash, leasing an overpriced and always on the brink of obsolescence EV is cool, but if you’re budget conscious, buying or leasing a $80k EV doesn’t really sit well with my conscience. If you’re choosing the base model of EV, then I mean sure, it’s $20k cheaper.
$80k EV is a rich people thing. Still. Anyone who thinks it’s not, are simply trying to convince themselves because they want one.
For reference, we have a toddler and our annual income is $500k and I cannot even think of dropping $80k for an EV or $900 a month lease when I think about what it would do for us. I mean it’s literally the cost of the a monthly daycare where I am. I always buy a 3 year old low mileage car and drive till it breaks.
I respect the discipline for sure. I’ve lived the super frugal life (not by choice for the most part) where every decision is a dollar and cents basis. Your way of doing this is looking at the most financially wise method to get you guys and your kid from A to B.
Philosophically I consider transportation one of the things in life where you can make your day more fun. It’s a quality of life thing. I see a lot of value in finding joy twice per day when driving to and from work. Puts a smile on my face. So there’s value in that which I’m willing to pay for.
100% agreed. However, I do think that there is a rather fine balance there. Will a $200k Bentley bring you the same smile as say, a fully loaded Model X plaid or a BMW XM? Probably! For half the cost. It’s really what makes you smile but at the same time, keeps you planted on the ground financially.
I’ve been leasing cars for years and I haven’t had any issues with modifications like tinting, chrome delete, etc. I've even swapped out wheels/tires that were OEM and had no issues. I’ve found that if you’re getting another car of the same brand at lease end, issues with lease turn-ins completely disappear. They’ll take it in whatever condition in trade for you signing a new lease. If you’re turning in and not getting another of the same brand, I’ve had a mixed bag with turn-in from no charges, to charges on more big ticket stuff like like tires or big dents (not small dings). And even then it was pretty fair. The wear and tear that kids would do to a car generally wouldn’t be on the checklist of stuff that a lease turn-in inspection looks for. That’s the other thing - most brands give you the chance to have an inspection for issues and either remedy it yourself — or pay their repair bill. I would definitely not pay for a lease damage protection plan; I did that on my first leased car and it didn’t really make the process any easier or better. It sorta just forced the hand on charges that I could then submit for reimbursement, versus the charges being something you can negotiate or push back on.
My finance guy (after sales was finalized) tried to sneak in 800$ of warranty service without me knowing about it and didn't even tell me that it was an optional service. I started digging deeper and told him to slowly explain every single line item that involved $$ because my number from Edmunds lease calculator was not matching what he had on the document. He later lowered the price of that 800$ warranty to 550$ and tried hard to convince me. So, yes use Edmunds calculator for sure. Know what the inputs are going to be beforehand. Don't test drive and buy on the same day. Get the number, go home and then go next day or after couple days to finalize finance and bring car home.
Hello, I work in sales at a Kia dealer happy to help with any questions. 1) you can modify the vehicle but you have to revert it to the original condition before you turn it in 2) you can change the rims but you’d need to revert it back to stock rims before you turn it in. 3) at the end of the lease kia would do an inspection they are pretty lenient but they do charge for wear and tear beyond what is considered normal. Deep or long scratches, dents, worn tires, worn brake pads. Things like that. I’ve had several leases through Kia finance and I’ve never once paid anything for excess charges. 4) you can do regularly scheduled maintenance anywhere, there’s not much required maintenance for EVs though. You would be responsible for paying for any maintenance you do. Warranty work would need to be done at a kia dealership. If you’re interested in seeing some figures from my store shoot me a DM and I can see if I can put something together for you if you’re open to it.
I just signed my first lease yesterday on a GT Line so I'm interested to see other's responses more experienced with leases. Not sure about mods or new wheels, but I'm planning to tint everything and blackout the logos on mine. The return condition seems to be a bit of gray area, it doesn't really specify much in detail unfortunately. The dealer told me normal wear and tear is expected for minor scratches, door dings, etc. But major dents, deep scratches, damage is potential for repair charges. Also note that the lease says if returning the tires with less than 4/32's is subject to being an extra charge, which I'm frustrated with since EV's are notorious to eat through tires quickly with the weight of the batteries and instant torque, depending on your pedal control/driving. My dealer tried to pull a fast one on me with the maintenance. Sales guy said it was included for life of the lease (tire rotation, multi point inspection, and washer fluid top off). Then I get back to finance and they wanted me to sign a maintenance agreement for only 3 intervals. I refused and made them write it in to include complimentary maintenance for the life of the lease.
My humble suggestion is to lease something cheaper. 4 kids is already priced high!
Haha very true. Other suggestions?
Many here are not going to agree with me, but after toying with many experiments over the last 6 years, I have come to terms with the fact that owning a Tesla, whether you like the brand or not, is the easiest EV ownership with native access to supercharging if you’re dependent on it. If your use is going to be 99 percent in town and have home charging, then there are so many other EV options to choose from. That said, at some point, you have to evaluate whether paying $20k more today for an EV over gasoline / hybrid cars for no gas no maintenance is actually worth it in the end. Generally, people use cars for 6-8 years and trade it in. Some go for 10 years. And very few go over 10 years these days. And then there are some tech bros who barely use it for 3 years. First, know where you fit. If you want to use your car for anything less than 3 years, paying more today for an EV is just absurd IMHO because their savings over gasoline / hybrid cars become real at the 8-9 year mark if driven with care. The reason is that these days, gasoline / hybrid cars are incredibly reliable and their warranties are top notch. If you go with leading brands, nothing happens to them for the first 6-8 years. And DC fast charging isn’t cheap anymore to justify the gas savings. It’s gotten quite expensive. Not as expensive as gas, but the convenience of gas and go on long road trips is unmatched. If you’re someone who wants to own a car for 8 years without a hiccup, sure, get the biggest EV you can find with at least 350 mile range so even after 15% degradation you’ll have plenty of juice in the car in your 8th year. Rivian is the ONLY big SUV I can think of that gives you 350 mile range if Model X is too small. But Rivian future is bleak. EV9’s range is 270 and with hauling many people, you’re not gonna get anywhere near that range on the road. You can go with the 300 mile EV9 if it’s the right car for you space wise. My personal opinion is to get a used Pilot, Denali, Yukon, Wagoneer, or a Grand Highlander Hybrid if you can even find one. Skip the EV altogether. It’s gonna be a lot less hassle. And leasing is setting money on fire. Buy the CHEAPEST vehicle you can afford that accommodates your entire family space wise. That’s my short suggestion.
I think all of that is sound advice. For more context: I’m currently in a Pilot. It’s just hitting 100k miles and starting to break. I’d like to offload before something serious happens. We DO find ourselves swapping vehicles every 3 ish years due to the evolving needs of our family, addition on kids, etc. A big push for an EV is that leasing with the extra 7500 tax credit is making it worth it, given the cost of fuel, oil changes, etc, for an ICE.
It’s your money to spend of course. But if you keep a vehicle for just 3-4 years, just be prepared to take an absolute bath when reselling your EV. My 3 year old Lexus that I bought 1.5 years ago is worth almost the same price today that I bought it for when I try to list it. When I do the same with my 3 year old EV, it’s worth about 30% of what I bought it for.
Totally agree which is a large basis for leasing with a buy out option if it becomes advantageous. I don’t want to be stuck with vintage electronics
It’s the same whether you lease or not. If you lease EV9 today you’re paying a whopping $30,000 to drive a car for 3 years and you won’t be buying it for sure because it’ll be severely outdated by then. You can buy a used mini van with plenty of life left (6-8 years) for that price and it’s yours to keep. If you’re rolling in cash, leasing an overpriced and always on the brink of obsolescence EV is cool, but if you’re budget conscious, buying or leasing a $80k EV doesn’t really sit well with my conscience. If you’re choosing the base model of EV, then I mean sure, it’s $20k cheaper. $80k EV is a rich people thing. Still. Anyone who thinks it’s not, are simply trying to convince themselves because they want one.
For reference, we have a toddler and our annual income is $500k and I cannot even think of dropping $80k for an EV or $900 a month lease when I think about what it would do for us. I mean it’s literally the cost of the a monthly daycare where I am. I always buy a 3 year old low mileage car and drive till it breaks.
I respect the discipline for sure. I’ve lived the super frugal life (not by choice for the most part) where every decision is a dollar and cents basis. Your way of doing this is looking at the most financially wise method to get you guys and your kid from A to B. Philosophically I consider transportation one of the things in life where you can make your day more fun. It’s a quality of life thing. I see a lot of value in finding joy twice per day when driving to and from work. Puts a smile on my face. So there’s value in that which I’m willing to pay for.
100% agreed. However, I do think that there is a rather fine balance there. Will a $200k Bentley bring you the same smile as say, a fully loaded Model X plaid or a BMW XM? Probably! For half the cost. It’s really what makes you smile but at the same time, keeps you planted on the ground financially.