Drilling holes in a leased vehicle?

[newsphotog]

I have been considering drilling NMO holes in my 2011 Jeep Patriot, but it is a lease. I figured I would drill anyways. When I asked the jackals at the dealership about it, they said accessories will go with the vehicle when turned in at the end of the lease. I asked about any costs with it and they didn't really give me an answer. I figured at the end of the lease (if I don't end up buying the vehicle at the end), I could just leave the mounts in and put rain caps on them. Would they still charge me if I ended up buying the vehicle? It will be two mounts only. I just don't like the idea of fender mounts, trunk lip mounts, mag mounts, glass mounts, etc. I turned in my 2004 Impala with four NMO mounts still in it and still got $1500 over KBB value. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[W2NJS]

When I had leased cars for sales work I drilled holes in the trunk; usually one but sometimes two. If you're buying the car at the end of the lease they can't complain about holes. This has been discussed many times here and on other boards and if I had to concisely state the consensus it would be that "no one seems to care about antenna holes."

[newsphotog]

I was pretty gung ho about drilling holes until I woke up this morning and for some reason started doubting myself.

When I traded my vehicle in, they said the holes were no problem, but I am under the impression that they will scrutinize an end-of-vehicle-lease more than a plain old trade-in because if they can charge you for excess damage, they will. Trading in a vehicle that you owned is way different than turning a vehicle in at the end of the lease.

I think if it's only two holes and they're covered with rain caps or filled-in with rubber, it won't be too noticeable, I just wanted to get some opinions on this and hear from others' personal experiences related directly to leasing and not just trade-ins.

[rafdav]

remain in the name of the leasing company. That being the case, they could charge you (monetarily speaking) for damage. If you were to purchase the car after expiration of the lease, then I would think you'd be ok.
I'm not a lawyer or anything else, just my thoughts, and I've been wrong b4!

[KC4YIN]

DRILL IT!!
I drilled into a Dodge Caravan as soon as I got it home from the dealership. 3 years later I put the 3/4" rubber hole plugs in and no problem. You will probably do a whole lot worse things to the vehicle in the time you have it than a 3/4" hole can do.

[edmscan]

I would think that you could be in for a whole lot of hurt when you return your leased vehicle. Just my opinion .. but you can be sure that they will go over the vehicle pretty thoroughly when you return it.

I would go with a comet (or similar) type of trunk mount as they can be taken off with no damage.

Just my 2 cents ... if I was you I wouldn't do it, as those holes are permanent.

[Confuzzled]

Would they still charge me if I ended up buying the vehicle?

If you end up buying the vehicle, there probably won't be a problem.

If you turn the vehicle in, they COULD charge you for repairs or to replace the trunk lid. They might not considering all the fleet vehicles that end up with holes, but they COULD and they'd be within their rights to do so.

[W9RXR]

Of the two cars I've leased, neither one was scrutinized all that closely when I turned them in. Basically, a guy got in and looked around to see if the interior was torn up, then he drove it around the block to see if it had any mechanical issues.

If the holes are in the roof, take the NMO mounts out and put in the plastic plugs that Larsen and other antenna companies sell for that purpose. On a tall vehicle like your Patriot, I doubt if anyone will notice.

Alternatively, look at lip mounts like the Diamond K400 and mount them on the rear hatch. If the Patriot has a luggage rack, you could use the Diamond K550 or K515. Comet has similar mounts.

[newsphotog]

There's not much room on the rear hatch for a lip mount since the top half of it is glass. I do have a plastic luggage rack that runs parallel to the sides of the vehicle, but that's not really one of my preferences as I think it looks funny if I have one antenna on each side making it look like a football goal. Plus I have to find a way to get coax into the cabin from the roof, pretty much impossible unless I drill a hole somewhere or run the coax through the hatch and run the risk of the coax getting pinched a few too many times.

I am considering fender mounts, even though I think they look a little ridiculous (to me).

Realistically the bank does have the right to charge me for an entirely new OEM roof as they specify that the vehicle should be returned in pre-lease condition, not just with the holes plugged up. I imagine a brand new roof can put some pain in the pocketbook.

I could call the bank and see what their guidelines are, but the agreement is that any scratches, dings, or dents more than 1" long/wide and more than $100 of damage is considered excess damage or wear, but holes and punctures regardless of size are chargeable. I don't expect the bank's customer service rep on the phone would know much about antenna mounts but I can ask about 3/4" holes and see what the cost would be. There has to be someone there that could tell me or provide something in writing.

I imagine I'd purchase the vehicle at the end of the lease since they already quoted me for the purchase price and it's very reasonable. Of course if I end up purchasing, this is a moot point. But the two exceptions to this purchase would be if a) the finance agreement/payments (including interest) was unreasonable by 2014, or b) if the cost of parts and maintenance of an aging 4x4 Jeep is significantly more than a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge.

Tell me more about the rubber plugs... how well do they work? Do they come in only black?

Anyone used 3/8" NMO mounts instead of 3/4" mounts? Much of a difference?

Thanks all for the replies... I have an appointment to get these radios installed on August 3 regardless whether it's a fender mount or roof mount so any feedback is appreciated in the meantime.

[W9RXR]

Originally Posted by newsphotog

There's not much room on the rear hatch for a lip mount since the top half of it is glass.

Put the mount on the lower part of the hatch adjacent to the taillights. Yes, you will suffer some signal degradation due to the roof structure, but I see lots of SUVs with antenna mounts in that location. I also saw a guy with a Ford Explorer in the parking lot at the Dayton Hamvention who had fabricated mounts that were basically a sheet of stainless steel that came out through the gap between the body and the top of the taillight.

[Confuzzled]

No, they wouldn't replace the roof panel, but they might charge hourly rate for a bump shop to fill the holes and paint the roof.


Or not.

If the plugs are plastic, you might be able to paint them to match the body color.

[K4NBC]

This happened to me with a leased car: I went to turn it in, they saw the Antenna Specialists plug center roof. There was a discussion about re sale value, leaks and the hole. It was far cheaper for me to get 5 cans of Duplicolor and bondo/ paint the roof and make it go away. Removed the paint from the cans and used a gun. perfect job, they were happy . The shop they would send it to would have charged about $300. The next car I got from them I used trunk lip brackets. If you use a hole saw, save the cutout.

[burner50]

What could they do? They could charge you for damages, likely directing repairs at their own discretion.


What WOULD they do? Nobody knows.

[exkalibur]

A friend of mine had leased a car. When it expired, he had two holes in the trunk and one on the roof. Bondo and color match paint. Externally you won't know the hole was ever there, so long as the paint surrounding the hole hasn't faded too badly. If that happens, there are places that sell fade paint. That is, it'll replicate fading the more you load it on.

[newsphotog]

Hmm, Bondo. I didn't even know about that until you guys brought this up. It seems like it wouldn't be that hard to use Bondo to fill a 3/4" hole. I think the difficulty would be matching the body paint since it is a bright metallic silver, and I've never been very good with spray paints.

[n5ims]

Another thing to do is if the leasing company gives you grief about the antenna plug, don't use that company for your next lease and let them know why.

[Tech792]

I've been leasing for the past 15 years and never had a problem with antenna holes. But my back-up plan was to tell the dealer I would go elsewhere on the next lease if they complained. Figuring they would not want to lose a sale for a few holes. Interior holes, I've always hid or kept to a minimum. Better yet, try keeping your interior holes in the carpet.

[Rob_K]

If I had a lease, I would drill the hole. When it came time to turn it in, I would go with the rain cap.

If they ask, sell it as a feature. "Oh, that's for an external GPS antenna to be installed. It cost me $100 to have it installed".

[Thunderknight]

Get some low profile antennas (pucks, fins) to put on at the end of the lease. They might not even notice they're not factory
Most people think the 800 MHz "fin" on my vehicle is satellite radio.

[CoolCat]

Originally Posted by Tech792

Interior holes, I've always hid or kept to a minimum. Better yet, try keeping your interior holes in the carpet.

Holes in the interior are generally easy to fix by simply replacing the bezel/panel you drilled a hole in. Most vehicles have an easily removable center/console bezel that surrounds the factory radio, HVAC controls, etc (many bezels just 'pop' off by hand, no tools needed). You can modify this panel all you want and all you have to do to fix it is simply replace it with a new one. You can buy this bezel (or any other interior panel) from the dealer parts counter.