What Mods Are OK Under A Novated Lease?

If you’re a car enthusiast, then one of the things you might like doing is customising your car.  That can certainly be fun, but if your boss has offered you a new car under a novated lease setup, then one of the things that you can’t do is to modify the car in question. This is because the car, technically speaking, is not owned by you but by the people who set up the lease (i.e., the financing company – which would be us!).  Under a novated lease agreement, you can’t make any modifications or installations without the financing company’s consent.

Some of the things that you can’t do to a car under a novated lease include the following:

• Tinting the windows
• Custom paint jobs
• Anything that involves tweaking or tuning the engine
• Bonnet blowers
• Bigger wheels/rims
• Amped up (literally!) sound systems
• Tinkering with the suspension
• Adding spoilers or other body kit

However, there are some modifications that make sense, especially on Australian roads.  If you want to add, for example, roo bars (aka bull bars or nudge bars) or a towbar to your vehicle, then talk to us at the start of the novated lease.  These sorts of mods add value to the car and when the car goes back at the end of the lease period, it won’t make it difficult for the car to find a new owner.  We’re also likely to say yes if certain mods are needed for drivers with disabilities.  But please, please, please make sure you discuss this with us right at the start.  Otherwise, things can get quite difficult and you could be left with a big bill that you weren’t expecting.  If in doubt about a particular mod, talk to us. Ideally, talk to us at the start of the lease period, but if you find a few months down the track that you need to add, say, a bike rack or a tow bar, then get in touch with us and check first before going ahead.

Novated Lease-Friendly Modifications

Now, we’re not total killjoys, and there are a few things that you can do to add a personal touch to your car that don’t count as modifications that are outside the Ts and Cs of a novated lease agreement.  If it’s something that isn’t permanent and can be easily removed without leaving a mark before the car goes back at the end of the lease period, then you can probably do it.  Here are some ways that you can add a personal touch to a vehicle under a novated lease that are OK:

• Slip-on seat covers of the sort you buy down at your local automotive dealer
• Slip-on steering wheel covers
• Fancy tyre valve caps (as long as you swap the old ones back on again later)
• Dash cams – although as this may involve wiring, so have a chat to us first
• Floor mats – again, keep hold of the old ones and pop them back in at the end of the lease
• Decals on the rear window – as long as they (a) don’t obscure your vision for obvious reasons and (b) come off nice and cleanly without leaving a mark. Yes, this would include those “my family” stickers that were all the range about 10 years ago or so.
• Alloy wheels – as long as you keep the originals and put them back on at the end of the lease period (spotted a pattern yet?)

Of course, when the novated lease period comes to an end, you have the option to pay the residual value, and then the car becomes your very own with no strings attached.  Then you can customise it how you like!