A common question asked by those looking to purchase a tonneau cover for their leased vehicle is, will installing a tonneau cover violate my lease agreement? The easy answer is no, and this is because most tonneau covers can be easily installed without making any permanent modifications or changes to the vehicle.
There are various reasons why someone may choose to lease over finance a pickup, and one of the primary reasons is that the monthly lease payments are less than monthly loan payments. Preet Benerjee explains in her article, "Lease or buy a car: What's the better option?" that, "instead of of borrowing the full purchase price of the [vehicle], you are only borrowing the amount the [vehicle] will depreciate over the term of your lease" (Benerjee). A leased vehicle can be traded in every 2-3 years for a newer model, which lets drivers abandon older vehicles and the problems they may accumulate, especially if used for work purposes once the lease term ends.
The leasing company is the actual owner of the vehicle, so there are certain restrictions to what can be done to a leased vehicle without violating a lease agreement. Types of changes that may violate a lease agreement include any alterations in suspension or any type of modification that will permanently alter the vehicle. This includes drilling or cutting of any kind.
When choosing accessories for your leased truck, it is important to choose ones that can be installed and removed without making any permanent changes. In the article, "Can I put a tonneau cover on a leased truck? Yes. Here's why", Logan Adams explains, "Roll-Up [Access Tonneau] Covers do not require any permanent modification of a truck. They attach to a truck's bed rails using TITE BITE™ clamps that attach to the bed without drilling and maintain a superior grip between the truck bed cover and the bed" (Adams).
Check out this installation video from Access to see the process.
The majority of tonneau covers, like the Extang Solid Fold 2.0, can be installed and removed without any modification, and even used on the next truck. The best thing you can do is check that the tonneau cover you are thinking about purchasing does not require any type of drilling or vehicle modification to install. This can be done by reviewing the product's installation manuals, and if you still have some uncertainty, the best thing you can do is contact the leasing company to find out.
Below are links to Installation Manuals for Tonneau Covers carried by Auto Truck Depot for your reference:
- Access Original Roll-Up Tonneau Cover (All Except 01-03 F150 SuperCrew & 04 Heritage SuperCrew
- Access Original Roll-Up Tonneau Cover (01-03 F150 SuperCrew & 04 Heritage SuperCrew
- BAKFlip F1, HD, & G2 Tonneau Covers
- Access TonnoSport Tonneau Cover
- BAK Revolver X2 Roll-Up Tonneau Cover
- BAK Roll-X Tonneau Cover
- Extang eMAX Folding Tonneau Cover
- Extang EnCore Tonneau Cover
- Extang Solid Fold Tonneau Cover
- Extang Trifecta Folding Tonneau Cover
- Pace Edwards Bedlocker Tonneau Cover
- Pace Edwards JackRabbit Tonneau Cover
- Pace Edwards Switchblade Tonneau Cover: Chevrolet / Dodge / Ford / Ford Super Duty / Tundra
- Retrax RetraxONE Tonneau Cover
- Retrax RetraxPRO Tonneau Cover
- Roll-N-Lock Tonneau Cover
- TruXedo Deuce Tonneau Cover
- TruXedo Lo Pro QT Tonneau Cover
- TruXedo TruXport Roll-Up Tonneau Cover
- UnderCover Classic Tonneau Cover
- UnderCover Flex Tonneau Cover
- UnderCover LUX/SE Tonneau
Auto Truck Depot
107, 42 Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta
Toll Free: 1-855-253-4330
Local: 1-403-253-4330
info@autotruckdepot.ca
Sources Cited:
Banerjee, Preet. 'Lease Or Buy A Car: What's The Better Option?'. Household Finance. The Globe and Mail, 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Adams, Logan. 'Can I Put A Tonneau Cover On A Leased Truck? Yes. Here's Why'. Agri-Cover, Inc. Blog: Truck Bed Covers, Snow Plows, ATV Accessories, Agricultural Tarps Blog. ACI Agri-Cover, Inc., 2014. Web. 27 May. 2014