Modding and the value of our cars.....!

[elwesso]

This poll is about how you think that modding affects the value of our cars (hence the title).

I got in a discussion not too long ago, and the other party said that any mods, ANY will hurt the value of the car. This includes anything non stock...

This same party nixed the idea for a new shamu interior any time in the near future

My personal opinion is that it depends... I were to add new seats ( ), rims, and other things like that, it could only boost the value. However, when it comes to serious mods like what Fred has (no offense, your car is golden), I would have to know a LOT about the setups and stuff about them in order to feel comfortable.....

What does everyone think... I realize most people here are in for the long haul and arent thinking about the possibilty of selling, but Im wondeirng what you all think.....How do modifications affect resale value

[PalmerWMD]

It depedns who is looking to buy it.A dealer will lowball u on trade in, with this argument and many ( but not nearly all or even most) PPL wont like mods.

Example: But a member on this board will pay double for a 240SX if its swapped vs stock.

Fred...

[j30 leopard]

i agree with palmer, it really depends on the person. me personally, when i look for a car i try to find one that is still stock mostly for the reasons that i want to do the work to the car. some people would rather buy the car with the mods already done, the only problem with that is you dont know how the person drove or took care of the car or even if the mods were done correct.

[elwesso]

Lets say: Anything non performance.. Rims, seats, little things like that. NO major body mods, stuff that can EASILY be changed to stock...

[lessthanjakejohn]

I'd always try to sell something as stock if it can be changed back. THen you can offer the accesories extra.

It also depends on how nicely its done. Someone's 'modded' exhaust could be a welded on muffler while anothers might be a quiet/freeflowin full stainless system.

Also on wheels, Someone's cheap cheap 20s will make the car look like trash, while something conservative and classy will add a lot even if they are 15"

Same way with seats... Stock seats that are torn will devalue while NICE leather covers/seats will add value.

[j30 leopard]

to the right person the car could be worth more. it really just depends on the mods. actually it also depends on the car as well.

[elwesso]

I agree with Lessthan. If its done right, it should boost the value, but if its crappy then it wont.....

What about to the untrained eye?? I would say that most people that dont know a lot about this stuff would either avoid it alltogether or pay LOTS extra.....

[lessthanjakejohn]

What about to the untrained eye?? I would say that most people that dont know a lot about this stuff would either avoid it alltogether or pay LOTS extra.....

Whn you put up an ad you have to know who your target is. If your advertising in the ghetto you would want to mention chrome, If on the internet, then youd want to target younger people...etc etc. I think mods that would ad the greatest value overall to everyone are the ones that add class or function, yet look/appear stock.

[elwesso]

I agree, ones that ENHANCE the look, not take away from the look of the car.....

[lessthanjakejohn]

I also think that the value goes down when you add mods that would make the car less reliable.

[AZhitman]

Keep this in mind: A car does not have a "value" per se, beyond that which an insurance company (or potential buyer) is willing to pay for it.

That being said, many of our cars are "worth" no more than $2-9K.

HOWEVER, it all depends on what someone wants to pay. If and when my Q ever goes, I shouldn't expect the rims, tires, Eibachs and Tokicos, FSTB, RSB, or ANY of that stuff to add value in and of itself.

However, those things say something, and that is: This car needs nothing. it is as mechanically perfect as this owner could get it.

[elwesso]

I was more reffering at this time to non-performance related things... Obviously anyhting that changes the performance without changing a bunch of other stuff is gonna make the car less reliable, therefore less value......

[lessthanjakejohn]

Keep this in mind: A car does not have a "value" per se, beyond that which an insurance company (or potential buyer) is willing to pay for it.

That being said, many of our cars are "worth" no more than $2-9K.

HOWEVER, it all depends on what someone wants to pay. If and when my Q ever goes, I shouldn't expect the rims, tires, Eibachs and Tokicos, FSTB, RSB, or ANY of that stuff to add value in and of itself.

However, those things say something, and that is: This car needs nothing. it is as mechanically perfect as this owner could get it.

Great point.. It depends solely on the buyer to assess value, and mods can be the deal maker or breaker. For example if I (yes m) was choosing between your car and another and both were maintained beyond spec, I would choose yours because of the mods. However, If a little old lady was choosing, she would probaly choose the other (Do little old ladies even buy old cars like these :oface )

[lessthanjakejohn]

Also, I think mods that truely enhance the look of the car can bring a buyer that wasn't even looking at your brand / model of car in the first place.

For example, if someone was looking for a 5-6 year old 'plain' Lexus, and they spotted Hitmans car, I think it would be hard for them to not be attracted.

[downtempo]

Value is quite a hard thing to determine. NICO members buying another NICO's ride would value the car higher, over a non-NICO's. At least if you are familiar with the member and their maintenance habits. I feel like I paid a bit on the high end for my 91 Q45T. $6500, but only 86500 miles. Upon purchase, though, discovered that it has had a cheap respray, don't know if guides were done, and the transmission makes me nervous. Just paid $850 to replace injector #5, fix a leaky fuel hose under the plenum and a leaky power steering hose. If I had a chance to do it over again. I would in a heartbeat. My mechanic and the shop I bought the car from have the highest reputation in the area.

Oh yeah, you guys were talking about mods. Sorry for the rambling. I guess the above applies to mods too. I think in the gen1 Q45 any mods or repairs should be done for personal enjoyment. I really cant see making any money modding a Q and trying to recoup it in a sale

[HeavyDuty]

If you're selling to mainstream Auto Trader readers, mods depreciate the value, period.

I regularly buy modded cars for cheap, part out the mods, then sell the car as stock. In some cases for double or triple what I paid.

[Jesda]

To me, Quella is worth well over 15k.

If you were slap a 3-foot wing and put funky-*** stripes all over her, she'd be worth possibly a bit less than a same-year Q in the same condition.

When you "customize" something, not everyone likes your definition of custom.

-Jesda

[90Q45blue]

(Do little old ladies even buy old cars like these :oface )

Yes they do. And then they sell them to me.

Nick

[cweberj30t]

Wes,

You actually need to modify your poll (no pun intended). It all really comes down to circumstance. As Fred said earlier, some guys will pay twice as much for a car with an engine swap. In most situations, you will never get the money you put in a car back. It's a depreciating asset no matter how you look at it. With that being said I don't think it helps or hurts the resale value of the car. My 2 cents.

[kimrober]

Just my opinion but I think modding or non-modding won't matter to us G50 Q owners aren't we? Our cars depreciated so much that to the point where we (or maybe just myself) don't care what the car would worth after certain years because, of course, I would never sell it to anyone!I decided to keep the Q until it mechanically fails and "HAD" to go. So I dumped away stock springs after I got eibachs and got rid of bose speakers after I replaced them with infinity kappas because I never thought about putting the stocks back in my Q.Just love your Q and continue to soup it up.... and enjoy the ride!

[Jesda]

UpgradesCustomizationsPerformance Modifications

Depending on which of the above you do, it can adversely affect resale value. An "upgrade" is more of a universally accepted bonus. Like adding heated seats to a 92. But a customization, like umm... lavender seats, might narrow your selection of potential buyers. And performance mods vary -- some hurt the life of the vehicle and some change the expected feel that the buyer is looking for.

[Jeff Williams]

Same response, different NICO member.

If you intend to sell your car to a dealership, then stock is the best way, because they can not sell modded cars, as easily as stock ones. It is not like the 70's with the Yenko Camaro.

If you intend to get your car noticed, over all the other cars, just like yours, a set of wheels tastefully applied, is acceptible.

If you add exhaust, wings, lowering kits, body mods, it all takes away from the value of the car. Period.

Now, you might get someone to pay al ittle extra, but it is only because the buyer either wants those mods, or likes the car.

I am saying, there is s difference between value, and percieved value.

Value is basically what you get from the Insurance company, if it is stolen, or wrecked, or what you would get in a trade.

Percieved value, is what you get from the young kid, who loves the 3' wing on the back of your 1992 Lancer.

Just look at the Barrett/Jackson auction. Some stock cars bring big bucks (Ferrari), and some modded cars bring big bucks (Boyd Coddington cars). But overall, the restored stock cars tend to bring more.

[louiegz]

If your buying a 69 Camaro and all the numbers have to match, then stock is the way to go. A newer car, it depends. Lets say if I had to choose between my Q that is all stock and Jeff's car, which have a tastfull set on rims on them, then I'd spend a couple of extra bucks on Jeff's car. On the other hand, if your selling a Q that's white and the owner goes and does the interior white and paints the dash, gets white leather, slaps on some cheap body kit, that car will have a hard time selling. I've seen Qs with the cheap wood dash kit. I wouldn't take that car if they gave it to me for free.

[Jeff Williams]

If your buying a 69 Camaro and all the numbers have to match, then stock is the way to go. A newer car, it depends. Lets say if I had to choose between my Q that is all stock and Jeff's car, which have a tastfull set on rims on them, then I'd spend a couple of extra bucks on Jeff's car. On the other hand, if your selling a Q that's white and the owner goes and does the interior white and paints the dash, gets white leather, slaps on some cheap body kit, that car will have a hard time selling. I've seen Qs with the cheap wood dash kit. I wouldn't take that car if they gave it to me for free.

Well stated.

Evie (my wife) talked to the Infiniti dealership about trading her 2000 I30t, in on a G35 Coupe 6MT wit hthe Aero Kit, and Brembo brakes. They wanted her to put the factory rims back on the car, or take a cut in the trade.

She has 2002 I30t wheels on the car! She went from 17" polished aluminum 5 spoke wheels, to 17" chrome 10 spoke(guess) wheels, both made by Infiniti.

Where can i get that white dash paint, that sounds kinda cool!:D

[louiegz]

Where can i get that white dash paint, that sounds kinda cool!:D

I saw this white paint thing done on a dash of a Honda Accord once. You don’t want to do this. It was all cracked and looked nasty. Paint dash is good when you use it for a same color restoration. There's this show on the DIY network called Classic Car Restoration. The guy was restoring an old Vette and a part of the dash was discolored. Changing the dash wasn't cost effective, so they just painted the spot. That looked good.

DON”T MESS WITH YOUR Q, JEFF! It looks great just the way it is.

[elwesso]

I guess what it all comes down to is this:

Ive been thinking about my interior mods (changing to shamu) and the work involved. Assuming Id need to sell the car at some point in time, Id want to make sure taht what I did would at minimum NOT hurt anything.

What I would be doing would be using ALL stock parts, except for the dash would be PROFESSIONALLY dyed.

Would this be something you would pay extra for (uniqueness), no difference, or less?

I do however agree with the statements that it depends on the quality of the job...

When I started this thread, I didnt really think about that, as most owners here take enough pride in there cars to make sure its done right the first time..

So all variables set aside, assuming ALL mods were done at a high quality, what would you say?

[Jeff Williams]

I would say, if you recovered the interior, and it was something other than an original material, that as long as that new material was a hight quality, easy to repair or replace, then it would be a wash (no more value than original).

If it is an exotic fabric, then I would say it was lowering the value, over an original interior.

Either way, you are increasing the value of the car, over its present condition.

It's your car, make it (a little) personal.

If I sell my car, I will put the intake back to stock, remove the stabilizer bars, and find some pie pan wheels, to make it as close to original, as possible. I won't be changing the struts, or exhasut back (that is, if I change the exhaust).

[louiegz]

Wes, with all the miles and years that you have on your car, resale value goes out the window. I don't think you’ll get more money for the mods, but, in tastefully done, the car will sell quicker. Potential buyer will look at the nice new interior and say, wow, this looks new. What color are you dying the dash? Will the door panels and rug match? The main thing is, are you planning to keep the car long enough to enjoy these mods. In my car, I plan to do the suspension work and the fuel pump that need to be done because I plan to keep my car for 5 more years or so. If not, I'd leave it alone and sell it. After five years, I would reevaluate the car to see how it's running and take it from there. If you’re keeping the car, do the mods.

[elwesso]

Remember what I would be using would be STOCK parts from a 92 Q45.....

As long as its a wash then its fine with me.....

I plan on keeping my car until I can get an F50, but by then it wouldnt be worth selling.

Please visit my OPINIONS ON NEW INTERIOR thread and read the last page, I think it was gonna be a great project (and still might be later).

<I ask these questions beacuse if my Q goes its going here!>

[cweberj30t]

I guess what it all comes down to is this:

Would this be something you would pay extra for (uniqueness), no difference, or less?

I would say it would be no difference to less. You would have to find someone that would really want that color combo in order to get more out of them. My advise to you is do what you want to the car, what pleases you, but don't expect to get an extra $1,000 when you go to sell it. As far as the Barrett Jackson reference goes, stock always sells for more. I saw a correct 67 vette tri-power 427 with a unique color combo go for $260,000.