Hello. My name is Barrister and I am a modaholic.

(from crowd) ***HELLO BARRISTER!***

After spending more $$$ modding my AMG Mercedes than the damn thing cost me, my wife and I had a deal that I would not modify the 997TT.

That lasted about 4 months.

Then I went on an exotic car run with a bunch of other 997TT owners who had all modded their cars in different ways and different stages. They blew my freakin' mind.

Now I have my 997TT in the shop right now getting exhaust, ECU, plenum, pulley system, and HRE P43 wheels.

But it doesn't stop there. Oh no. I don't even have the above mods done yet and I am already eyeballing a set of carbon fiber door entry guards, aero kit and a KW suspension system.

The horror . . . The horror . . .

 

I remember that thread on the SLK forums, I was amazed that you got the Brabus B55S.

 

Yeah. But the B55S is a GREAT car. In fact, it feels just as quick as the 997TT. I still love it and would do the engine mods again. I would probably lay off the cosmetic mods a bit. But the B55 is as close to a one-of-a-kind car that you will ever see. My close relationship with Claus Ettensberger also played a role in that madness.

Hey, it might not be for everyone. But I will always love my B55S!

 

while not a porsche, I had parts for my current car in my hands a few weeks before I even bought it



this is another car I promised my wife "I will not mod"........have another batch of parts being shipped to the office this week. As long as I don't buy wheels she won't notice anything

 

Love the car barrister, as usual its a stunner.

 

I love to start modding right from the getgo. But, it also depends on the $ flow at the time also. If I have some to use or if waiting is the best option.

 

We need to get you on our next C&C run on Saturday May 24th. 5:30am

 

I have been reading along . Barrister -the Mercedes looks fantastic !!!!

I am good at looking at my car and drawing a boundary with what I feel is a financial as well as reliability limit . Beyond the 700 Hp upgrade I would be concerned about having to service the car more , insurance increases , and huge depreciation .Of course any buyer can go out and drive a stock 997tt and then come drive mine if i ever sell the car.

I also don't mod my other cars . My last Mercedes was stock . The M3 wil be my girlfriends first performance car and shes happy with it stock and I do feel it would be easier for her going to BMW service if we leave it that way . Although I did not enjoy cleaning the stock wheels on the M . My Civic Si --I don't need a modded Civic si to to to the movies or supermarket which is what i use the car for .

In short I evaluate the car , it's main use, and what would work best .

 

BTW, sorry I missed the last one you sent me a PM about. It's not often the wife gets out of town.............can you say "Hangover"

 

Wheels, suspension and exhaust is a must. The good thing about these mods is that it won't affect your warranty. Congratulations on the new toy!

 

Question for those who mod...how hard is it to sell/trade-in the car when the time comes? Dealers don't accept modded cars for trade-in right? And most (but not all) private buyers shun such cars for fear of abuse and problems?

 

I have traded in modded cars twice . Both times I got more than had the car been stock . The mods have a higher rate of depreciation though where I got back about 25 percent of what I paid .


Some opt to convert the car to stock and sell the parts .
Other opt for a private sale .
With my 997tt and the enormous amount of mods I have placed on it I will see when I go to sell the car . Many of the mods on my car actually cost MORE now than when I bought them . Plus the price of installation adds up too .

As for those who mod and really pound on the car . I suppose that hurts resale but my observation is that most Porsche owners take care of their cars . Exceptions exist --but an inspecition would show whether the car is well cared for or not.

 

Selling a heavily modified car - that you put your heart and soul in to - is definately a problem . . . And it can really break your heart.

The only way to get what a heavily modded car is worth is to sell it privately and have a lot of patience. You simply have to find the right buyer - someone who knows cars and mods and appreciates the time and effort you put into the modifications. The real problem is, most of those people want to buy a stock car and mod it themselves and are not in the market for a car that has already been modified.

When I bought my 997TT I was tempted to try and sell my Brabus B55S. No dealer would give me anything above high Kelly Blue Book for the car despite all the extras - many of which were one-of-a-kind custom items. So I moved to the private sale. There was a lot of interest - some of them VERY tempting - but I stood firm on a pretty high price and never got an offer within 10% of what I was asking. To be honest, I probably would not have sold the car regardless. There was this one guy, though, who knew each and every modification I had done and how much it likely cost me. He truly understood how unique the car is and really wanted to buy it. But once he got through all the mods and did the math, he realized he couldn't afford it and didn't even make an offer. You need to find a guy like that who can put his money where his mouth is. Then you can start to get close to what the car is worth. But it will always hurt to part with it . . . Always. So I decided to keep the old B55. I still drive it and love it. Hell, I may never sell it now.

The best place to try to sell it is at a local exotic car meet. In OC we have a meet every Saturday (Cars & Coffee) and there are a lot of enthusiasts there who can appreciate a modified car. If you slapped a "For Sale" sign on it at a place like that, along with a nice list of all the mods and some performance numbers, you could snag someone who would buy it - either for themselves or someone else who they know is interested in a special car. You won't get far with the Auto Trader or your local paper though. And dealers will only try to rob you blind for it. There is some hassle in selling it privately and if you need money quick it may be the worst way. But if you have time and patience, sooner or later you will find a buyer who is looking for just what you have to offer and money will likely be no object.

 

My first mod, and one I think everyone can agree is an absolute must, are clear side markers. I had mine in hand before my car arrived and installed them myself before the car left the dealership.

I had a pretty good idea I was going to do a wheel change and ended up ordering HRE P43s about 2 weeks after getting my car. The wheels, along with a few other things I've done cosmetically, plus the fact that I ordered the car exactly to my specs, means I'm probably close to done. I'm considering doing a Tubi as my dealer is now a Champion Motorsports dealer. We'll see...........

The biggest problem is that I live in New Hampshire. Unlike California or Florida, there aren't any shops in these parts that I'd trust doing an ECU, suspension, intake plenum, etc.

 

Barrister --Do you think the snag in selling your modded car was the segment of buyers looking at that make/model over a different car ?

My both cars modded and traded were
1) a 1990 300 zx Turbo back in 1993 -- The sales guys were even discussing who was going to drive that car first .
2) My former 997S with F77/Tubi . Many Porsche buyers would leap for that set up .