why do you bold and underline? internet srs biznz man right here folks.

I'll do it to you.. but in BLOOD RED so you can totally see my super serial reply.

Simple exhausts and aftermarket wheels are WAY different to engine modifications and suspensions...
the idea is that people who do those kinds of things are usually tracking their car or posing as trackers.
I don't know about what you do for a living man, but I don't have time to go rummage around every possible track, body shop, and aftermarket shop and interrogate people on the history of a car. If I were to buy a used car, I'd test drive it, ask the dealer, run the plates, and ask for a service history.
force dealer to put new clutch and warranty, and get the interior professionally cleaned to get rid of any possible sacrificed chicken liver stains.
and if the car has been modified heavily, I would walk away



I don't see why you are being so condescending in your posts...

 

I think in my case it falls into the mods category; my car didn't come with it from the factory but was dealer installed when it had <3000 miles. That is why I wrote about my X51 as a mod, because it is offered as a Tequipment item for retrofitting to cars without it.

 

It is not a mod if the dealer does it and it doesnt change warranty status.

 

This thread seems to be going all over the place. The question at hand is if mods can help or hurt selling a car. The answer is clearly both. If someone wants the mods you have done it could help, if someone does not like the mods it could hurt.

No matter the case 9 out of 10 times the mods that you do will not give you any extra return on resale value. It has always been the case that it is more cost effective to put the car back to stock and do a part out of the mods than to sell the car modded.

Some mods really won’t change the cars image in anyone’s mind. These would be things like wipers, tint, clear bra, side markers, etc. As long as what you have done isn’t chrome wipers with green tint, clear bra over home spray paint fix and some purple side markers…you should be fine.

Then you start to get into the bigger ticket items that are still visual rather than mechanical. Rims, seats, steering wheels, shifter ****, sound systems. Most of these can be turn offs as they are often appealing to only certain people. Makes sense since everyone’s taste is different. But the same rule applies as does with all mods, to a point. If you have a $300 GT3 shifter you probably won’t see an addition $300 come selling time. If you have $10k worth of rims and tires you may get something in return, but don’t expect a lot.

Then you move into the actual MODS. Exhaust, suspension, ECU flash, turbo swaps, etc. These are almost always going to pigeon hole your target audience. Every modification states that the care has been changes and potentially more wear has been put onto the car than normal. No mod is every going to be better for the cars life expectancy. You may find people that want the car modded as that is in fact their end goal. This they look at as a cost saving. Once again you probably won’t get much of a return unless the mods are over the top. A fully built engine with crazy HP done by a premier shop (note that is has to be a premier shop not just a good one but a recognized as the best) will often get you a much better return, but typically nowhere near what it cost you for that type of service.

In the end any mod past very simply will often limit the amount of potential buyers. Depending on the amount of mods you have done you may take a huge bath on them.

For an example my 04 WRX had the following and I sold it for the same cost as if it was stock. i knew that no one would pay extra even though I had put 5k into the car.

Performance
- COBB AccessPORT (Stage 2)
- COBB front swaybar endlink
- COBB rear swaybar endlinks
- COBB rear adjustable swaybar
- TDC custom tune http://www.tdctuning.com/ (218 WHP – 290 crank HP)
- Borla cat-back exhaust
- Stainless Steel catless downpipe
- Stainless Steel up-pipe (not installed)
- K&N Typhoon Shortram intake (have pipes for Cold Air)
- Short throw shifter

Interior/Exterior
- Eclipse AVN 2454 6.5” touch screen (GPS, DVD, MP3)
- Sony PlayStation 2 (“slim line” installed in glove box)
- Monster 300w power supply inverter
- Seibon Carbon Fiber Hood
- Prodrive shift ****
- Subiesport front LP
- Rare black “i” badge

My 07 STi had the following and I also sold it for the same cost as stock. I knew the same applied as did with the WRX.

Exterior
- Huper Optik window tint – Installed by Tint King
- Grillcraft front Upper and Lower grills
- Carbon Fiber Upper center grill
- Pantone color match stripe around Upper center grill (custom color matching)
- LightWerkz Headlights
o Custom Painted Inner Housings - Black
o Factory Amber Removal
o Twin CCFL Angel Eye Rings (only 06/07 I know of with Twin CCFL)
o Chrome Amber turn signal bulbs
o White Indicator bulbs
- Subiesport front LP
- De-badged trunk (STi still on)

Other
- Stock Summer tires (about 6k miles)
- Bridgestone Blizzak Winter tires (about 6k miles)
- Tires filled with Nitrogen

 

This sums it all up.
+1.

 

In my case, I was originally going to spend $50 to $55K on a stock C2S with the aerokit. And spend another $10 to $15K to modify it to my taste. But I found a nicely modded C4S, had everything I wanted, the GT3RS bodykit, lowered, all the options I wanted with the exception of high polished wheels. (which I had replaced) I was a bit hesitant with the TPC Turbo, actually I believe it was the first one with the TPC turbo. I spent a full day reading and 39 plus pages later, felt confident enough to buy it. It was a bit more than what the others were selling, but there's no way I can get these types of mods for $15K so for me it was a bargain. I don't regret it one bit. Love it. If I were to buy another one, I would only buy modded cars, not much more than stock but looks a lot better. My 2 cents.