Had a short conversation with a fellow Porsche owner about getting his brake calipers powder coated. He said he has decided against the idea because he was told by his dealer that potential Porsche owners want a bone-stock car; no mods, add-on, doodads, or bling. So I'm wondering; do the typical mods we see here on the forum (wheels, powder coating, suspension, cold air intakes, exhaust, etc) have a negative effect on trade-in or sales values if they are left on the car? I know we believe that we should do what we like with our cars but there will eventually be a time when a sale or trade-in will happen.

 

I had an 08 cayman s that I modded, exhaust, softronic, nav, speakers etc. I got above blue book from the dealer and they sold the car less than 24hrs later. I guess someone who owned an older cayman saw and heard my car when it was in service and told my salesrep to call him if I ever traded it in. So to answer your question, I saw no issues

 

yes in general mods, especially those that difficult to reverse, make it harder (though certainly not impossible) to find a buyer or trade-in take. i've had two dealers both tell me that they hope i saved my cats, intake etc. for trade-in. the way i look at it, when you do something like paint your calipers, you factor in the cost of maybe (likely?) having to do it again back to stock for trade-in; not a huge deal. or, accept that the dealer will still take it, just maybe for less -- remember he can always order a stock part again and put it back to original spec.

on the other hand, i've looked at plenty of dealer pre-owned inventory with aftermarket wheels, mufflers, etc. so it may be that the dealers are playing it both ways - wouldn't that be a first

 

My dealer told me that even something as simple as adding aftermarket wheels will keep the car from being sold as a CPO car. Keep those stock parts!

 

IMHO would never buy a car that was modded unless I personally knew the person that owned it, so I had sense of what really went into the car and I knew the real history. That's just me though - lots of people don't have a problem with it.

 

I traded my 09 Cayman S that had the plenum/TB and flash done. The car was to be CPO'd and the dealer asked, after the trade, if I had the original plenum/TB which I did and gave to them. They gave me the Softronic plenum/TB back which are genuine Porsche parts and reflashed the ECU. Very nice and friendly dealer. His concern was the fact the car could leave the area and another dealer might not honor the warranty if the mod was not reversed. About three days later, the new buyer calls and the car now has the original mod at a very reduced price.

 

I've always modded my cars, and had no issues with trade-in or sale value. IMHO it depends on the dealer. Some have clientele that are more performance savvy than others.

 

I don't buy mine if it's not modded. Lol. Ask Jake motorcars if they have a problem selling modded cars. They can't seem to keep them in the showroom for more than a month.

 

Personally, I'd avoid buying a car with mods, since the exact mods and their effects would be at least somewhat unknown.

 

They MIGHT hurt in a trade, although I doubt it unless they are really hokey, but they certainly don't in a private sale.

 

As noted above it is best to keep all of your stock parts. I had to source a set of stock wheels for a trade once before the dealer would take the car in trade.

It helps if you are handy with tools as well. Otherwise you will be paying to take everything off and reinstalling the stock parts. It's a little time consuming with extensive suspension mods.

 

My dealer doesn't care, in some cases they will list the mods on the used cars if it's something common like an exhaust. When I traded in my Cayman the guy literally took a 2 minute look at my car and made an offer. They would've had no idea if I had anything done to it.

 

Not a Porsche story but I traded in a G37 with suspension and body kit and they were ecstatic. They told me they would sell the car as soon as it went through their prep process. They doubted it would see any time on the lot cause word gets around fast. The techs would call their friends and the dealership would sell at higher premium.

I also traded in a Lexus with suspension and bodykit (and other mods) and it was the most sought after car on their lot. Turned into a bidding war.

In both cases, these people knew how well I took care of the cars because they were serviced at the dealerships where I traded in.

So mods don't always hurt, although they like to tell people that who don't know any better.

With a Porsche or any car, many buyers want stock. But there are plenty of buyers who want mods.