Romanian

I just throught I would raise the question of a corvette's value before and after modifications are done to the car. I see alot of people bringing their cars back to stock before selling and I've also noticed that certain heavily modified corvettes sitting on craigslist for long periods of time without a buyer.

After putting thousands of dollars into performance upgrades, I imagine that you are not likely to recover all that money, but if you compared the mileage, condition of the title and carfax of that vette with one that is bone stock, are you likely to see any financial return? It seems as though people are "scared of cars that have been messed with", especially when dishing out alot of money to buy a car.

I have a stock 02 z06 with 64k miles and i'd love to do stuff to it, both cosmetic and performance- but i'm worried that they car will actually depreciate with the modifications I make to it and, in the long run, my money will go down the pit. Any thoughts?

sfc rick

Leave it alone.... spending any money enjoying it everyday is money wasted. You could easily pile the money in the frontyard and set fire to it and get better results.

Seriously.... I'm amazed at this debate or more to the point amused by silliness. If you buy this car for investment....you're already a lost cause. Life is to be lived! Not hedged!

jrose7004

Buying cars are the absolute worst investment that you could ever make.

Vetteman Jack

Chances of getting anywhere close to what you spend in mods back when you sell are very slim, but I look at it as making the car mine. I bought my car to enjoy, and the mods I have done not only personalize it for me, but make it more fun to drive. Of course I went into the mod game knowing that I will not get my money back should I ever sell. So be it.

I think performance mods done by a very well known installer (i.e., Mallet, Lingenfelter, ECS, etc.) will hold their value better, but you still have to get a buyer that is looking for mods similar to what you have done to the car. Hence many will opt to remove what mods they can and sell them separately when selling the car.

racebum

this

if you mod a car it's to take it to the track and have fun. value should not be one of your concerns. in fact modded cars often say : i've been driven hard to many of us.

leave it stock. get a corsa catback if you have the mod bug. as others have pointed out "built" cars take a specific buyer and sit forever before they sell.

runner140*

A little like buying a new Vette and leaving it in the garage...and having a garage queen.

CHJ In Virginia

A car is a DEPRECIATING ASSET - NOT an investment ! The longer you own it, the less it's going to be worth, even low mileage ones.
Buy it, DRIVE it, mod it and enjoy it ! You will never get out of the car what you put in by modifying, and certainly not increase it's value. Do it because you want to and will enjoy the mod, consider it money well spent.

kp1

A bone stock car could be hammered just as much as a modified car. I could take a bone stock car to the drag strip and beat on it or take it to an HPDE every weekend and run it for hours and hours taking the oil temps right to the very edge. How would a buyer know?

And as you pointed out, some people remove the modifications before they sell their "bone stock" vette. When you buy a used car, you takes your chances, period, unless you are personally familiar with the car.

Do modifications increase the car value? Most of the time, no. Do modifications decrease the value? Some times, yes. Depends on the mod. If you do a mod, keep the oem parts.

Will you get your money back from modding your Z06? NOPE. Will the fun factor go up immeasurably? Not if the car sits in a garage. If you really drive it, you'll like it. Just don't put a donkey dong cam in it that ruins low end torque. It's your car. Enjoy it your way.

Romanian

I agree with alot that has been said, though I think that saying "buying cars is the worst investment you could ever make" is a sweeping statement and is not always true. I have had 15 cars in the past few years and have not lost a penny on any of them. IMO, Its all about buying right and seeing the potential behind the individual deal. That being said, I am looking to keep my z06 which is why I would like to make it mine. Here is what it looks like now.



I have made a few low cost modifications, like the c6 wheels, a halltech intake and a tune, and the lemans style headlights. I have done these things to enjoy it, not for resale- but at the same time, its a question worth asking for those of us that cant afford to kiss money goodbye.

RetiredSFC 97

People like myself are afarid of the wrong type of mods because you don't know who did them and if the car was hammered at the track. yes a car can be hammered without mods as well.

Sometimes people do it just because they want to mod them but never abuse them so you have to trust the one who says it was not abused.

And one very important point is, if you don't have experience with engine mods it's best to buy one without them.

But I wouldn't hesitate to buy one that had some bolt on mods like intake, headers, wheels etc. But once you go inside the engine then it's different.

In most cases you can't get the cost of mods back unless someone wants those Mods, then you will still recoup more of your money if you sell them seperately from my experiences and what I've seen.

AU N EGL

Corvette in original condition = $XX,XXX

Modes spent = $10,0000

Corvette in Modded condition = X - $10,000 = Not much

But what the heck

Mod away and have fun

Romanian

The thing i'm really itching for right now is a set of red Corbeau seats. I respect the car but.... it itches soooo baaad

MDaddy

Don't sell it. Build a bigger garage, keep buying...

hdkeno

My thoughts exactly...The one determining factor when I bought my c5, was the B&B bullets and black chrome c6z wheels..against the other low mile mint one owner c5 that i also considererd.

s'noJob

If you think trying to sell a modded 'Vette is bad, try selling one with a custom paint job. Pretty expensive to bring back to stock.

BTW, elements of this topic were discussed in depth recently: Modifying or keeping Original if anybody's interested.

Your car has 64,000 miles - what can make a difference?
.

Jeff T.

Personally, I look for something stock more from the standpoint of not having any knowledge of those who did the mods.

When you get your car modded, especially engine mods, it's your guy or your shop that you feel comfortable with.

A second party usually doesn't share that same level of comfort.

WKMCD

It's really a pretty simple equation. If you get $11k of fun for $10k you're ahead. If you don't get the fun out of the expense of modding, you should leave it stock or scale your mods to stay positive in the fun per dollar spent. Don't expect any more than that from the mods and you won't be dissapointed.

regblkss

In my opinion. Cars that are mod have owns that tend to take care of them. My car is heavily modded. And I take care of it better then 99% of the rest of the world. Flooring a car isn't beating it. Lots of ways to miss treat a vehicle. I've seen cars with 200k look new. And cars with 20k that are junk already.

sfc rick

amen!

K-Spaz

I just finished shopping for about 3 or 4 months before buying the C5 I chose. 2 owners, nearly bone stock with a couple cosmetic mods and a borla exhaust. Clean exterior, engine and suspension, in need of a few accessory fixes. I had seen any number of modded cars for less money, but that tends to make me think the owner beats the snot outa the car. Especially in a manual trans car, I am skeptical about how people treat a transmission/clutch/driveline. How many times has this car been launched? How many times has it been over-revved? How many days do the valve springs have left in em?

Most of what the car I bought needed, was disclosed to me ahead of time. I knew it wasn't a cherry, but I wasn't afraid of what I saw either. And, driving the car tells a lot. When I drove it, it felt like I was being told the truth. You can't hide a problems in a suspension to make a car feel like new. Especially on old tires.

So, fast forward to now, and I've spent a good bit of the time with this car working on fixing things. I consider myself a bit of a motorhead from the old days. The two people who owned the car before me didn't know what a dipstick was. Is that good? Well, I'm starting to think that it isn't good, but it's reality. "I" was willing to pay more for a car from an owner like that, when in truth, I am probably a better owner than they were because every single nut bolt and screw on the car needs to work when I own it. I am fixing things that most people don't care to do. And then, considering the people on this forum, 99% of them are here because they share that same "I want everything to work" attitude. But again as I say, the reality is that car is going to be viewed by buyers as less valuable than the the one that gets no maintenance like the one I got. And even I'm guilty of helping that demographic come true. Crazy...

So, I guess there's two answers to the Op's question. One if you're looking to buy, the other if you're looking to sell. If you're looking to sell, un-mod the car. If you're looking to buy, you might catch a heck of a deal on a car with mods, provided the owner wasn't just a hack.