I joined these forums after I had purchased my car. This is a great place to learn about the C5. I just get confused by the low prices that I see posted here anytime someone wants info on car values. Aren't any of the mods worth anything. I know I probably paid too much for my car ,but if I take into consideration the different wheels, new tires, new brakes, borla exhaust, vehicle already lowered, cags eliminator, modded intake..etc doesnt those things add some value. I just got done reading a thread where "whats your number" when mods are concerened.These modded cars are awesome, shouldn't there be some return on the money spent or are the C5 values close to book value and no more. I had paint work, new seat leathers, rear spoiler added..just because ...am I wasting good money after bad..

 

Problem is that mods are all subjective. It might raise the value to some, but lower it to others. I don't think about resale when I am modding my vehicles... I do it for myself, not anyone else. I rarely sell my cars though.

 

Mods only bring value to a future owner if those are mods they want or ones they would purchase anyway. In that sense they do bring value.

Many people take them off when they sell their car.

Some of your mods would bring extra value while others would not.

Tires=no we expect tires on a car when we buy it.

Brakes=No, we expect brakes on a car when we buy it

exhaust? Depends on what value the po placed on it but it most cases they would be worth maybe 50% of the original cost, maybe more depending on age of them.

Wheels=yes if they are wheels you like

Lowered=no it's inexpensive to lower the car, you could have done that yourself.

I don't know what the eliminator is so maybe maybe not

intake=imo yes it does bring value depending on which one

New seat covers=no they come with seat covers and if you had bad ones then all you did is make sure you wouldn't be dinged for it but they bring no added value. BUT some interior mods depending on where they come from will bring value for sure.

rear spoiler=no, only for someone who wants a spoiler maybe.

These are my opinions only and how I look at things. Some mods will bring value and others will not.

You only paid too much if you think you paid too much.

Don't listen to everything you read around here.

 

I got an 03 vert and paid a little high for what a stock one should bring. Previous owner had north of 10G in mods including supercharger and stereo.

I liked these mods and gave an extra 4 G for car based on what it would take for me to get a stock one to this point.

You need the right car with the right buyer for mods to bring any value added.

Mods also dramatically reduce the buying field

 

I guess I was confusing in my post. The tires ,brakes ,lowered..etc are things that I justified to myself for paying a little extra for my car because they were things that I didnt have to do to a less expensive one. My point I was making anytime someone post about values i see some real low prices given.. Then I read on here where the sky is the limit on what is being done to them..Are these modded cars worth more in the real world of value..The little things I did ..paint,seats ,spoiler were totally unnecessary,I just wanted change..But some of the cars on here are really modded and really nice,certainly their owners would scoff at book values..

 

But they're not doing it for resale. They're doing it do make themselves happy. At least that's how I see it.

 

This maybe the best advice you will receive.

 

Most times guys will take the retail cost of mods and try and get 50% of the cost takes on to the stock value.

But if the mods have been on the car for a long time that value would drop as well. A new crate motor is gonna be worth quite a bit more then one with 50k on it.

Think about the guy who builds a 550hp car, he didn't do it to not go fast and run the car, a lot of guys that build there cars and put huge somes of money in um spend a lot of time at the track, run hard.

 

I mod my car knowing full well that I will never get the money back out of the car - at least not a good portion of it. I do it because I want mine to be a little different than any other one out there.

 

the right mods will add value, how much is up to you and the buyer. The best mods are anything improving the exhaust, without drone, of course. However, the key is this: take the buyer for a drive! Once he feels the power and hears the headers/Corsas singing their song, you got him!

 

Yep! That is also how I feel. Modding is a journey. And I have only just begun!

To the OP:

Sometimes the best way to recoup your mods is to part it out, but then again if you can find the right buyer that wants the mods you have done they will pay for it.

 

Well my vette really does make me happy and as of now its not for sale and hopefully never will be.Maybe it wouldn't make me feel so bad if I hadn't dipped into savings and wrote a check for it, plus put some extra in after I got it. I just need to cool my jets and enjoy it as is for awhile.My wife has been understanding so far but has nicknamed it the Money-Pit..

 

I've modded my '98 considerably. My goal or intent was never to increase the value. Actually, I don't ever plan on selling it. My mods have made me happy and that's all that counts.

I was at a cruise night last Saturday and one of the guys asked me how much I'd ask for my car if I ever decided to sell it. When I told him, he said he thought I could get quite a bit more. Maybe, maybe not.

I've always believed that someone will pay your asking price if they want it badly enough. It may take awhile to sell it, but eventually someone will come along. Likewise, I don't think that you can ever pay too much for a car if it's what you really like it and it makes you happy.

 

The problem is that if the mods are not exactly what a buyer would want it will turn them away. The mods may also give a perception that the car was heavily used.



It seems like most of the cost of the mods is lost when the car is sold.

That makes for a great buying opportunity. If you can find a nice car with the mods you like, the mods can be almost free.

 

See you are what most of us have described. These things were important to you and you put a premium on them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

There IS some satisfaction knowing you won't have to shell out money for a brake job, or tires which are pretty expensive for these cars. etc

So yeah, I think we are all on the same page.

Also some people here will low ball a car and others think they are made of gold.

Like I said, you only paid too much if you think you paid too much.

 

ROI on mods is, unfortunately, very low. Just scan the FOR SALE sections. As previously stated, we don't mod our cars to flip 'em like houses.

 

I'm sure most do mods just for themselves and not worry about the resale value - it's whatever makes the owner happy. When looking for another to replace my previous '01 I looked for one that was basically stock with hopefully only an exhaust mod. I'm one that believes that a car heavily modded has been run hard and could have problems later that I didn't want to worry about. Found what I wanted - a loaded, low mileage '04 with a Corsa exhaust.