Modifying your car - is it worth the dollars?
 

After you spend the money to modify your car - and you think about it after a while - is it worth it at the end?
- under hood painting,
- increasing HP
- changing the steering wheel, etc.
-

do you expect to get your money back when you sell or expect a lost and do it for your own enjoyment?

I will start - I don't expect to get my money back so I do what pleases me - so I do limit what I modify

You're lucky to get half your money out of mods. I mod for my own pleasure and not for what I think I can (or can't) get out of it later. :)

No you will never get your money back out of the mods a person will do to a car.

Like you said a person does it for his are her on enjoyment. Just to make it his on likes & enjoyment.:thumbs::D Robert

I have spent thousands on modding my Vette. It has been worth every penny as each mod makes my Vette more and more unique and special to me. It's a great and fun hobby!

-M

I'm with everyone else here. Purely for my own enjoyment and setting it apart from others. You can kiss the $ goodbye. There are very few, select mods you can get some $ back on, but most aren't worth the hassle of removing before selling the car.

Yes, I like the things I did to my car like hood liner upgrade and custom painted plenum and fuel rail covers.

And no, I don’t expect to get that money back and simply do it for my own enjoyment.

You will almost certainly not get any of your money back, and more than likely you will be decreasing the market value/saleabiity of the car. You could get lucky if the right person comes along, but that's like winning the lottery.

Anyone doing it for the money; mods or buying a Corvette, is just smoking the wrong stuff...... Only thing you should be smoking is the enjoyment of owning one of these cars....

Cars depreciate. Quickly. It's all a losing proposition, economically speaking. Buy it/mod it if you enjoy it and can afford it. It's an expensive hobby, folks.

I spend too much time driving it to do any mods. 👍

I do removable mods only. I spent about 1,700 on my C6 and removed everything prior to its sale and sold them here for 1,030. FWIW.....

:iagree:

I agree, whether cars or motorcycles, I look for as close to stock as possible. I sure don't many mods add to value.

No way you will get your money back from mods. For myself the Corvette pretty much comes perfectly equipped and looks super from the factory. Have not found a need to do any mods.

Let's see.
MGW shifter, makes the car better to drive, is removable
Vittesse controller. Ditto
Cags plug. Ditto
Block-it sound mats. Ditto
Black grill for exhaust hole. Looks way better, so cheap I don't care.
Mobil1 oil cap. Just because

Yeah, I suck... 2+ years and that's all I've done...

An example.....I know a guy that has a beautiful C4 for sale.

It's purple metalflake with mustard yellow roll & pleated interior.

He can't hardly give it away!

Some mods,tastefully done are generally ok.But something like this example is fine if you keep it....not so fine if you try to sell.

\db2

This....when I sell it anything of substantial value...comes off and can usually get 60% of my costs back

Capturing money for mods doesn't even cross my mind! I do it for me!

However I was able to remove a number from my 2014 Z51 and install on my Grand Sport!

afe Low Restriction Intake
Elite Catch Can
Rear GM Splash Guards (used the wider ACS in the front)
McGard Wheel Locks
Custom Sill Plate
Lloyds Plush Floor Mats
Novitreach Bra and Mirror Covers
Window Valet

Also transferred:
Battery Charger
Dynaplug Pro tire patch kit
Black wheels weights (or if getting a flat fixed you'll get silver!)
Seat Cover (when working on the car)
C7 Logo Water Bottle
Silicon Key Fob Cover


Buyer really liked the real Carbon Fiber: side skits, splitter, hood vent and grill bar cover. That and the OEM Viable CF roof helped get my sale price, IMO!

From the perspective of someone who is currently in the market for their next vette, I generally avoid modded cars particularly engine mods. If the engine has been worked on, there is a greater chance the owner has run it hard and while that doesn't mean the car isn't well cared for, it's one more thing for me as a buyer to worry about. Modifications decrease market value and at best are a wash.

As an extreme example, would you buy the 1975 Carl's Jr modded vette on the CVF splash page? :ack:

It's funny - it you read through the replies on this post - it's pretty much understood that you will NOT get money back for the mods when you sell the car (and For What It's Worth - I completely agree). The only way to recover cost is to remove the add ons and try to sell them separately.

However - if you hop on over to any of the For Sale portions of the forum - that understanding does NOT seem to hold true there. It's commonplace to see heavily modded cars - where the seller is asking substantially more than "equivalent" (same age - roughly the same mileage) cars...

As they say - I guess it's all determined by if you're buying or if you're selling....