People Dont Grasp This Concept!, Mods lower value of the car Options

[kman2010]

I just dont understand why people are asking for ridiculous amounts of money for cars with minor mods. I mean i understand if you got a show car and your asking for 15,000 of the 25,000 you put into it back. but if you have a basically stock celica with intake, and some crappy paint on the interior. maybe exhaust and a wing. that should lessen the value of the car shouldnt it? so why ask for all the money back from it. its just me whining because i have a totalled car, and its gonna cost me alot to get my baby back together, or just buy a done one.

anyone agree or disagree? open topic, speak amongst ya selves

[JoKeRkId613]

I've always agreed with this concept and believe it but nobody agrees. Maybe it's because everyone that went to my old high school were into the rice thing. I'm not saying mods are rice, but the things my friends were talking about, was rice. I believe mods do lower the value of a car. I personally wouldn't buy a car with mods... period. I bought my Celica stock and the only upgrades I plan on making for now are mods to keep it clean. Like anything from Toyota or TRD or an option that didn't come with my car like a sunroof. Minor mods here and there till I drop the 3S or 4A in there. I'm a big fan of dustin15brown's and ghostdog's cars. Super clean. But yeah, I just felt like posting my 2 cents. I apologize beforehand if this bothered anyone that disagrees or feels differently about this issue.

[Consynx]

i agree that mods lower the values of cars, but some mods help.

mods such as headlights, tail-lights, sideskirts, or simple OEM/JDM additions should raise the value. Same w/ GT5 conversions.

the main thing that i've noticed to really help/hurt the price of a car is it's mileage and exterior condition. it's sad that my celica has lost over 50% of its value from when i bought it a couple years ago.

[yarik83]

I will put it in a most polite way I can think of:

We bought these cars to keep and not to sell. Any tuner buys his car to own and not to sell, regardless of the make of the vehicle. You need to buy a car? buy mine. 4gs and it is yours, heck i'll sell it with everything included, the led kit and all. If you dont think that a celi needs to be modded... dont mod it. I mod my car because I am the only one anywhere who has a dragon celica... nothing more to add

[lagos]

i think it depends on the car

3$ can of spray pain on your interrior and a body kit wont to much to the value....but a car thats making a lot more power then stock and has the looks to match is worth more then a stock celica.

also, take a look at the supra. modified ones alway sell for a lot more then stock ones.

[Dr_Tweak]

Modifications always lower the value of a vehicle. The only exception is if you make a major modification that another enthusiest wants already done. For example, a 6th gen with a 3SGTE swap. In ALL other cases, the value of the car is lowered.

And even in that case, you'll never get back what you put into it. The best way to get your money back on a modified car is to part it out.

Along the same lines, replacing stock maintenance parts DO NOT raise the value of the car. If the car has a newer engine and new starter and new alternator and new radiator and so on and so on, that doesn't mean that the car is NOW worth the value PLUS the cost of all those parts. It's worth what the value is, end of story, because the value assumes that the car is in good running condition.

-Doc

[Digndoug]

I think you guys are trying to make a stupid point. A mod isnt really going to lower the cars value, your just not going to get the monjey out of it. Its not really worth modding a car to re-sell. But if you have a car moded, IE: lip kit, lowering springs sway bars a few other things, You should be able to get about 50% of the cost out of it.

All in All a car is only worth what someone will pay. Its all about making it atractive and wanted by all.. or most. and yes stupid things like painting the inteior will make it worth less.. but im talking about a real "mod"

[Dr_Tweak]

I think you guys are trying to make a stupid point. A mod isnt really going to lower the cars value, your just not going to get the monjey out of it. Its not really worth modding a car to re-sell. But if you have a car moded, IE: lip kit, lowering springs sway bars a few other things, You should be able to get about 50% of the cost out of it.

All in All a car is only worth what someone will pay. Its all about making it atractive and wanted by all.. or most. and yes stupid things like painting the inteior will make it worth less.. but im talking about a real "mod"
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Actually, you're not correct. In the retail world, ANY modification at all LOWERS the value of the car below the book value, even a modification that makes the car "better".

Again, that's the retail world, in the enthusiest world you *might* be able to get 50% of your money back on it.

And we're not "trying" to prove a point, it's already been proven time and time again. Read the title of the thread, and then repeat after me: "This thread is talking about ME."



-Doc

This post has been edited by Dr_Tweak: Oct 3, 2005 - 12:02 AM

[wuhukf]

I think you guys are trying to make a stupid point. A mod isnt really going to lower the cars value, your just not going to get the monjey out of it. Its not really worth modding a car to re-sell. But if you have a car moded, IE: lip kit, lowering springs sway bars a few other things, You should be able to get about 50% of the cost out of it.

All in All a car is only worth what someone will pay. Its all about making it atractive and wanted by all.. or most. and yes stupid things like painting the inteior will make it worth less.. but im talking about a real "mod"
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Agreed. It may seem overpriced to some people, but to someone else who wanted a car just like that, the price will seem fair, cause what they were going to do anyways is already done.

[creis]

I bought my car with the idea that I would have it forever (as long as it runs) I modded it with the same intent, and in the event that I must sell it to buy a new EVO 8 I'm under the understanding that I will not get the money out of it that went in.

I think that people can get away with charging high prices for simple mods because most people who want to buy a pre-modded car dont understand most of the mods past what they look like, (its the same with buying a new computer, its so much cheaper to make one with just buying the parts but people dont know how easy it is to do the modding.

[blu94gt]

Yeah, I bought my car with the intent of never selling it. My Prelude on the other hand, I kept stock and in showroom condition because I knew someday I would sell it off. The only reason I would ever get rid of my Celica is if it was totalled, and in which I would probably still buy it back to use for parts.

Mods lower the car's value unless you 1. sell to an enthusiast or 2. sell to someone who thinks mods are WHOA cool (like some ignorant high school punk).

[lagos]

sorry tweak, but you ever try to buy a supra? the stock ones are the cheapest ones youll find.

its all about the target market. most people wont care about a moded celica, civic, etc... because its an econo car. your potential buyers are probably going to be people who just want a car as a daily driver, so any of the common mods you do to your car wont mean anything to those people.

if you start looking around at the sports car market, youll find a lot of mr2s, supras, skylines, even DSMs that got for more money because the target buyer would want those things done to his car anyway. i know i would pay more money for a 12sec mr2 with an upgraded motor/suspension then i would for s bone stock one

[FAQdaWorld]

you cant compare a modified supra to a modified celica. Its apples and oranges, there isnt an extremely high demand for celicasin the first place; or is there?

Mods lower the value of your car, sometimes you can make a bit more of your money back if another enthusiast wants what you have, but no matter what you still lose cash, its like dr. tweak said, if you wanna keep up the value of your car keep it stock. No amount of arguing will change this.

[97lestyousay]

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This post has been edited by 97lestyousay: Apr 4, 2012 - 10:26 PM

[soulshadow]

Ive seen honda preludes with a body kit and carbon trunk going for a riduculus 7-9K around where I live here and these junk aren't even the DOHC types. Its just insane how most young people will go for these cars these days. I guess what you drive is what you are and if you drove a POS. Than your not gonna be popular.

Simply put, most people don't know anything about cars. If they see something expensive, nice looking, POS engine, then there gonna buy it cause it looks KOOL!

On my trip to Fresno, Cali this spring. I saw many POS looking cars at every corner with crome wheels on and the paint is like faded / rusted. What is with this new upcoming trend? First it was the weed that made everyone addicted and now Chrome Wheels?

[wuhukf]

Ive seen honda preludes with a body kit and carbon trunk going for a riduculus 7-9K around where I live here and these junk aren't even the DOHC types. Its just insane how most young people will go for these cars these days. I guess what you drive is what you are and if you drove a POS. Than your not gonna be popular.

Simply put, most people don't know anything about cars. If they see something expensive, nice looking, POS engine, then there gonna buy it cause it looks KOOL!

On my trip to Fresno, Cali this spring. I saw many POS looking cars at every corner with crome wheels on and the paint is like faded / rusted. What is with this new upcoming trend? First it was the weed that made everyone addicted and now Chrome Wheels?
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Haha, i hate chrome rims on most cars, I think they belong only on muscle cars.

[Clipsetuner]

Celica dont have a demand, quite sad really, but in most instance's with lower end Import cars, mods are going to decrease the value. I know I see tons of B16/GSR honda's around going for 2-3k and If a shop does that swap its at least 3k for the cheapest, let alone exterior work.

I have bought my 6th gen with the intent of modifying it to the extreme and never selling it, unless something comes up with kids, or horrific wreck.

I hate to see DG sell his so much time and money.

DTE

[yarik83]

ok let me explain why celica was a no-go in this country.
Most car manufacturers ie Mitshubishi and especially Honda packed their cars with enough juice to leave you in the dust and for less money. Or they made it possible to buy the cars cheap and mod them to whatever.... if we had gt4 celicas in US they would be selling off like subaru wrx because they are powerful and reliable.

Just so you know in my opinion I would rather pay 20000 for a gt4 than 21000 for 7th gen celi. That is exactly why they died of in US. Overpriced and underpowered but looking sexy.

[tin_foil]

Okay, I think I have some ground to speak here. You guys are argueing whether moding a car lowers its value or not. Thats not what the real issue is though. The truth is that modded cars appeal to a much smaller market. It's true that some stupid ricer teen-age punks will pay more for certain stupid ricer mods. But in general, once a car's modded, less people want to buy it. Most people that buy used cars, are just looking for something nice looking, reliable, and almost always stock to get them to and from wherever they want to go. I can speak from personal experence too. My family and I buy a lot of cars. We normally fix them up and sell them for a profit. When I'm looking to buy a car, and don't even consider it if its got any other mods than, say, custom tails, or rims. Its not cause I personally don't like them, but 1)normally ricer kids who do things like that, don't treat their cars very well, and 2) Like I said, it's hard to sell them, cause fewer people want to buy modded cars. Like Dr. Tweak said, this is a fact. Some exaples:

I saw a Toytoa MR2 on ebay go for $7000. It had full veilside bodykit, completely rebuild turbo engine, new rims and rubber, almost new paint, ferrari racing seats, and some minor interior mods. It had a few minor problems, most being small electrical things. All in all, that car was worth probably at least $12K.

Also there was a member from this forum who recently sold his car. It had a 3s-gte swap, invader bodykit, custom exhaust(don't really know what kind) and a 5 month old paint job. 150K miles on the body, and only 70K on the engine. It also only went for $7000. I don't think I need to tell you guys how much that was really worth.

Just know that when you mod your car, it doesn't nessisarily lower your cars value, but it ALWAYS makes your car then appeal to a narrower category of potential buyers. Not to meantion, you never, EVER get the cost of all your labor and hours spent out or it.

But that doesn't matter to us, right? We don't mod our cars to up the resale value, we mod them for our own personal enjoyment.

[frosty]

you cant compare a modified supra to a modified celica. Its apples and oranges, there isnt an extremely high demand for celicasin the first place; or  is there?

If the 6th gen celica was featured in a car movie like the supra was in F&F then I believe more people would want to buy the celica causing our re-sell value to go up. Ask any supra owner, after the movie the price of supras went up whether stock or modded.

I know that if you go to trade in a modded vehichle to a dealer you're gonna get squat back, but if you sell it yourself I believe it's all about haggling the price, and whatever the buyer is willing to pay.