Does Modding your car raise or lower the value?

[RehabJP]

I'm not talking cheap carbon fiber accents for the interior trim I am talking quality performance mods. Cold Air Intake, Single Mass flywheel, sport clutch, short shiftier, big brake kit, Cat Back exhaust.

I was thinking today I bought (partially financed) my car, a 2020 Civic Si, and immediately started unbolting stock parts and adding after market. Acuity shift Bushings, PRL Intake, Soon to have an ACT clutch kit and flywheel and Borla Car Back and probably will not stop there. If say in a year or two I want to trade that in at a dealership and put it toward a newer car since I should still have some equity in that car in a couple years (Hopefully) will the dealership give me less, more or the same because it is not in stock configuration.

Seeing as anything is worth what someone is willing to pay for it maybe in that case it would be better to try to arrange a privet sell to someone who can appreciate the upgrades then pay off the car, and put equity toward a down payment?

Any thoughts? just curious.

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[gtman]

It's really simple. Car mods raise the value of your car to one person... YOU.

The dealership wants your trade in to be as near stock as possible. They don't like mods.

 

[Phillyp17]

IMO anything that altar the “stockness” of the car will depreciate as soon as you put it in. Let’s say, in my case, I installed an Acuity Stage 2 Shift Kit and I were to sell it back to the dealer. You can get away with them not knowing you have the kit but the car will still depreciate in value. You adding $400 worth of mods will not increase the cars value by $400. Therefore modding your car is completely your choice but does not increase its value at a dealer. In that case it’s always better to sell privately.

 

[SixSpeeder]

Lower.

 

[repeet]

Modding a car always lowers the trade in/resale value. Unless you drop in a V8 or something

 

[turbociv910]

Modding a car always lowers the trade in/resale value. Unless you drop in a V8 or something

yeah becuase if you put a v8 in a civic, no dealership would want that.

Dealership values your car at what the vin number is. If they look at it and see modifcations they may ask you to remove them or lower the price even more.

 

[RehabJP]

yeah becuase if you put a v8 in a civic, no dealership would want that.

Dealership values your car at what the vin number is. If they look at it and see modifcations they may ask you to remove them or lower the price even more.

Yea I get if I for some reason I K swapped my Civic or hell even throw a 2JZ in there (which might be cool but maybe not practical) it would then be maybe a Honda Civic but only because the chassis is a Civic Chassis but everything else is changed. but if Exhaust, Intake, sifter most of those items if you upgraded them would be desirable to a potential buyer of a used car and that is what they would do with trade ins. sell them as used cars. Maybe it would not be eligible for Honda Certified Used or whatever but marketed the right way.....but I see why privet sell would be better on a highly modified car. Even if the engine and interior and electrical are stock since you can find someone willing to pay you for your work and the parts and not just what Honda says the car is worth stock.

Maybe ill just keep the stock parts I take off and if I want to trade up down the road Ill put everything back to stock re flash the ECU to factory and trade it in that way and flip the performance parts I can't use.

 

[360glitch]

For a dealer trade you can count on them lowering their offer due to any aftermarket parts. On the private market your results are going to depend on the buyer. You certainly would never get all of your money back. The best option is often to part out the mods and sell a stock (or close to stock) vehicle.

 

[RehabJP]

For a dealer trade you can count on them lowering their offer due to any aftermarket parts. On the private market your results are going to depend on the buyer. You certainly would never get all of your money back. The best option is often to part out the mods and sell a stock (or close to stock) vehicle.

Yep I think Ill hold on to my stock parts then for when I am ready to trade in..

 

[Drake]

I'm thinking the only mods that might have a chance of increasing the value would be consumable items, like upgrading your tires. I'll hear people looking at a used car saying, "oh look, michelins, that car was probably well taken care of"

 

[hobby-man]

I have the stock intake, TIP, FMIC, exhaust, shifter parts, and even the exterior bulbs all tucked away lol. I'll be reverting pretty much to bone stock when the time comes. Only way to get a few bucks back on your mods. Dealers aren't interested.

 

[FK7 Civic Pilot]

Only non factory mods that didn't detract from the value of cars I've traded in was window tinting, ( as long as the legal requirements are adhered to ) and aftermarket rims ( plus / minus 1" of original OEM size )
The above mentioned mods don't add anything to the trade in value, but they didn't detract anything either. YMMV.

 

[Conor]

You'd be hard pressed to get your money back even from a private seller. They're going to see the mods and fear that you abused the car. I'm thinking most people who are into modding would still prefer to get a used car stock and mod it themselves.

 

[suhhh]

Yup going to lower. The only modifications I can see that would maybe get you a little more in a private sell would be authentic wheels and maybe a type R clutch. At least for me personally I can justify spending a little bit more on a used car if it came fitted with some TE37's or a proper clutch job, would save me some money

 

[civicmanic]

A car that's modded is more likely to be driven hard and it also significantly decreases the size of the market it appeals to. This is why its value drops.

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