Does Modding your car raise or lower the value?

[jimmyreal]

The best case scenario is modding doesn’t lower the value of your car, but in nearly all cases modding alienates a good chunk of your market.

Dealers want stock cars. Full stop. They need the widest marketability so they can move inventory. Inventory costs money while it sits: overhead, depreciation, time value of money, etc.

Private buyers want stock cars. You’re way overestimating how many people give af about car mods. Even the majority of “car people” want to make their own choices and do their own work. That’s where the fun is.

Plus... these are Hondas. It’s not like an E46 M3 where if the subframe hasn’t been fixed that just means it needs to be. Even with rarer cars like that, there’s a big premium for “unmolested” i.e. stock.

Your best bet for maxing your sale price is putting it back to stock and selling privately, then selling the mods in a car group.

For me there’s a reason mods come out of the “fun” budget... that’s $$$ I’m happy to throw away. If that’s a shooting class, a weekend at the casino, or an exhaust system, no matter to me I’m not trying to come out if it with anything except a smile.

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[vtecr]

It's well known that mods don't add value and even decrease value in some cases.

Just think about your own mentality when you're buying a used car. We all want something well spec'd, original and un-messed with.

 

[Phy]

At best, mods can help hold value in private sales. Dealers will pay less for a modded car, because they'll most likely remove the mods.

 

[bluehatch17]

I agree mostly that mods will not particularly raise the value of a car. And that it probably lowers value of car.

having said that, I still would mod my car. And also, I traded in my RSX with a greddy exhaust, minor suspension mods, and both front sparco seats. And I did not and would not take a penny less than a price I had in mind. I got relatively fair value.

Also...if you have mostly OEM accessories. Most dealers don’t even notice.

my friend recently brought a 2019 accord and it had about $7-1000 worth of OEM accessories...

 

[bluehatch17]

I think if you have a type r and all of the OEM carbon pieces. It will likely raise the price of the car at least $500. The Honda carbon pieces are not cheap.

also, if you can’t see the actual mod (unless specifically looking for it) like a clutch or sway bar or something. Then it’s not going to affect the price much.

 

[civicmanic]

I was in the market for a used 370z. There was a bone stock silver one asking $19,800. And a black one, same year, same trim and same mileage for $22,500. The black one had intake and full exhaust. I offered the guy with the black one $19,500 and cited the silver one as my price comp. He said "mine is worth more due to upgrades". I quickly walked.

The silver one sold within a few days and the black one is still for sale after being up for over 8 months now.

 

[Diamond Ned]

ALWAYS keep your stock parts to swap back for trade-in day. You will get a lot more money and also have the aftermarket parts to sell off. Overall its a better financial decision.

 

[BarracksSi]

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.

That'll be a hassle.

I got lucky and sold my EP3 to a guy who's another gearhead and gladly took all the stock parts. Otherwise I would've been left either spending days putting the car back to stock or trying to sell OEM parts for pennies on the pound.

I wouldn't mod my car again unless I was willing to throw money away. (tbh, if I weren't married, it'd be an easier decision )

 

[BarracksSi]

I was in the market for a used 370z. There was a bone stock silver one asking $19,800. And a black one, same year, same trim and same mileage for $22,500. The black one had intake and full exhaust. I offered the guy with the black one $19,500 and cited the silver one as my price comp. He said "mine is worth more due to upgrades". I quickly walked.

The silver one sold within a few days and the black one is still for sale after being up for over 8 months now.

Yup ^^^^^

The extra points against the modded car come from not knowing if it's been dogged on for its entire life.

I know, yeah, a fully stock car isn't a guarantee that it was babied (we all know people who mistreat their cars purely out of neglect and not hard driving); and an enthusiast might be more likely to take good care of their car even after doing bolt-ons.

But the perception that a modded car has been driven hard... that's a hard perception to shake. And we all know that taking a modded car to a dealer for work (like most people do) means that there's some things that the dealer will refuse to touch.

 

[jtrader]

This is why I don't buy expensive mods. Well, that and I'm cheap.

DIY intake $60
DIY exhaust $100
DIY Si Wheels $free
Spoiler $70
20mm spacers $50
DIY rear vent delete $20
etc...

 

[NotSerious]

Even "putting back to stock" might not get your car it's resale value back.

I believe that dealers can tell if a car has been "reflashed" and a smart buyer will know if they are buying a model that is often modded (like the Civic often is). If they are buying from a male under 50 years old, they will be suspicious of the car. There are other indications that the car has been modded, like turned bolt heads and damage to paint or other wear.

Like I have suggested before, if you want a faster car, buy a faster car. You will have fewer problems with reliability and lose less money in the long run.

 

[RehabJP]

That'll be a hassle.

I got lucky and sold my EP3 to a guy who's another gearhead and gladly took all the stock parts. Otherwise I would've been left either spending days putting the car back to stock or trying to sell OEM parts for pennies on the pound.

I wouldn't mod my car again unless I was willing to throw money away. (tbh, if I weren't married, it'd be an easier decision )

The intake is easy enough to return to stock. Same with exhaust if its a bolt on anyway and not welded. If you replace the Clutch and or Flywheel really most would not know the difference unless they are particularity keen on the feel of a stock Si clutch V Aftermarket so I don't know... I think you could get a dealer to take it and give you close to the stock value of the car for its condition if you returned the parts you took off back to their proper place or at least the easy to get to ones and you cold even throw the stock flywheel and clutch disk back on if you wanted to take the time and I bet most would be none the wiser. Now flashing the ECU is a bit harder to hide I know they can see on their Honda Scan Tools if the ECU was flashed, when it was flashed and all that so they will know you modded the car to some extent and if you show up with a bunch of vinyl stickers from 27WON and Aquity and Boomba Racing and KTuner all over the car that might give it away LOL

For privet sale I do agree maybe mods do not add value to the car for most people. I know there are some out there that would like to buy a fully loaded civic with the intake and the clutch and the exhaust and all the mods you would need to make it go fast, enjoy a track day and have a cool street civic to boot already installed especially if they are quality parts and not an EBay or Amazon special. Now I guess you cannot expect to get all the money back for your mods but certainly if you do a good job and build a solid track car their are people out there that will pay for that. I mean look at VinWiki stories you see it all the time somebody gets a stock car, mods it and flips it for profit. Now they usually do not do it with a brand new car off the lot but still I think I can at least break even if and when I do decide to flip my current Si which I would be more than happy with. If I can get enough to pay off the bank and be able to move onto the next car. I know I am not gonna make a huge profit for sure even if I dropped 100K in mods and upgrades probably not gonna happen unless 10th Gen civic Market skyrockets LOL

 

[hobby-man]

This is why I don't buy expensive mods. Well, that and I'm cheap.

DIY intake $60
DIY exhaust $100
DIY Si Wheels $free
Spoiler $70
20mm spacers $50
DIY rear vent delete $20
etc...

You're rolling around on 50 dollar spacers...?

 

[RehabJP]

You're rolling around on 50 dollar spacers...?

Using spacers in general can be sketchy but if you do use them I would not buy the ones they sell off the shelf at Auto Zone.

 

[hobby-man]

Using spacers in general can be sketchy but if you do use them I would not buy the ones they sell off the shelf at Auto Zone.

If they're well built i really don't think its an issue but I would not trust my life to Chinesium alloy lol

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