Used mod free car or used modded car?
 

I'm wondering what you think.

(1) used car that has the mods you would do anyway

(2) used with no mods.

I recently saw a car with an injen cold air intake and borla cat back exhaust. Those would be the first two mods I would do anyway. Would you still buy a used unmodded car? If so, why?

(Same price pretty much. My concern with the car was not knowing who did the mods and what else was modded that I couldn't see)

Depends on the mods..
Major mods you don't know the quality
My 2c is no mods

Have you ever heard a Borla? I think they're pretty loud.
Maybe buy a mod free one so you can choose what you want.
Also most aftermarket parts have a shorter life span than a OEM part so you dont know if those parts are nearing the end of there life span.
(ps; i'm not saying the parts are bad qualityor borla in paticular doesnt last)

I have a borla exhaust on my 1987 corvette that's been on it for a very long time. I bought the car 13 years ago and it was already on the car, no problems with it (the car on the other hand- everything went wrong with it, I can't believe I bought another one but I love Chevy)

The exhaust on my '87 is headache inducing, exhaust on the car I'm talking about was mild.

You don't get your money back out of modding a car. Maybe some, but not even 75%... you'd be lucky to get 50%.

If the work was done correctly, and if you know what you're looking for, there is no reason to be cautious about mods that were done. You save money and time that way. I bought a turbo FRS with 33k miles, so I am speaking from experience.

Most CAIs are less functional than the OEM intake, so my first mod would be to remove that. And I don't care for the Borla exhaust. If it was a Perrin exhaust I'd be tempted. I would still buy the unmodded one, because I don't trust other people's projects to work right. If it was a company's demo car, that'd be different.

I personally like a blank canvas. It can go 50/50 most car enthusiasts that mod cars will drive the piss out of them, but yet still take care of them vs non-car enthusiasts. not drive the crap out of them but don't know how to take care of the car.






w/ that being said. I am selling my car. :)

Depends on the deal. I like seeing the changes mods make and wrenching myself, so all else being equal I'd like to start closer to stock.

I wouldn't pay a dime more for a car with an intake as a $50 drop-in filter seems to add roughly the same WHP to the car (give or take margin of error). An exhaust is worth about $300-$500. The larger question is whether or not the original owner had more than just those mods on the car. If you can find a "blank canvas" car, I'd go that route. It's generally safer.

Honestly, I'd only buy a modded car if I knew its owner well and the car's history/use.

In 20 years I have owned 5 cars. Two of them had been previously modded and I will most likely never buy another modded car again. Especially any car with any sort of suspension or stereo/electrical work.

You don't know who did the mods, was it a professional shop or a complete moron. If it was the moron how long are the mods going to hold up? What corners did they cut to do stuff on the cheap?

You don't know how far they modded. Have they put stuff in and ripped it out? Other than what you can see what else have they "fixed"?

You always run the risk of this stuff when buying a used car but if you buy a car that appears to be bone stock I think you have a better chance of the car holding up better over time and you will have less headaches when you go to mod the car for yourself.

Buy the stock car. Once you mod a lot of minor bits and pieces are one use and should be replaced during installation, you wouldn't know if the previous owner was that meticulous.

depends on the car condition, i would not care mod or not mod. Some modded car are actually more well taken care of because the owner take pride of their car. Some stock car are beat up like a rental car because the owner knows they gonna get rid off it soon. Or a stock car you are seeing, might possibly have extensively mod and put back stock for sell or trade in. It's hard to say, i would check the car condition and history to make judgement.

Yeah, car was on a used car lot, no idea who did the mods. Thanks!