Which path to take o.O
 

So I will be purchasing a frs very very soon.
My only dilema is to purchase a used one with mods or a new stock one.

For the price of a new one I have seen a few on the for sale section with turbos, super chargers or just random after market mods, some of which I am planning on doing if I buy a stock one anyway.

So the question is whether it is worth the savings to get one with these items I plan on installing or to just buy a new one and buy the upgrades myself knowing the car has not been abused in any way.

Those of you who are for buying one with mods, how many miles is too many miles on a used modded car?

Thanks for all of the help to follow!

If you can afford a new one with the mods you want, the answer is pretty obvious. If not, I would buy a used stock frs and buy the mods you want. It's very personal in my opinion and fun at the same time to modify to your exact tastes.

I'd be skeptical of buying used with mods. You might just be buying someone else's headaches.

I can pretty much buy all the mods I want except going FI, that is the only reason I was considering it. I hate having to wait but I guess it might be worth it in the end rather then flipping a coin on inheriting problems which could set me back further from a completed build. Thanks for the input guys.

Is the factory warranty important to you?

^^ This. But at the same time, how do we know the used STOCK car wasn't put BACK to stock... :iono: That's what I and many others would do before selling the car. I keep all my stock parts for that very reason.

If you can swing buying brand new.. than buy brand new.

I also agree that modding is very much personal between you and your car.

Buy new and be happy with it.. modifications give you headaches lol specially if you're not mechanically inclined and have to end up paying for absolutely everything. Stuff is bound to go wrong with the "modding" path and you need to know what you're doing. Buying used with forced induction and not having a clue as to how things work is the worse you could do or the best decision you could make if you want to go broke and not sleep at night. Things make work flawlessly for some time but its best that whatever is done to your car, you know what it is and how to fix it.

Buy new if you can afford it.

I prefer the peace of mind knowing the car has not been mistreated and is under warranty.

I tend to take immaculate car of my cars but know many many people who do not.
It would suck buying a car that had not been taken well care of.
Its fairly easy to prep a used car to look immaculate and it may not have anything on its car fax, but it could have been beat to hell.

Like many others here, buy new and mod the car yourself with the mods you want. There's always that gratifying and satisfying feeling of modding the car yourself in the mold that you see it in.

It's why I bought my car new and why I've slowly modded it at a pace into my liking. I'm sure many others here would agree with me.

From Barney on HIMYM... "New is always better".

for me, even if i buy a used car with the exact mods i want, it's still not the same as me buying a new car and doing all those same mods myself. having a certain mod is only part of being a car guy to me; doing the mods yourself is the real satisfaction in my opinion.

My opinion, and recommendation to you (of the two choices) would be to buy a new one if you want the car, and mod it the way you wish, and at your own pace.

There is something to be said for the learning experience, happiness, and sense of accomplishment that will bring you (unless you've been around that block before, and it isn't something that stirs you), and you'll have a complete, and in-tact warranty to start with.

Unless you have experience working on, or with FI cars, how could you know that's even something you want if you haven't spent a good amount of time owning, driving, and maintaining the car yet? You might find that the car is exactly what you want stock, or you'll learn, and feel where the issue(s) you have with it are, and where you can add small improvements that will remedy said issue(s), so that your car drives and handles the way you want it to.

Furthermore, and perhaps we just didn't get enough background information from you, but if you do not have any experience, or much knowledge of having, and caring for a FI vehicle, you're likely going to run into major problems, and headaches down the road.

The choice is yours; just make sure you do your research - whichever path you choose.

I always buy my cars used because I have a friend that owns a shop that can inspect them and fix them up if necessary for cheap so I am willing to take the risk that comes with used cars. But even so I wouldn't want to buy a modified used car.

Yes it can save you money if you want those parts already, and I wouldn't mind buying a used car that already had tinted windows or a TRD spoiler, something like that. But I would stay away from anything that had performance modifications. For all performance mods I want to buy them myself and have my friend's shop do the install for me so I know everything is done properly. Also when I sell the car, I know most people will think like me and go for the stock car. So I want to make sure I have all the OEM parts to put back on when I sell it.

I would only buy a car with performance mods if I knew the guy very well and I trusted that everything was gonna be installed and maintained properly.

But I would never ever buy a used car with an aftermarket turbo. If someone fucked up their install of lowering springs or their exhaust, the worst that happens is maybe an uneven ride or a leaky exhaust. If someone doesn't install or maintain a turbo properly, your engine is just a bomb waiting to blow up.

And as people mentioned, modding is to your own tastes and part of the fun is researching parts and then adding them one by one to a stock car. Having someone do it for you kind of spoils it.

This is why you can't dump $20k on modding a 1995 civic and then expect to sell it for $15k thinking it's such a great price people will be lining up to buy it.

Buy new or used with low mileage. At least you'll be able to save some cash & at a lower risk too.