Modifying your doesn't increase its value

[rice_classic]

From the Jalop for all you non-Jalop readers:

http://jalopnik.com/sorry-folks-modi...s-v-1621595096

I've decided to devote today's column to that dreaded Craigslist ad. You know the one I'm talking about.
FOR SALE, it starts off, innocently enough. Drawing you in. Enticing you, the 2 a.m. car shopper, as you browse Craigslist in your underwear. 2008 MAZDASPEED3. Now you're really excited. You pause for a second. You stop chewing your Pringles. "Imagine the possibilities!", you think. Stick shift. 263 horsepower. Hatchback. That cool hood bulge. It's everything you could possibly want. And then you see those dreaded words: OVER $20,000 INVESTED.
The owner then meticulously lists every single part he's ever added to the car, sort of like this:
- CUSTOM HOOPELBARK AIR FILTER
- STAINLESS STEEL POOVELFLAUST EXHAUST (sounds like a RACE CAR, or at least a NORMAL CAR with an exhaust leak!!!)
- STAGE 4 POWER KIT
- STAGE 5 INTERIOR KIT
- STAGE 6 EXTERIOR KIT
- STAGE 7 LIGHTWEIGHT OWNER'S MANUAL
- CUSTOM AARDVARK RACING LOWERING SPRINGS (don't worry, car will clear most road hazards such as toothpicks and leaves)
- VERY EXPENSIVE WHEELS THAT ACTUALLY WEIGH MORE THAN THE STOCK ONES BUT I BOUGHT THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE TEAL
- LIGHTWEIGHT KEY (I lost the remote and I only have the valet key)
- FAMILY OF RARE BRAZILLIAN SPIDERS ADDED TO CRANK CASE TO SUCK OUT THE SLOW
By then, you already know what's coming, but you scroll down to the bottom anyway, just to see it. I know a 2008 MazdaSpeed3 is only worth $13,000, says the seller, talking about those normal ones; the ones that don't have cool racing seats ("Seat belts not currently installed, but I have them in a box somewhere in my basement"). But with all my mods, this one is a STEAL at $29,500.
And then you click away, dejected, knowing that maybe you would've bought this car, if only the seller wasn't currently pushing a 7 on the highly scientific "One to John Hinckley Jr. Scale of Crazy."
And this leads me to the point I'm trying to make today, which is: modifications don't add value to your car. The idea from this column came from Jalopnik reader Thebloody can into Overlanding, who posted an Oppositelock article about a 2004 Land Rover Discovery he found on Craigslist. Now, this was a nice Discovery. It was a clean Discovery. It was a well-modified Discovery, with a lift kit, and a snorkel, and a Kenwood KDC-BT948HD and a Cobra 75WXST, and a Schumacher 1-12S-CA, all of which might be completely made up, for all I know.
When will people learn mods =/= more value

It never ceases to amaze me when people try to make the money they dumped into a car back... A car…Read on oppositelock.​jalopnik.​com


But then the owner made a grievous error: after listing all of his modifications, he then threw out a sixteen thousand dollar asking price, perhaps forgetting that – somewhere, lurking underneath the awesome 1-12S-CA, and the gorgeous KDC-BT948HD, and the excellent 75WXST – there was still a 2004 Land Rover Discovery. And the last time I checked, the going rate on a 2004 Land Rover Discovery was: whatever the guy at the local scrapyard offers ya.
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Land Rover Discovery fanatics will undoubtedly see this and get incredibly upset. For this, I apologize. In my defense, however, I must say that you will never be able to hunt me down and maim me, because your head gaskets will never last that long. So neener neener neener!)
So anyway, back to the topic at hand, which was… uh… oh, that's right, modifications.
If you're a regular Craigslist browser, you probably see this all the time: guys who think they can get money out of their modifications when the time comes to sell their cars. This is tremendously unlikely, though I admit there is the occasional modification that will get you a few dollars back.
For instance: if you spend $800 on a 1992 Geo Tracker with a torn soft top, and then you modify it with duct tape and string so that it doesn't leak anymore, you might be able to list it on Craigslist and get $900. Of course, you might also be stabbed to death in a robbery attempt gone wrong. So we see here that this strategy doesn't always work perfectly.
But for the most part, modifications – as an investment – are a terrible idea. There are two reasons for this: number one, nobody wants their car set up like you had it. Those teal wheels you bought? The guy at cars and coffee wasn't taking their picture so he could frame it and put it next to his bed. He took the picture so he could show all his buddies back at work that some guy is driving around in a lowered MazdaSpeed3 with wheels that look like they're color-matched to a 1956 Volkswagen Bus.
And the second reason modifications won't get you more money? Because no one has any idea how they were installed, or who installed them. When a seller says "PROFESSIONALLY MODIFIED!!!!" all I can think about is two sweaty guys who have a motor lying around, and a car lying around, and one night, over a series of beers, they decide to do the obvious: rob some guy who's selling a 1992 Geo Tracker on Craigslist.
So sellers, what we've learned today is that modifications won't get you extra money when it's time to sell. Maybe you'll get a couple grand. But the return will be cents on the dollar. In other words: you modified that car for your own benefit, not the next owner's. So don't be ridiculous with your asking price. Even if you have a lightweight owner's manual.

As I drive around and see other BRZ/FRS in the wild I find that almost none of them are without some type of modifications. Aftermarket tail lights, headlights, wheels, exhaust, etc etc.

That leaves me curious if they too will fall victim to the plight that other sellers of modified cars sometime face when it comes time to sell: an over-inflated sense of what the car's actually worth combined with a perception that everyone is "lowballing" them because most buyers are looking at a car they would have to "unmodify" to bring back to some tolerable state of being.

[tahdizzle]

I modify for my enjoyment, not with the intent to resell.

Some guys (erhmm. no one on this forum) just do it for attention and then try to recoup their money.

[Foobar]

I plan on keeping my car for as long as I can so this doesn't really apply to me, but in the chance I ever have to sell it, I'd target other enthusiasts who would want the mods, or if worse came to worse, revert to stock. I've kept everything stored in case I have to go back.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[malave7567]

I've sold a car that I had modified quite a bit, but I reverted everything I could back to stock, and then sold the mod parts online for half the price of new. You won't ever get everything back, but it allowed me to get a decent amount back.

[BlueDubbinTDI]

Duh

[stugray]

My 2013 BRZ's hymen is still intact :-)
Does that make it a unicorn?


And the Land Rover Discovery example made me laugh.
my 25 yr old son asked me to help him buy a car.
I tell him $3000 loan and no more!
He & my wife go out looking and come home with a BEAUTIFUL land rover discovery.
The interior and exterior was showroom quality and they paid ~$5k for it (yes that sounds fishy).

I comment on a ticking noise under the hood.
"Oh the dealer said that is just an exhaust leak."
I tell them take it back and make them fix it.
They "fix it" but I can still hear the ticking.
So I pay the $200 out of pocket to have the car checked at the dealer.
I drove it there and it drove beautifully!

They said that at least one of the cylinder liners was loose and they could fix it for "just $13,000" :-O.
Needless to say the seller had to take it back....

[rice_classic]

I remember going with a buddy to look at a used vehicle and it turned out it was modified and the owner wanted more money due that and my friend said to him, "What?! it's going to cost me at least $1k just to un-fuck this thing!"

I laughed so hard I snorted.

But modified cars, especially poorly modified ones, are great to buy as "parts cars" and then donate what's left for the tax write off or sell to a scrap yard.

[King Tut]

I sold my modified BRZ for $4,500 more than I paid for it brand new and it had 26,000 miles at the time.

[tahdizzle]

Of course there is always the "You can sell something for what someone is willing to pay for" factor.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

Of course there is always the "You can sell something for what someone is willing to pay for" factor.

Exactly. When selling a modified car you should be pricing it at what you think someone is willing to pay for the car. There is nothing wrong with descrbing the "important" modifications in detail and listing prices paid. I have seen a couple BRZ/FR-S sell for more than brand new with modifications, but it definitely takes the right buyer at the right time.

[daiheadjai]

This is why I kept all my stock parts for swapping back in...

[MokSpeed]

Some want a built car without putting in the time, money, or labor?! NO WAY!!! Almost anything is hardly worth its asking price. I'm sure people who sell their cars with mods realize this but post a price regardless in hopes that someone may entertain their asking price and perhaps even buy it. There will always be a better price than what you're selling at. There will always be a better quality product being sold at what you're selling at. Regardless, If you don't ask the answer will always be no.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

That leaves me curious if they too will fall victim to the plight that other sellers of modified cars sometime face when it comes time to sell: an over-inflated sense of what the car's actually worth combined with a perception that everyone is "lowballing" them because most buyers are looking at a car they would have to "unmodify" to bring back to some tolerable state of being.

Why be curious, find out today!

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63038
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72150
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70676
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69858
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70985
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71931

Admittedly some of those aren't terrible deals and some of the sellers know what the car is actually worth, but still fall into the article's purview.

[rice_classic]

Holy moly! Someone paid $262 for powdercoated tow hooks and $57 for an oil filler cap!?!!?

I am in the wrong goddamn business!