Do mods hurt your resale value?

[swagner]

I know a lot of people want to buy stock and do their own mods. So does doing my mods hurt some of my resale options?

[MikosV6]

It probably would, especially powertrain mods. Appearance mods, if done tastfully, can be an advantage and may help. However, it's usually best to keep it mostly stock if you plan on selling it in the near future.

[SLASS]

Depends on the mods. Some buyers/trade in appraisers view performance mods as negative since the car may have been raced, driven hard, warranty voided. Appearance mods, especially unusual or odd limit potential buyers. Even if the mods are perceived as neutral you almost never get any increase in value for the money you sent. Do the mods you enjoy and don't except everyone else to love or value them.

[dcarlos55]

It doesn't hurt, but it certainly doesn't help any either. I traded my highly modded '11 SS and got pretty much what I would have gotten for a stock car with the same mileage.

[Apex Motorsports]

For the average bolt on modified car it is a wash. There are of course exceptions on both extremes. You can hurt a cars value with tasteless appearance mods, or something on the level of a SEMA build could increase it.

[willhe64]

Mods will either be a wash or hurt on trade in value. Selling privately is a different story. You aren't going to recoup your investment but people in the know will give you some of that back.

[JLSuperfly]

If two similar cars are for sale, one modded and the other stock, I'd buy the one that is stock.

[MrChrisLS3]

Originally Posted by Apex Motorsports

For the average bolt on modified car it is a wash. There are of course exceptions on both extremes. You can hurt a cars value with tasteless appearance mods, or something on the level of a SEMA build could increase it.

Agreed with above, with the addition that if the car is of SEMA build quality, while you may get more than average market price, that amount will be only about half of what you spent to build it.

Mods are something you do for you. As said, in terms of trade in, at best you'll get avg trade in value, or you'll have to market it to a smaller group of people that are looking for those particular mods. Either way, you will never see very little, if any return on those mods.

[Revrider550]

90% of people want to mod a car to their liking no buy one modded to someone else's liking. I think that's the biggest issue with differences in exhausts, visual mods, etc.... Just look at how many people either love it hate black wheels.... Seems like a great mod if you like them but a lot of guy dislike them enough to not buy the car

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[Stormcloak]

More often than not I'm going to say yes, they will. As JL says above, if I see 2 cars for sale, one is modded and the other not, I'm going to lean towards the stock one. Modding adds several 'unknowns' to the car (how well was the work done, how good are the parts, are these things that I would have done myself, what else was done that I don't know about) that a stock one may not have.

Granted, a car can be modded then turned back to stock for resale..

[Reichler]

All good replies in here.

Bottom-line is that, yes, modding any car will indeed limit/hurt your resale options over a completely stock car. I almost traded in my '13 SS a little over a month ago on a '15 ZL1. The dealer I was working with said they would only consider my '13 if it was completely stock as they had no desire to deal with a modded Camaro.

Aside from a few exceptions, when it comes to stock vs modified, your car is only ever going to be worth what a stock car is worth in the marketplace. Most people will simply not pay more than the average market value of a stock car for a modified car. In addition, unless you have negotiated the value of your mods with your insurance company, you'll also only ever see a check for the value of a stock car should it ever get totaled in an accident.

The only good way to try and recoup the costs of mods, is to demod and sell the parts before you try and sell your car. Sometimes that's more of a hassle than it's worth though.

Mod for your personal enjoyment only; never for the thought that it will increase the desire or value of your car.

[BlkCamaroVert]

follow

[Trob85]

Hell let's be honest the second you turn the key after signing papers your value goes down. Just look at it this way if you plan on selling don't put a bunch of money into mods you'll never get your money back out of it.

[MCSarge]

It will effect the bottom line on the sale of any vehicle not just Camaro's. As has been posted you build a car or even a Harley for you. If you do it right, and you find the right buyer you may recoup most of your costs. If you plan to trade it in, count on getting nothing and even having a hard time getting someone to take it depending on what you have done to it.

I build my bikes for me, and set them up and personalize them to my style and the way I like to ride. When I build a bike I'm going to sell I will try to make it as generic as I can and still maintain a little of the cool factor so it doesn't look like I just opened a catalog and put it together. I have been fairly successful at it, as my last bike sold before I even finished assembling it. As always this just my .02