Roygarth

I imagine that the answer to this question includes the words 'string' 'how long's' and 'a piece' but anyway.

I have been considering various mods but hold back as I may sell next year. Do all mods decrease car value, or just some, or none?

For example thus far I have cat bypass and performance chip and assume this will not effect resale. But I'm considering uprated rear roll/swaybar and strut brace and wonder if this may effect value detrimentally.

Any thoughts?

Best regards
Piers
1990 C4 Coupe
55K Miles

Bins

Usually its the upgrades you can see that may effect the price, such as the aero kit parts (spoilers and skirting) or the interior changes (alluminium or carbon bits and pieces).

Bill Gregory

I think you'll find that a fully stock as delivered Porsche will fetch the highest price. Mods, however, require a match to a buyer, and you never get back what you put in. For example, when I sold my 1981SC that was set up for dual purpose street/track usage, I had quite a bit of interest from those who knew they wanted to go there but didn't want to make the investment or do the work themselves. The upgrades you're considering, however, wouldn't likely hurt you when you sell, but I wouldn't expect to get anything extra because of them.

joey bagadonuts

Yes, I'd agree that mods will rarely provide a reasonable return on investment, e.g. <a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=002861" target="_blank">Smokin's</a> car had at least $10K in upgrades (suspension, brakes, aero), was meticulously maintained, yet only fetched high $20s USD. I think that's probably a little better than what most 50K-mile, C2's will get but not much. Also, the condition and history of the car probably had more to do with the final price than any mods.

I believe geographical preferences factor into the equation, as well. While adding a wing or spoiler to a US 964 is probably a non-issue, from various comments, it appears this might be a risky proposition for you gents in the UK.

Riccardo

I would guess that a non standard car would be harder to sell. For one I know I wouldn't want to buy a modified one (the only upgrade could be lowered suspension, but even then depending on who installed it and how).

Personally I see mods as a waste of money.

PS: Why will you be selling?

John Boggiano

OK, so it's a predictable response, but...

Not only why might you be selling, but what do you intend to get as a replacement?

(Why do my replies always have '...' in them somewhere?)

M758

Remember also that as cars get older the value of mods changes.

The 944 and 944 Turbo cars show this. Stock 944s go for about $2500-$5000 depending on condition. The top prices go for the mint condition stock cars. For average cars small mods like you have stated will increase the value of the cars. In fact big mods also increase the value of the cars, but like the other have said these are still below the cost of the modifications.

My point is that you mods will lower car value if very new, but as time goes on they can slighly increase the value if done right.

However do remember that the more mods you have the fewer people will want the car since it is becoming more specialized. Sure the right buyer may pay to dollar for a well modified car, but finding that 1 or 2 people is much tougher.

JonSeigel

It depends on the mods. Chipping the car certainly won't *decrease* resale value, nor will a cat bypass where it is allowed (you lucky dogs) .

Robert Coats

Generally speaking (writing?) stock vehicles will command a higher price and a wider range of buyers than modified vehicles.

I've found (with both cars and motorcycles) it's okay to make mods (after all, it's your vehicle) but try not to make them permanent. Instead, return the vehicle to as stock as possible before putting it up for sale. That way, you'll attract a larger group of possible buyers. Then, after the vehicle is sold, sell your mod parts to other eager buyers. Just as there is a larger market for a stock car, there is a fair-sized market for used upgrade bits.

FlyYellow

Different mods effect vehicle pricing in different ways. Here are my thoughts on which mods do what:

+ (increase vehicle value)
==========================
wheels
factory body kits (i.e. aerokit)
interior

~ (neutral mods)
================
chip
lowering vehicle properly
air intake mods

- (decrease vehicle value)
==========================
exhaust
not bolt on mods
light weight flywheel

That's my 2 cents. Speaking as a proud owner of a 964 and a 993, who is still trying to sell a well modified 964 - it ain't easy. But I don't necessarily attribute that to the mods. I just have to find the right buyer!

Cheers,
boris

Roygarth

Thanks guys, it confirms what I thought.

In answer to John B's question. It is possible, but unlikely, that I will be in a position to buy a 993TT next year. But this would have to coincide with moving out of London which is by no means definite.

BR
Piers
Dream, dream, dreamin.........!

J-McDonald

I agree with Boris, except I would put the chip in the "decrease value" category. If I were shopping for a 911, I would be very leery of buying a car that had non-factory reprogramming done to its fuel/ignition maps, along with a raised redline - too much possibility of permanent (and undetectable) engine damage.

Roygarth

[quote]Originally posted by J-McDonald:
<strong>I agree with Boris, except I would put the chip in the "decrease value" category. If I were shopping for a 911, I would be very leery of buying a car that had non-factory reprogramming done to its fuel/ignition maps, along with a raised redline - too much possibility of permanent (and undetectable) engine damage.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I kept my original chip and cat thinking I could get them swapped back in pre-selling - is this easy or expensive?

BR
Piers

Smokin

I've tallied up all the receipts I have for my P-car (at prior owner's expense) and it comes to a grand total of $16,659 in mods (parts & labor). This does not include the complete new leather interior or the new stereo & 10 disc CD changer. I would assume that would add another $2k - $3k in parts & labor. This was for mods only and not general service or repairs. The mods were added over a 7 year period going back to 1995. As you can see... The past owner did not get his money out of them. (one would think) If I were to try to capitalize on the mods I would imagine I could go outside the general P-car community and maybe into the street-rod, rice-burner area to advertise it if I were thinking of selling it.

In retrospect, I'm not sure I would buy such a highly modified car if I had it to do over again. (Check out the link Joey mentions to see the mods to my car.) One reason being is I have no baseline to compare. The areas of slight dissatisfaction are the ride (lowered ride height and stiffer springs) and the lightweight flywheel (intermittent idle problems). I was hoping for a smoother ride but I'll trade it off for the performance increases gained from the suspension mods. The same goes for the LWF. The idle issues have been addressed to date by sliding a piece of rubber hose on the throttle cover where it makes contact with the micro switch. I have had to make some adjustments to that by adding a little black electrical tape to increase the gap to keep the idle up. Believe it or not, this was the fix suggested by the installation instructions and it seems to be working so far. While I have a performance chip installed, I am not sure if it is the correct one needed to address this problem. I'll get around to checking it one of these days. The nice thing is... most of the mods available have been done on someone else's dime! I would love to hook up with someone else in this area to compare driveability and performance against a stock unit. (Any takers?) This car screams and pulls strong in all gears at just about any RPM.

My parting thought is... If you do any mods to your car... do them for your enjoyment only and not in the hopes of getting it back when you want to sell it.

Rick <img src="graemlins/wave.gif" border="0" alt="[byebye]" />

J-McDonald

Rick - you probably don't need to double up your rear decklid shocks - just get some new factory ones installed. I inquired about shocks when I had the RSA tail put on my car, and was told that all rear decklid shocks by Porsche now have a 930 part number. I had them put on my car and the two 930 shocks (total) are more than sufficient to keep up the factory metal decklid and the RSA tail. Good luck!