Do modifications effect vehicle value?

[Atlas.997]

I'm considering moving on from my current 997 and I wondered how to price my car. I'm not necessarily looking for you to value the car for me, but I did wonder if a modified car is perceived to be of a lower, higher or equal value to an unmodified car?

In the case of my own car, it's been lowered 15mm on KW V3 Coilovers with new OEM top mounts and drop links, it's fitted with Recaro Pole Position ABE seats on OEM sliding rails and it has sensible wheel spacers to set up the wheel placement within the arch.

To my mind, those modifications have been carried out with high quality aftermarket components and therefore I could advocate that they should add value, especially as the suspension refresh was within 1,000 miles. At the same time, I could see how a potential buyer could be put off if they're more of a purist but. How do you perceive this?

Opinions welcome. Thanks

 

[T8]

It depends on who the buyer is.

Most people would prefer a standard car but may be swayed towards a modified one if the price is right.

Some may be intending to modify a car and might be prepared to pay a bit more off the work has already been done. It just depends upon whether they are around at the time you're selling.

Personally I'd price the car as if it were standard, taking into account mileage, service history and current condition. A purist may try to knock you down but others may be looking for just such a car.

 

[Neven]

I'm not sure there is a definitive answer here, but I'll give you my personal perspective.

When I was looking for a 997.2 I was looking for an unmodified car. The irony is I'm doing mods to my car now I own one. This is the first car in over 30 years that I've made mods to, usually I keep my cars pretty much standard because I have one eye on maintaining residuals as best I can. But I'm not planning on ever selling my 997 so I'm therefore happy to personalise it and I'm enjoying the process of doing so. If I were to have bought an already modified car, then I'd have missed out on the process which is one of the reasons I sought an unmodified car at the outset.

If I were to ever sell the car, then I'd expect the market for my modified car to be smaller than if I'd left it standard. I think residuals would probably suffer a bit too, but that's just a hunch. On the other hand, as @T8 says, I'm sure there will some potential buyers out there who place a lot of value on the mods already made and won't be put off and may well pay a premium, but this will be a smaller number of openminded enthusiasts.

 

[Luddite]

Were I in the trade and you were trying to trade your modified car in, I suspect I would use the mods you have made as a basis to knock my valuation of your car down to lower than a standard car, and if selling it I would use those same mods to try to promote the car to any possible buyer...

While mods might attract a degree of street cred with a particular peer group, I suspect outside that grouping they may be frowned upon.

I suspect modified cars may put some folk off thinking chances are that the car may have been ragged around to some degree, or that the mods may have exposed the car to more wear and tear even if the car was more of a show car than one used to impress pals and gals with tyre smoke....?

Lowering Porsches or slamming, to achieve a look, might impress some but from an engineering practical and buyer research point of view, there are a few YT vids around pointing out inner wing/shocker tower mount structural failures, which seem likely to have been caused by a number of issues combining to create the issue..? Perhaps lowered suspension, combined with stiffer springs and dampers, adding up to transferring more shock to the monocoque than it was designed to handle..? Add some speed bumps and pot holes to the likely scenario the car might be likely to be exposed to.... ?

Then perhaps there are ever changing aspects of insurers attitudes to modifications and much else... Hmm..?

For sure modifying cars to make them special to you, can be all part of the enjoyment of ownership, been there done that.....

Best wishes in the sale process..

As ever each to their own.

 

[GV_997]

You are almost certainly better off putting the car back to standard and selling the parts individually.

I imagine you would have at least £5k in parts between the KWs and Recaro seats on the used market.

 

[MaxA]

I wouldn't regard that as a very modified car, but what I would do is return to stock for sale, get it paint-corrected and fully detailed and polished inside and out. There is nothing you can do about mileage and history, but people love condition and hate blemishes and scrapes.

As such I'd re-install the original seats and suspension, as they will likely put off a lot of people (either the purist, or the enthusiast who want to do it their own way). You can quickly sell on the parts. Someone's inevitably going to ask, if you just added v3s why are you selling the car? It's far easier to sell a standard car.

Although speaking entirely personally, I'd have been happy to look at car with Recaros and V3s. It would have been a good start. I'd still have wanted the original parts off you as part of the deal, though.

 

[snb993]

As above really. dealers can use it as an excuse to make a lower offer. my experience a couple of years ago was when selling a 996T to buy a 997T. the dealer selling the 997 made me an offer on my 996 having downvalued ( a lot) it 'because of the mods' (KWv3, Europipe, K24's etc) so i paid a deposit on the 997 and said that i would try to sell it privately within 1 month and very glad that i did as i sold it privately within 36hours of listing it and for £9,000 more than the dealer offered! (it was a lovely car). I know that dealers are there to make a profit but i was so pleased as to how quickly it sold and how many enquiries i had

personally, i would buy a car with 'sensible' mods (i.e. ones that i would choose or plan to do) in preference to a standard one as i enjoy the 'tinkering' with them Mileage, condition and history are the most important factors to me

I would list it for sale privately first having factored in the cost of the mods less how much you estimate your use of them has been

HTH

 

[simundo777]

I'd see the value in the mods so it just depends on the buyer. Seats are an easy swap however and to me the suspension is a huge upgrade over no doubt tired shocks etc.

 

[Punchdrunked]

Given the choice most buyers would prefer stock suspension to KW, especially if they don’t intend tracking the car - most won’t, the car is too old and will break. So the suspension will not be a selling point for 95% of potential buyers. Ditto the seats - would a buyer prefer OEM hard back sport seats or Recaro after market? I’d hazard a guess most would prefer stock with extended leather.

The hardest part about mods is that the seller will be trying to recoup the spend and the buyer will be comparing the car against stock examples, likely cheaper.

In most cases and if it is not too much hassle, put back to stock and sell the other parts separately. If you can’t, try your luck as you may find that buyer that wants it all and is prepared to pay.

 

[Atlas.997]

There are some interesting perspectives there. Thank you all for your contributions.

Were I in the trade and you were trying to trade your modified car in, I suspect I would use the mods you have made as a basis to knock my valuation of your car down to lower than a standard car, and if selling it I would use those same mods to try to promote the car to any possible buyer...

I'd bet my bottom dollar on this being true and something I've already considered. However I think by going to a dealer, we're asking to be fleeced in the first place. They've got a profit to make and in my experience, the profit they're seeking is a huge one so I'd skip this avenue even with a factory standard car.

I suspect modified cars may put some folk off thinking chances are that the car may have been ragged around to some degree, or that the mods may have exposed the car to more wear and tear even if the car was more of a show car than one used to impress pals and gals with tyre smoke....?

Lowering Porsches or slamming, to achieve a look, might impress some but from an engineering practical and buyer research point of view, there are a few YT vids around pointing out inner wing/shocker tower mount structural failures, which seem likely to have been caused by a number of issues combining to create the issue..? Perhaps lowered suspension, combined with stiffer springs and dampers, adding up to transferring more shock to the monocoque than it was designed to handle..? Add some speed bumps and pot holes to the likely scenario the car might be likely to be exposed to.... ?

There are some challenging views here. There's a huge leap from lowering a car 15mm as mentioned in the OP to "slamming to achieve a look" and "structural failures". If I were presented with these opinions from a potential buyer, I'd acknowledge their opinion as their own, but encourage them to broaden their horizons and seek further education on the subject.

to me the suspension is a huge upgrade over no doubt tired shocks etc.

This is my view too. The car rides significantly better than the standard car with PASM engaged.


Thank you all for your view points. As a brief summary, they reflect my own perception of the most buyers looking for a Porsche so it would potentially be better to pursue a sale elsewhere if I decide to go down this route.

 

[Hertsdriver]

I would consider a modified 911 to be worth less than a standard car, as I would have to spend money removing the modifications to put the car back to how it should be. I would also probably try to not buy one that's been modified, on the basis that its a pain in the backside to undo things, so unless the basic spec was absolutely spot on - I would just not bother to view. Thats just my view.

 

[T8]

......... Thank you all for your view points. As a brief summary, they reflect my own perception of the most buyers looking for a Porsche so it would potentially be better to pursue a sale elsewhere if I decide to go down this route.

I assume by this that you mean you'd advertise in the 'modified cars' market place. Good idea.

 

[Atlas.997]

I assume by this that you mean you'd advertise in the 'modified cars' market place. Good idea.

Anywhere the car meets the most appropriate audience.

 

[Bigbaddog997]

Returning to standard if you have the parts and tools to DIY makes sense for the biggest potential market.
However if you found the right buyer who wanted the mods for track or sprinting you might get a reasonable return but not your money back on the mods in my experience.

 

[Luddite]

As a possible counter to my initial thinking, I guess not all mods might put someone off who seeks the protections of the imagined quality of Porsche engineering, parts and OPC service history...?

Also I suspect if the Porsche is past the age where it can still be covered by an extended warranty, then perhaps the value of an OPC service history may also diminish somewhat.

What about defining sensible mods...? I guess swapping one original Porsche part for an upgraded or just different Porsche part, might not put someone off in the way a non Porsche part might, given there would seem to be quite a number of parts out there of very dubious quality....?

While my 991 is still covered by it`s extended warranty there are original Porsche parts that to my mind are not quite up to the standards I expect of such an iconic sports car....and where it seems possible that superior alternatives may be available, however should I wish to have such parts fitted to improve the quality and perhaps reliability of my 991, that would contravene the terms of my extended warranty, with obvious consequences.

A sensible mod perhaps...? I have typed many times on the seemingly poor quality of Porsche exhaust fixings in that they corrode at a faster rate than the rest of the exhaust system and in the process create all sorts of issues if/when the exhaust or part thereof might require to be removed, perhaps to replace the corroding cover on the tandem pump.. I have read quite a few discussions on the benefit or drawbacks of using stainless steel fixings, and once again there would seem to be different grades of stainless and the possibility of stainless that may be of dubious quality.... So I guess other than using O.E. can have a mix of advantage and disadvantage....?

A modified and obviously cared for Porsche can provide a great deal of pleasure, A fastidious 997 owning friend who has been a Porsche owner/enthusiast of many different Porsches for decades, took a lot of time, effort and spent a fair bit of cash, to buy a kit of specialist parts which included drills, guides and tap etc, to assist in drilling out broken off and corroded O.E. exhaust fixings, and also replaced the whole system and components with shiny new non O.E. parts..... He also has non O.E. wheels though he would have been really careful relative to his choice in order to avoid other than high end parts, as you might guess his 997 is immaculate and show quality.... and as you might guess does not see a lot of use....yet provides him with a great deal of pleasure... Different strokes for different folks ...?