Modified cars hard to sell? Its a niche market, and only appeals to a certain type of person. If you try to apply logic to buying mod cars, then you shouldn't really be buying them in the first place. There are more sensible ways of buying a Clio 197/200, but those don't have 300 bhp.
Modified cars hard to sell?
- Thread starter litchy
- Start date
TBH, could have sold mine 10x over cause there's always a market for modified cars. If the cars done by a reputable tuner, and its well documented and receipted, the quality of the parts are high, and it doesn't look like a 'show car', you have a chance. I've always tried to keep my Clio close to OEM as possible. The challenge is excepting that you can only price it 20% over the price of a standard car. Best way is to put the car back to standard, and sell the modified parts separately.
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I think it depends on what level you have modddd to, if it's a few subtle changes that are highly popular anyhow the you may find it appeals to the right person as they would have been looking in to doing it aswell.
if heavily modified, where it starts to effect the price you are after for the car, then it's often worth considering putting it back to standard and selling the modified parts on seperatley.
if heavily modified, where it starts to effect the price you are after for the car, then it's often worth considering putting it back to standard and selling the modified parts on seperatley.
I can personally say, I've never modded a car with any consideration given to it being hard to sell once I've finished it. Most are a labour of love, a project that you invest your time and money in. The finished car is not it for me, its how I get there. I love researching, finding the parts, experimenting on whether things will work and the discussion, debates and the fall outs (Sorry SteC lol) in getting there. I think there are others that think the same cause generally once the cars finished, we often sell them, and move onto the next project. The selling of them is just to fund the next project.....
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I never go into a project worrying what anybody else thinks about the parts I use or the reasons behind them.
But, when looking to buy a car, I'd always buy standard before modified unless the car in question was already carrying parts I'd have bought anyway!!!
But, when looking to buy a car, I'd always buy standard before modified unless the car in question was already carrying parts I'd have bought anyway!!!
I never go into a project worrying what anybody else thinks about the parts I use or the reasons behind them.
But, when looking to buy a car, I'd always buy standard before modified unless the car in question was already carrying parts I'd have bought anyway!!!
Amen
I never go into a project worrying what anybody else thinks about the parts I use or the reasons behind them.
But, when looking to buy a car, I'd always buy standard before modified unless the car in question was already carrying parts I'd have bought anyway!!!
Agree but always the option to buy the modified car and sell the parts you don't like to fund the ones you do...
Another example of this is my Focus RS mk1, 330 bhp 400 ftlb of torque Everything modified seats, brakes, suspension, a2a loads and loads. When I went to a mk2 FRS I was offered 9K for my Mk1, so I stripped it and put it back to standard and traded it in. I got 9k for the car, and 6.5k for the bits and they all the bits went within a couple of weeks, so I ended up with £15.5k for my car, it sometimes pays to keep your bits. Oh and I stripped it on my drive on my back in a week after work each day
that's one of the issues of selling a modded car - its to a very personal taste - a sort of one-off - and dare I say for some (not directed at anyone on here) not to
majorities taste :s
Thats not a bad result looks like it worked out ok i have kept all my bits to go back on but i think if i went for a engine transplant i would be trying my best to sell with the engine still in as for some it would be a big job going back to the standard engine.
Rogue
Platinum Member
That'll be the exact issue I'll come across when trying to sell mine.
It started to hit me after a while which is why I started to hold back a bit.
I've given this some thought as I've spent the last few hours on the classifieds. I think there's a certain stigma attached to modified cars that they'll have been thrashed or maybe not maintained properley. Now, whilst a performance car being thrashed wouldn't bother me, what would bother me is a sketchy service history.Personally, the biggest difficulty I can see with selling a modified car (or buying a modified car for that matter) is how to price it and sellers generally asking too much for them. Because a car may have cost you £10,000 and seen you spend another £10,000 on it, that doesn't mean it's a £20,000 or even £15,000 car. It is still a Clio/Fiesta/Vauxhall etc. etc., and has to be priced realistically to reflect the base car plus ''x amount'' that is reasonable to the work that's been carried out or the value of the parts added...
For example, a good friend of mine has just this week picked up an Evo VIII. It's running 450-500BHP depending on map (it has switchable mapping), it's got every toy and shiny thing you can think of from a twin scroll manifold, big monster eight pot brakes and all singing all dancing coilovers. The price it was advertised for? £10,995. The price he paid? £10,995. Upon speaking to the seller and getting a host of photos he was more than happy that despite being used as a track/weekend car, it had a well documented service history and had wanted for nothing in it's life. Every part was reciepted to a sum in excess of £20,000 (on top of the original cost of the car itself). He didn't even try and haggle, he jumped on the next train to go and get it and thrashed the sh!t out of it on the six hour drive home. Now, where am I going with this? Well standard Evo VIII's with the same full service history are going for £9,000-10,000. So basically he's got a car he could return to standard and sell for near enough what he paid for it and like Womble would be left with a stack of parts that in this case would be almost as much again even on the secondhand market!!! So really a modified car is worth what the market value of it's base model dictates, plus infinitum, it's a buyers market when it comes to modified cars. If you want it to sell to somebody who respects it for what it is then price it accordingly. If you're happy to wait a year for all manner of offers and phonecalls from dreamers and testpilots then price it at the standard cars value plus 50% again to claw back some of your hard earned and be prepared to put up with the people it'll attract. The ones who know what the car is will take one look at the price and think ''joker, it's still a Clio/Fiesta/Vauxhall etc..'' and they'll go buy a standard one and modify it themselves.
Just my take on things going off recent and personal experience down the years.
And for the record, this is how I value Nicole at the moment financially and sentimentally...
£8,500 (purchase price in 2010)
£7,500 (minimum cost of parts added)
£1,500 (rough cost of tax and servicing etc.)
£17,500 (very rough guesstimate of what she's cost me)
£4,500 (likely dealer P/X price at a specialist in current state)
£6,000 (optimistic value she'd fetch in a private sale if standard)
£7,500 (what she's valued for on my insurance with mods included)
£8,500 (the price she'd go in the classifieds for as she stands if my head was turned)
So really for me, in THE BEST CASE SCENARIO, I'll have lost ''only'' £9,000 and in the worse I'll have lost £13,500...
For example, a good friend of mine has just this week picked up an Evo VIII. It's running 450-500BHP depending on map (it has switchable mapping), it's got every toy and shiny thing you can think of from a twin scroll manifold, big monster eight pot brakes and all singing all dancing coilovers. The price it was advertised for? £10,995. The price he paid? £10,995. Upon speaking to the seller and getting a host of photos he was more than happy that despite being used as a track/weekend car, it had a well documented service history and had wanted for nothing in it's life. Every part was reciepted to a sum in excess of £20,000 (on top of the original cost of the car itself). He didn't even try and haggle, he jumped on the next train to go and get it and thrashed the sh!t out of it on the six hour drive home. Now, where am I going with this? Well standard Evo VIII's with the same full service history are going for £9,000-10,000. So basically he's got a car he could return to standard and sell for near enough what he paid for it and like Womble would be left with a stack of parts that in this case would be almost as much again even on the secondhand market!!! So really a modified car is worth what the market value of it's base model dictates, plus infinitum, it's a buyers market when it comes to modified cars. If you want it to sell to somebody who respects it for what it is then price it accordingly. If you're happy to wait a year for all manner of offers and phonecalls from dreamers and testpilots then price it at the standard cars value plus 50% again to claw back some of your hard earned and be prepared to put up with the people it'll attract. The ones who know what the car is will take one look at the price and think ''joker, it's still a Clio/Fiesta/Vauxhall etc..'' and they'll go buy a standard one and modify it themselves.
Just my take on things going off recent and personal experience down the years.
And for the record, this is how I value Nicole at the moment financially and sentimentally...
£8,500 (purchase price in 2010)
£7,500 (minimum cost of parts added)
£1,500 (rough cost of tax and servicing etc.)
£17,500 (very rough guesstimate of what she's cost me)
£4,500 (likely dealer P/X price at a specialist in current state)
£6,000 (optimistic value she'd fetch in a private sale if standard)
£7,500 (what she's valued for on my insurance with mods included)
£8,500 (the price she'd go in the classifieds for as she stands if my head was turned)
So really for me, in THE BEST CASE SCENARIO, I'll have lost ''only'' £9,000 and in the worse I'll have lost £13,500...
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Problem? Never said I had any problem selling it. Could have sold it 10x over. I bought it has a CAT C cause I planned to track it so wanted something that had no value to it. Didn't see the point (and still don't) paying £££££ for a car that you end up talking all the bits off. At no point was I bothered what it was worth when I finished it. Not sold it cause the offers have been too low, and more important is not easy to replace a car that offers so much for so little.
If I wasn't tracking or moddin it, would never have bought it tbh. Project took a bit of a turn, car became a great project, but its a toy that has no value other than the fun I have with it. Sons learning to drive so hopefully he'll have some fun with it too on the track. If I parted out the car tmw, I still wouldn't lose a penny.....
I think some people mod cars to impress others on some forums rather than enjoying where it takes them. Thats how you end up with sooo many cars looking exactly the same cause people are fearfully of what others might think IMO. Personally, never mattered to me, 18's, cup spoiler, LY everywhere...even FI when many said it wouldn't fit....
TBH, the reason I enjoy the car sooo much is because it has no value to me other than its a great car. I have no need to balance what I put in it against what its worth, or when I have to hand it back. No need to worry about depreciation or warranty being void cause I've changed a wheel nut. Wife pecks my head less cause whatever I've spent isnt on top of a monthly finance payment. Its the best way to mod a car in my opinion, and I'd def do it this way again if something else interesting came along....
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Yiannis197
Paid Member
Generally speaking modifying cars are hard to sell because people who modify usually do it as a hobby, otherwise it's getting boring. It doesn't matter how big or small the project might be, it's always a project. Keeping the love alive in a way, that's why so many people decide to sell when they've done the lot to their cars, we've all seen it in all our years in the forums...Personally I wouldn't buy a modified car either.
Litchy fair play to you when you say that you wouldn't lose a penny if you sold your car today, that obviously means that you have an eye for a bargain, that you got your parts seriously cheap and taking into consideration that your car is Cat C this is impressive How come you haven't parted with it yet then?
Litchy fair play to you when you say that you wouldn't lose a penny if you sold your car today, that obviously means that you have an eye for a bargain, that you got your parts seriously cheap and taking into consideration that your car is Cat C this is impressive
How come you haven't parted with it yet then?
