I have made a few offers on some older NSX's. One thing I notice is that each individual seems to really overvalue their modifications they have done to their car. I don't think the people I have talked to get that most mods don't get much value in resale. For example: I found a 91 NSX with 110k miles. It had Enkei wheels that were pretty old but I am sure he paid 2500 for the wheels at the time possibly. He wants to justify a higher than average price for the car since he doesn't have stock wheels on it. Now my thoughts are, 1) wheels are particularly an individual thing for appearance. 2) 5 years after the wheel has been out it is considered less in style and most often not in style. 3) Whatever mods you have on the car were what you wanted on the car. Now you may think the car looks great with those items on it but chances are most buyers don't feel the same way. I see that people get too emotial with their car sales lately and have a hard time letting go.

I have also noticed with the Acura NSX that NSXprime has a different price guide for the cars. Let's just say that the prices are in favor of owners by a little bit Now every other price guide tends to have a huge discrepancy on the private party car value but some of these owners will want to sell a 70k mile 91' NSX for $33,000. That to me is insane given supply and demand. There are lots more of these cars for sale than people buying them right now. Anyway, I just had to rant after talking to someone recently about their car in Tennessee.

 

I've always thought mods lose at least half, if not all their value if it's part of the car during resale...



which is why you should keep your original parts, reattach and part out the mods

 

+1
Always keep your OEM parts if you can. You'll make more return on your aftermarket parts and the car will sell for more most likely (unless it's a ridiculously modified one off or something like the Abflug Final Supra)

 

just tell them feel free to take off the aftermarket parts, you will take the car stock

 

I don't mind peole modding their cars but, depending on the mod, they will reduce the value of the car from stock IMO. People looking for an NSX are looking for an NSX, not a billyjobob NSX wedding cake. You may not have much choice but stick to your guns. They reduced the value of the car and just have their personal reality distortion field still turned up to 11. They will find out over time.

 

That is true about the value of the car as well. Another thing I notice is that almost all of the NSX's I have seen are modded a little bit all the way to a hell of a lot. I mean people spending as much money as the car was worth on modding it out.

 

The problem is that the market for cars with modifications is abysmal. There just aren't a lot of buyers for this kind of thing because so many of the people who like modded cars are the type that want to go through the entire process themselves.

 

Bingo! On the nose!

 

Great thread.

I encountered this just a few weeks ago when trying to buy a GS300 Sport Design from a guy locally.

He had the car listed at $17,999 and I figured that he had priced it high to give himself some bargaining leverage...understandable. Well I meet the guy in person and take a look at the car and he has installed a remote start, tint, and the previous owner repainted the car for some unknown reason.

To make a long story short, he wasn't moving off $17,600 for the car (KBB value of less than $17K with it being repainted) because it had new paint (as if this was a perk) and the remote start and tint. To him, these items justified a price that was almost $1K above the retail value, and he wasn't moving off his price. I tried to explain to him that the paint actually devalued the car, and that remote start and tint weren't exactly value enhancing extras, even if they were nice to have.

...so I told him to walk, even though my last offer was $17,300. You just can't win with some people. Keep searching though and I am sure you will find something.

 

When I lived in Mexico, I found this especially true with what is being discussed. Mods killed the price of the car, even though their owners though otherwise. Down there it wasn't performance add ons, but rather exterior and to a lesser extent interior modifications, even though some were awful in my opinion. I had to kick out of my old track a few guys who just came into park their cars (cost only $15 to get in) in order to sell them (an extension of our track rule of no vendor advertising allowed without approval) after it got out of hand, with one night a performance shop putting 5 cars in a row right at the front of the pit area and then quietly telling people the cars were for sale (at some insane prices).

However, car shows were a big thing down there and having a car that could wow the judges was something highly prized in Mexico, so cars running at premium were common place.

 

This is a great thread.

Since I'm sitting on the other side of this at this time (trying to sell my modded GS400) let me provide a bit of perspective of where I see this.

1) Should a nicely modded/sorted out car never command a higher price than a stock car.

No! Everybody may not appreciate the modifications that have been performed but that just means that those people aren't in the target audience for the sale. If you put no value on the mod(s) go buy a stock car. The seller has to realize however that they are now limiting the potential market (number of buyers) for their car. Get that too close to zero and, as has been said, they will come to their senses.

2) Should I expect to make no money on my mods?
Perhaps. Though mods are personal taste, some mods, crystal chandelier dome light, are much more personal than others. As I described above. Pick something too esoteric and you limit the number of people that will value the same mod as you by a very large margin. Create some nice subtle mods though and you should make some money back.

3) Performance Mods as $$.
Some like to go through the process of modding their cars. However as someone that has gone through that process with performance mods (as distinct from cosmetic mods) I can say that at times it's worth it to buy the finished product and not live through the process itself. There should be a value in that. Not many may appreciate it beforehand but if you stop and think about it you may come to realize it.

Edit: I forgot about parting out. Certain modifications are a royal pain in the keister to put back to stock. It can cost $$ and money to get it back to stock that is all $$ (time is money to me) the seller loses in the process.

Finally, nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to sell your car. I have held firm on price because I don't have to sell. I don't have to part it out. If you have to sell you are at the mercy of the buyers which means the more you have restricted your potential buyer pool the worse off you will be. (I won't rant about what that does for expectations for others but....) At some point everyone has to decide what is most important to them.

My $0.02.

 

Good post, and I agree 100% with you. You have the option of selling your car for book value (which obviously excludes mods) or seeking a buyer who will value your modifications enough to pay extra for them.

And also like you said, some people may have the ability to sit and wait for that right buyer to come along whose willing to pay for mods.

Thing that was frustrating for me was that my guy told me he needed to have his car sold by May 27th because he was trying to buy a home. He also mentioned that if he didn't have it sold a week before that date he was going to "get very aggressive with the pricing." This was before we had even talked about a concrete price so I'm thinking, "Ok this guy's car KBBs at $17,200 but it has been repainted and he want's to 'get aggressive with it' ...I should be able to get the car for less than $17K."

Then he comes back at me and tells me the remote start, tint, and paint add so much value to the car and he isn't going any lower than $17,600 for it...so I figure I'll wait him out to May 27th and he will surely give in. So I tried that and he basically came back and treated me like I was stupid for not recognizing that his car was absolutely amazingly valuable with the tint and remote start. At that point his arrogance kind of irritated me, and I found his claim of "getting aggressive" to be quite laughable.

So I haven't talked to him since!

 

IN particular with the NSX, the blue book value and market value are not that close at all. You'd be hard pressed to find a 91 NSX under 100K miles that is all up to date on maintenance for under $30K. That is just the way it is. The sellers know this because there are buyers out there that will and are paying that price for good used NSXs. It doesn't matter what the kbb.com book says the value could be, all that matters is what actual buyers are willing to pay for the car. It is not uncommon for NSX owners to buy an NSX, drive it for a 2-3 years, then sell it for exactly what they paid for it or little loss. In 2003, I bought my 92 NSX for $33K. I sold it to my brother for a great deal for more than what some people think the NSX should go for. Even as a past owner, I was planning on buying another 91 NSX for $33K.

There are deals to be found like any other car, but the problem with the NSX is there really are not many of them around, so if you want one you have to pay the market value for it because the sellers know if you don't someone else will.

Justifying mods though is a different story. There are certain NSX specific mods that really do enhance the value of the car. If you find a NA1 with a 6-Speed conversion that enhances the value. If you find any NSX with an NSX-R gear and ring and pinion that enhances the value. Any OEM NSX-R part adds vallue. A 91-93 with 94-96, or 97-2001, or 2002+ rims will also add value. Certain aftermarket parts by specific vendors will also add value due to their desirability. It just depends on the parts. Now, Enkei rims probably aren't worth much.

 

Good post and topical for me right now as well. My GS is so heavily modified there seems to be really two choices:

1) Part it out, then sell the car stock

2) Sell the car to an enthusiast who shares your taste in mods at a significant loss compared to your investment

I'm hoping for #2, but if that doesn't work I'm going to market my GS with hybrid option #3

3) Sell the car priced for someone to buy it who wants to take the time to part it out and make a profit. Someone who values some of the higher dollar modifications (supercharger for example) but might not want all of the others and can basically finance the purchase of some of the rare mods through parting out the rest of the car. This method will take a good bit of research on market cost of used parts, but I think it will work especially when the base car is in pristene low mile condition. This will only work if you still have all your OEM parts (which I do).

Back on the orignal topic, the NSX is more collectible and rare so the dynamic is slightly different. When my wife sold hers (in 2004), she listed it on NSXprime and it sold in less than a week http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41839 Her's was moderately modified but in (what seems to be very rare) exceptional condition with low miles. I don't think she gained any additional $$ for her mods, but the car didn't lose value because of them either.

 

If the type of mods we are talking about are wheels or air fresheners, I can live with that although I would more than likely prefer the stock wheels and pick my aftermarket rims myself, thank you very much. Anything else, and I mean anything else, that involves any sort of installation reduces the value of the car to me if not make it a FIDO.

If I buy a used Lexus, I want to know that the wiring, transmission, suspension, audio, and everything else I am not naming were screwed together by Lexus. And if possible, maintained by Lexus. Any other mod from a supercharger to remote wired radar detector can, and I will view them this way, more than likely will be problem areas. Before anyone posts about how competent they, or their installer are, I just don't care. It isn't worth the risk IMO. If you love your mods, fine. But don't expect me to pay a dime for them and probably want a reserve, lower price, to cover any potential problems made by Larry, Moe, and Curly installing your Brembos.