Whats it worth, vs. market cost, vs. monies invested

[yfarm]

My brother bought a mild restomod 1955 Chev pickup for 20k, took it to a race car shop, corvette rear, rack and pinion, injected 383 custom interior, paint, etc, all high end. Gets awards at local rod meets, gets bored, has 80k in it, puts it up for sale in national media takes 2 yrs to sell for 37. Think about this all the time relative to vehicles for sale on this forum.I agree with the 10% rule on mods. Amazing to me the premium buyers ask for old diesel trucks with 150-200 k miles compared with book values. We never see the actual sale price on these vehicles if they sell. Love to see the word investment in a listing, usually the exact opposite.

 

[CrazyDrei]

It's impossible to even pretend to estimate.

Being painfully frank here, most of the mods I see on most vehicles are superficial baubles that make the vehicle objectively worse than stock. Nobody likes to hear that but it's a fact. Water is wet and the sun is hot - and whatever looks great on instagram is sundried dumpster juice biscuits in practical use.

For my own part, I've resolved to never make any money back on modifications or improvements. I do them for myself, and so nobody can ever curse the FPO and be talking about me.. but I'll never see a penny back (in sale price) from reprogamming the speedometer for upsized tires or using correct hardware when adding parts or replacing push plugs with new ones after interior panel removal, etc.

Shovel,

You absolutely nailed this one!

I have dumped $4,000 over last 7 years and 200k miles into my $4,000 truck. I have created a most perfect vehicle for myself and my family. I did all the labor myself and most of the parts were the cheapest I could find on eBay. I am sure I can probably get $2,500 for the truck just the way it sits or part it out for a whopping $3,000 at absolute most over the next 6 months.

With that said I got about $1,000,000 worth of smiles on my kids faces over the last few years adventuring in it and that was well worth my tiny investment!

 

[john61ct]

Some people like the restore / modding in itself

more than the using / driving / utility of it.

Far be it for me to criticise how others spend their time and money, so long as they're not unduly depriving their kids.

 

[zoomad75]

Here's a really easy step for a straight gut check on what anybody thinks a modified vehicle is worth: Take it to a dealer and get it appraised for trade-in value. See what they think of the fancy overland gear, and such. Betcha they don't give you a value a penny over what Kelly blue book or NADA guide calls for the vehicle with that age and mileage. I work at a dealer and I can tell you there isn't a person in the sales department that is going to be impressed or swayed by the gadgets or goodies added to it. Sure let one of us gearheads back in the shop look at it and we'll appreciate it for what it is, but sales guys don't know and don't care. They have to deal with trying to sell some complete overland monstrosity to somebody else. And like others have said, that narrows the field of buyers greatly.

We've traded for some pretty impressive Jeep JK's and Tacoma's that were fitted out basic to fairly well. They bought them right and depending on the modifications some stayed on, some got removed to make a vehicle more sellable to the masses. Depending on how the modifications were done really dictated if we left them on or not. I've had to yank a poorly set up 4" lift off of a 2-dr JK. With only lifted springs and no adjustments made to help correct for the added height the Jeep handled like you were driving it after a full night bender at the bar. I drove it and the darn thing was all over the place. Our owner drove it and felt the same thing. I was told to fix it without going deeper in the modification pool. So I ordered up stock springs, yanked the lift kit and amazingly the Jeep was pleasant to drive. It sold within a couple of weeks of making it comfortable to drive.

What is seen on Instagram and even on here on the classifieds for fully kitted out rigs is not realistic. They list it for the same or higher price of a new rig without mods, but you really never find out what it sold for or if it sold at all.

Something else that we see at the dealer level is somebody thinking a newly installed engine or transmission is going to increase the value over what the book/price guides list. The short answer is it doesn't increase value. It holds it where it is in the price guide or book. Yes, there is added value to having a new engine or transmission, but the reality is the rest of the vehicle has the current age/mileage so it's not as if it's "all-new". Selling it to an individual could allow for a little better price over book due to a new engine or transmission. But on a trade in value it doesn't boost it at all. Put your hands on one of the price guides and you'll see no listing for a replaced engine, transmission or other major part.

It really comes down to what somebody is willing to pay for the vehicle. Mods or no mods.