Heavy Performance Modding...a bad investment but THAT BAD?

[Desert MVIGTI]

So a forum member has had his black base model 2011 four door GTI for sale now since April, 2012. It is the one with the Black Currant VMRs. Let's say he got a good price, $23,000? He then goes to his APR installer and says "I want to go (almost, a + away) as fast as I can."....Gets Stage 3 kit, intercooler, Stage 2 intake, full RSC turboback, and a new clutch...so $9200 or so plus tax. Dude's also got another $2K ish in other mods, NOT INCLUDING the wheels, which I will value at zero for purposes of argument since they are not for everyone.

Car now has 22K miles on it, he wants $25K. People on this site were saying "good deal" when the guy had if for sale for $30K. This isn't some guy trying to get dollar for dollar for his Raceland downpipe and twintake. His mods are all generally "respected" on this site....certainly his APR mods are.

Moral of the Story: The thousands you blow on your GTI had better be worth it to you, because they apparently aren't to anyone else. I get that modding is a loss....but ouch.

 

[Modshack1]

Moral of the Story: The thousands you blow on your GTI had better be worth it to you, because they apparently aren't to anyone else. I get that modding is a loss....but ouch.

True true... Mod with the idea that they can be removed, sold and the car brought back close to stock if you want to maximize your return when you sell it.

I had a TT modded to the hilt...Peeled off $11K (net to me) worth of mods and still sold it for top dollar

2011 Mustang GT, $6K worth of mods. Peeled them off and returned 85% of my investment.

Everything on my GTi can be peeled off and returned to stock.

Buy good stuff, keep all your OEM parts, and enjoy the mods while you have the car. Do it right and someone else will also enjoy your mods on their car.. You can throw money away or do it smart. Your choice.

Only peeps that understand Mods on a performance car will appreciate what you've done. Needless to say this limits your audience by about 95%....The reason that car is still for sale..

 

[svickstc]

Cars are a bad investment period....spending additonal "not needed" modications just makes it more bad of an investment...

Spending money on mods YOU want and trying to sell it mise well just throw away all the money you spent on mods cuz you're not recouping that in the sell of the car...

hence why you should part out and sell the car as stock, best way to recoup cost

is that going to stop me from enjoying my hobby....Nope

 

[maxtdi]

This is why its cheaper down the road to buy an R and not mod it than to buy a regular golf and spend 10k to make it as good as an R.

 

[svickstc]

This is why its cheaper down the road to buy an R and not mod it than to buy a regular golf and spend 10k to make it as good as an R.

Of course, but that extra 10K upfront or in fianiace may not be an option for all...but saving over the course of ownership and modding upwards of 10k is

 

[Desert MVIGTI]

Only peeps that understand Mods on a performance car will appreciate what you've done. Needless to say this limits your audience by about 95%....The reason that car is still for sale..

Agreed, but the 5% is right here on this forum...and judging by all the salivating this forum does over APR products , I'd have expected him to find a buyer by now. Other than the wheels, the rest of his mods are also fairly mainstream here.

Maybe Stage III/BT is over the top/risky vs. K04? Just sayin.

 

[maxtdi]

Of course, but that extra 10K upfront or in fianiace may not be an option for all...but saving over the course of ownership and modding upwards of 10k is

That makes no sense since you can get financing on the car. You end up blowing that 10k in cash in mods on the cheaper car only to match what you could have had from day 1

 

[Saabstory]

The vast majority of people who are car shopping do not want mods. Mods = "boy Racer," abusive driving and likely unseen damage to the car. (we know that to be untrue, at least not "automatically" but that's the general public view).

Those of us who do enjoy modded cars do not want a "package deal" handed to us; we want to start from scratch and build it up ourselves. Even if our "perfect" modded car is the same as the one for sale; it isn't really perfect unless we took the journey to get it there and can enjoy every memory of the effort.

That's why modded cars do not sell well; and never really add value.

 

[svickstc]

That makes no sense since you can get financing on the car. You end up blowing that 10k in cash in mods on the cheaper car only to match what you could have had from day 1

IDK how that makes no sense to you, not everyone is going to be approved for a GOLF R, while yet many could get approved for the GTI...so either they dont have the extra money to put down up front, but yet over the course of ownership invest in upwards of 10K in mods spread out over the years...

 

[Modshack1]

That makes no sense since you can get financing on the car. You end up blowing that 10k in cash in mods on the cheaper car only to match what you could have had from day 1

Financing mods is stoopid..(and bad money management)

 

[danielj1]

I've always looked at modding as an experience, just like a vacation. People spend thousands of dollars on trips around the world. If they spend 5k or even 10k and get little of that back, like the vacation, at least they had fun.

My last car had 9k in mods. When those parts were taken off and sold, I got 5k back. The difference was the price paid for enjoyment.

 

[Merkle]

I mod for love of driving and motorsport.

Practically, why would I take a properly functioning machine and needlessly modify it? That's why most people never mod their cars and look at us as silly sometimes.

It's something you do with your heart not your head.

You do get some return on your investment, but the smile I get when I listen to my turbo-back wail is worth every penny.

Selling a modded car is 10x harder b/c it's tailored to you. Best thing to do is state a price and be willing to negotiate.

 

[project92raddoslc]

This is why I try to buy used or second-hand parts when I can. Let someone else take the hit on the initial purchase, rather than losing the money upfront yourself. I've purchased an APR k04, coilovers, catback, downpipe, two sets of wheels, etc that were either used or BNIB for a pretty discounted price. I've modded my car for A LOT less than most of the people on this forum. It blows my mind how many people will go out and blow $2500 on a tune and turbo back, when I spent somewhere around half of that and my car is just as fast as the next guy's.

 

[maxtdi]

Financing mods is stoopid..(and bad money management)

?! I am saying buy the better car to begin with so that you don't have to waste money on mods

 

[Merkle]

This is why I try to buy used or second-hand parts when I can. Let someone else take the hit on the initial purchase, rather than losing the money upfront yourself. I've purchased an APR k04, coilovers, catback, downpipe, two sets of wheels, etc that were either used or BNIB for a pretty discounted price. I've modded my car for A LOT less than most of the people on this forum. It blows my mind how many people will go out and blow $2500 on a tune and turbo back, when I spent somewhere around half of that and my car is just as fast as the next guy's.

x2 only thing I bought new was my exhaust and tune. I've only seen one used one elsewhere and it was only a couple hundred off.

Intake, rims/tires, OEM xenons, Vag-con, RNS-510, monster mats and several other tid bits all used from here or eBay.