Adding value to a Lancer?

[Mooman]

Every year when it comes time to renew my insurance I look at car sales sites to try gauge market value. I know my car could fetch slightly more than the base ES's due to mods but I always wonder IF I were to sell it could it reasonably price closer to higher spec models, knowing that they usually have more or varied features from the factory. And considering that in the used car market there only is a few thousand dollars difference between models it seems, so little wriggle room.

Discounting mileage or service history and comparing stock vs modified models what kinds of mods would you consider paying more for a car with? ie. What mods add value to a Lancer?

[himynameisdaniel]

nothing really adds value. you can try to slow down lowest depreciation if you have low km's, pristine condition, service history, etc.
modifying your car at full retail cost + labor and you will never see that money back. and depending on what you do you may even restrict your ability to sell to all audiences not to mention also limiting the choices of insurance.

the only situation where i can think that you could make more money is if you had the facilities and the expertise to replace a 300,000km engine + transmission with a wrecked replacement with low k's for under 2000$ including your time. but even then you would sell the car as is with no warranty and potentially be limited to the top end of red book values anyway if your lucky to find a buyer, meanwhile your 2k out of pocket for the engine swap...

[Lancer1993]

Some mods can decrease the value as the number one this lots of buyers look for the a stock car.

For example when selling if you've lowered it you might consider putting the stock suspension back on, but this is likely to cost more than you'll see in added value unless you have kept the parts and can do the work yourself. Some mods might see your car sell quicker as it's better value if it say has a top head unit over the stock on or better wheels.

But for the most part you do mods for your own enjoyment. There was a guy on one of those cops shows last week, he claimed to have spend $60k on his Honda S2000 but was looking at selling it for half that... and it had just been taken of the road because of illegal mods like way lower suspension that almost ripped the front and rear off the car when they loaded it on the back of a truck.

[Mooman]

Yeah I get that spending X $'s won't see that amount back in resale but what I guess I was kinda asking is if you add an option or deleted part to a car can it compete with trim levels that had that as standard? I know looks (Wheels and tasteful body kits) can go a long way to adding value, but do people care much about what's inside and under a car?

For example: Some trims come with 6 speaker systems but all cars have the ability to plug in the extra tweeters. But any car with the Rockford Fosgate also has 6 speakers but of a higher quality. So if you didn't know the Lancer range well is it a marketing point? (Not a great one as it's additive value is low but may be worth noting).

Or another example is the rear anti roll bar. Older models had it, newer ones don't. Does adding one to a newer car sway (pun intended) potential buyers or is that something most people wouldn't care about?

When I added up all my mod receipts I had spent about $5000 or roughly 1/4 of the cars new value but it probably realistically only adds about $500 at most to current market value. I kinda want to pull everything out and return the car to stock, sell it while it still has low km's, buy an earlier model with at least a manual and hydraulic steering and start again, the real fun for me is in the tool work.

[Lancer1993]

The Rockford system is a double edge sward, while it's better then the stock it can be a pain to work on when upgrading the HU and for the money not the best audio you can buy.

Mitsubishi had become cheap when it's deleting things like the anti roll bar and front strut bar just to save a few dollars at the factory.

This really comes down to how long you want to keep the car and what you want to do with it as a daily drive. I know putting the colored cluster in my CJ isn't gonna do much for the value and could confuse some buyers in the know asking is something dodgy here? But it's something I wanted to do along with the future plans of a better HU and suspension upgrades.

[Kyrus]

IMO, things that add value to a car are things that tell me the car has been well looked after. So service history, cleaniness and condition of interior, extreior. no rashes on wheels etc. I guess if i know the car has been taken care of, I'd be more incline to pay more.

[aspir3]

To add value to your car buy a good garage to store it in. It keeps your car in better condition and will go up in value

Cars are just money pits. Houses are where you should spend your money

[Lancer1993]

Its probably why you have loads of home improvement shows on TV but very few car mod shows short of YouTube and Foxtel.

MCM rules!

Do mods than make you feel happy and enjoy getting behind the wheel, especially if you do a lot of driving.