Can Modifications Held Hold the Value of Your Car?

[renault12ts]

And then you need the Double Din trim and box.

 

[kwakdonut]

Better to save and invest in a higher spec newer car....

A very sensible comment!

 

[RoseTattoo]

No, unless it is Claudia Schiffer or similar.

 

[219]

Adding things like leather and alloys to a car that does not have them can make it more attractive to a buyer ( compared to another similar car lacking those features ) but probably does not affect a valuation from a member of the motor trade .

If you do want command , there must be accident damaged cars (write offs) out there with this feature , so a used system ought to be a possibility .

 

[The Dent Guy]

I think that modifications to a higher spec only add desireability when selling the car.

A slight premium on the price of a standard car is all anyone could expect - but i doubt mods would make a massive difference to the used price.

I pondered on this very same dilemma when i decided i wanted AMG front and rear bumpers on my sportcoupe. To buy all the parts new from MB, plus fitting and painting would cost approx £2500. Instead i bought mostly used bits off ebay and still spent over £700 - Obviously my car isn't worth a fat lot more now than before the mod - but it would probably be easier to sell.

 

[lynall]

When we bought mine and lisas i wanted command in both not so much for us but i reckon will sell better than one without, plus it looks the nuts.

Two cars for sale one with leather and command and one without which would you buy? all other things being equal.

I actually spent quite a long time looking as i also wanted heated seats and elec seat, had to settle for std elec as opposed to memory though.


Lynall

 

[bpsorrel]

Mind made up...

Gonna keep the car for a while and get leather interior with the intention of making the car easier to sell.

I did exactly the same to my wife's jasper blue Sport Coupe - had the old black cloth retrimmed to pale grey leather. Looked great, but didn't add anything to it's value when we came to sell it. So, £1100 wasted really if looked upon as a way to boost the car's value, but she did like the feel of the leather, so from that viewpoint was arguably worth it....just!

 

[andy27168]

If it wasn't factory fit or fitted by the dealers, a well respected indy (with paperwork to prove it) then i'd not value it any higher. Just the same as if it didn't have it.

Dave!

Hi,
Anyone can fit a OEM mods, and as long as that particular mod was available on that chassis and year of manufacture, MB will change the data card to that vehicle to reflect them, and if this was done how would any one know they were,nt fitted from new.
I was surprised as I thought you would need to of bought all the parts new from MB, but my local dealer were quite happy that I had bought all the major components of my mods from the breakers, and only sourced the smaller/less expensive parts from them.
I will be going through this procedure in the next few weeks, I,ll post the results/procedure if anyone is interested.

 

[bashy09]

in my experience modifying your car does not add any value altho people are attracted to it easier and the car should sell quicker which was the case of my ml on 22 inch rims...just bought a c180 coupe last week on a y plate...private plate is to follow with additions already of the facelift rear lights with 19 inch(think their mercedes replicas???) wheels with a 8.5 on front with 9.5 on the rears at a combined cost of 360 quid!!! (bargain )

all a matter of preference

 

[The Boss]

as long as they are not tacky or chavy, then they are fine.. may add a lil value.. ie higher spec = higher price.. but only marginally..

if non standard mods fitted, looks too "rude boy" like in my opinion, hence stick to classy simple mods..

ie chrome cap wing mirrors are silly IMHO, but each to their own...

 

[bashy09]

very true...keep to factory fitted facelift mods or maybe well recognised tuners not bobs bolt on bits...altho if you guys saw the rims on my ml you may laugh...it was a bit gangsta snoop doggy dog american style(i hasten to add the wheels were on the car when i bought it!!!)

 

[bpsorrel]

I have to confess I added a Hirsch rear spoiler to my Saab Convertible (to go with it's Hirsch ECU upgrade yippee!), de-badged all my various Mercs (passed and present) and have been known to upgrade wheels and add personal plates! But nothing more chavy than that!

 

[bashy09]

thats subtle tho..im thinking of spraying my grille satin black but leavin the chrome and the merc badge rather than gettin the facelift grill....??? decisions decisions

 

[bpsorrel]

When my wife had her C180K Evo sport coupe I REALLY wanted to change the grille for the CLK one (I found out with some mods, it would fit!) - in my opinion a MUCH nicer one, but she wasn't bothered, so we just stopped at changing the wheels for the "sport edition" ones and re-trimming the seats in leather.

 

[bashy09]

i want to do things...but not sure what i can as i dont want to go down the trying to hard route.

so far i've changed the wheels to 19's with 8.5's with 35mm profile at the front with 9.5's with 30mm at the rear...they look fat altho i had to add 3mm spacers to the rear as they caught on the inside.and i managed to get a set of facelift rear lights for 80 quid!!! bargain.wheels only cost 280 off e bay with tyres!!! thought that was a bit of a steal altho they do need a refurb...still debating whether to have the centres sprayed black!?!?!

as for the clk grill i might have to look into that.

i managed to pick mine up with cream/grey/mushroom leather interior

 

[bpsorrel]

Sounds like a nice looking car!

If my wife's SC had been mine, there are a few more things I might have done to it, although I think the sport coupes are pretty good looking cars anyway, especially in Evolution panaoramic spec. I saw one yesterday with quad exhausts - not sure about that..

 

[bashy09]

im not so sure about that either...i like the standard single exhaust that came as standard...altho i need to polish all the krud that the last owner let build up.quad exhausts sound a little tacky.

only had it a week altho i really like it...people keep asking me why i changed from the original 17 evo wheels... i liked the originals it just looked too similar to all the others on the road,cant believe how much better the facelift rear lights look...debadged it yesterday also but other than gettin amg bumpers i literally cant think of anything else to do...racking my brain...might drop the car on its backside

 

[bpsorrel]

Funny you say that 'cos I liked the original pre- 2004 rear lights! If I had the car now, I'd change the headlights to the clear type and the grille to the CLK version, maybe put 18" wheels on and leave the rest as standard. Still trying hard to decide what wheels look best on my S211! Why is it so hard to figure out???

 

[bashy09]

just finished polishing the tail pipe back to new ish seeing that im so quiet at work today...looks much better!

i need to change the headlights to the clear type.their was sum on a 2005 on saturday at the breakers when i got the rear lights but had bad damage to front end so one of the headlights was a little wrecked

seeing that youve mentioned clk grille i might try and obtain one? is their much messin around needed to make it fit?

cars nearly done from my point of view just need private plate...and then maybe loooking to change the grille headlights and maybe bumpers...but gonna leave that for a while...the problem is im so impatient!!!

 

[bpsorrel]

From what I remember, the chrome strip that is attached to the leading edge of the bonnet has to come off (the CLK doesn't have that) and then it just bolts on in place of the original grille. I never got round to doing it, so don't know if it's an exact fit, but it looks like it probably would be.