I would like to get others perspective on the following:

I, like most here, really enjoying modifying my vehicles to make them (unique, handle better, more power, stop better, etc.). What I have found is that few are willing to pay for these modifications when I go to resell my vehicle. In other words, I better really enjoy the mods as I likely will get little or none of my money back when I resell.

Since this is my first Porsche (but not my last), have others found this to be true with Porsches? I have found it true with every other vehicle I have owned (including motorcycles), but am hoping it may be different as I am likely going to do the same thing with my CS.

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Mike

I never ever do any modification to mycar with the thought of getting money back out, I do it because I want to do it for me. If I ever decide to sell and someone gives me $$ for it later, hey great, but I never plan on it or even think about it when modding...

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K-Man S

I agree. One is very unlikely to get their money back from doing expensive mods.

Here is an example. It is a '03 Porsche Turbo, and his price is just a little high for it. But not very much. Then you look at his long list of very expensive mods!! So much Porsche candy going into a car with an automatic!! He has over $194,000.00 USD in the car, and is asking $84,995.00 USD! OUCH!

eBay Motors: Porsche : 911 (item 140179865350 end time Nov-25-07 12:13:51 PST)

But for the same money, I would buy this one without any mods!

eBay Motors: Porsche : 911 (item 110196444325 end time Nov-27-07 14:59:51 PST)

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Seat of the pants dyno

I agree with Ken. What my "altered" car might be worth on the market 7 or 8 years (my usual car span) down the road is of little concern. That applies to my choice of factory options as well.

If anything, I think modding your car, especially extensive performance mods, risks depreciating your car even more than if it was stock for 2 reasons:

1) a lot of potential buyers may not want/like the mods you did, or trust the quality of the installation, and

2) they will make an assumption (probably correct ) about the way you drive the car.

You mod your car to get the best out of it today. Not for tomorrow.
If you plan on selling it, you get to keep the good times. The rest is sheer metal.

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The first South American modded reptile ~ 350HP - 4.4 sec 0-60 and 12.7 sec 1/4 mile. But looking for extra 100 HP!

KS-CS: I agree with that too. However, I chose my previous Porsche (a RSA) over three others I considered mainly because it already had the exact autox/track mods I would have made myself. I also had no trouble selling the car 7 years later; the previous owner bought it back.

I agree, dont expect to get $$$ for your mods when it comes time to resell. If you are planning on reselling a car I recommend keeping your OEM parts and put them back on. Then resell your aftermarket parts. that is the ONLY way you will see any real $$ back on your mods. OEM parts are always more expensive. A car is always easier to sell when its stock

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Cayman GT
369BHP 325LBSTQ
313WHP 276WTRQ
some people like the regular stock factory look, cool people modify the car.

Yes, when speaking for myself, I would definitely buy a car that had the mods that I prefer. I would perform a much more diligent and in depth pre purchase exam of the car. But if all looked good and completely correct, I certainly would buy it. That being said, I would expect a sizable discount for these mods over their original retail price.

porsches4ed, very good advice about keeping as many of the OEM parts as possible, and then selling the mods separately.

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Seat of the pants dyno

thanks, I actually have a friend who did that and was able to make alot more $$$ back

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Cayman GT
369BHP 325LBSTQ
313WHP 276WTRQ
some people like the regular stock factory look, cool people modify the car.

I, as others have said, doubt you will get a single penny for any mod, performance or not, on resale. Sometimes people put in fancy stereos in cars and find is hard to understand why they can't get their asking price. Performance mods are worse, IMO, because:

1. It may indicate you drive hard (then again, it might also indicate your an enthusiast and took care of the car)
2. The chances are that an enthusiast would mod the car as a hobby the way you did are probably pretty small. For example, if you like brand "x" headers and catback, I might not and pass on that car. If a buyer is an enthusiast, chances are have the fun of modding the car is doing it "your way".

This is not only true on aftermarket parts but a lot of options. You might load the car with options to find they are pretty much worthless at resale except for some of the high dollar items (e.g., wheels, leather).

The best example I've seen of aftermarket parts hurting resale was Barret-Jackson, I think it was two years ago. Two similar 930 Turbos came up for auction. One was OEM and detailed. The other had an aftermarket exhaust and not detailed. The commentator mentioned the aftermarket exhaust would hurt the resale and it did - sold for thousands less than the OEM car.

IMO, if you want to change anything from OEM, have fun but don't depend on getting a penny back and you might get less.