I am contemplating adding a turbo to my 2007 AP2, and by turbo I mean:turbo, exhaust, manifold, clutch, fuel pump, injectors, tunning, etc. My question is simple, if I drop $11K on this project - did I actually HURT the resale value of my car? Let's say the fair market value of the car is $15K. What should I expect the value to be if I decided to sell it just 1 week after the build?

 

Yes. Your car will not sell for $26k = $11k + $15k.

Must part out and return to stock to get the best value out of that turbo kit, and to get the best value out of your S2k.

Nobody wants your turbo project time bomb that they know nothing about... You can tell them all you want, but most smart buyers (aka - the ones with money to actually buy your car) will want nothing to do with it.

The only way you might even come close to getting something of fair value out of the car is if you had some epic 50 page build thread in the gallery section where you documented everything and s2ki fanboys would vouch for you. Even then, the only people who would care for your car are s2ki users.

 

I always figure that I can get maybe 50%-75% of purchase price for parts that I decide to remove and sell. Or I can get 25% of purchase price for parts that I decide to leave on the car when trying to sell the whole car. That is assuming that you don't destroy or heavily modify the car or parts used.

$15k car and $11k project?

$15k for car sale and $5k-$8k for parts sale

-or-

$15k + $3k for car with parts still installed sale

Most buyers looking for an S2000 (or any other car for that matter) are looking for unmodified ones. Even people who are planning on modifying them right after buying... they still want one that is "bone stock" so they can think that it hasn't been molested in the past. We all know better, but still.

Someone selling an Evo 9 as "pristine, bone stock, no mods!" really means, "I just removed and parted out the stage 3 turbo kit, cams, clutch, and drag radials that were on this thing, so it no longer makes 600 WHP anymore!"

 

I have a 2004 with 13,600 miles that is showroom condition & zero mods. On a good day I could get 21K. I could invest 10K and still it would be lucky to get 21K. I'm just going to enjoy it.

 

Mods do not increase value, they most times decrease it. This is even more true if someone is borrowing money to buy the car. The blue book is based on a stock vehicle worth. They have no way to know if you mods were good or not, and thus many times a buyer will lower their offer on a modded car (plus, if you dont know someone, would trust their boosted car as much, not knowing anything about how they drove it or how good of a tune it had?).

If you sell, strip it to stock, sell it that way and then sell off your aftermarkeet parts. Otherwise you would have to find someone that knew the car, trusted you and was just looking for one modded the same way yours was, in which case they would have to put down a chunk of cash over whatever loan they were able to get.

 

There is no easy formula. If your 2007 is only worth $15, are you telling us it has high miles? You can put $11k into it and it will be worth more han $15k, but how much more is the question.

I am an SC guy, so I have not followed all of the Turbo kits closely, but I would assume some are more attractive to the potential buyer than others. How is the quality of the work you put into it, etc etc.

I am posting my car as soon as I get it retuned to lean out cold weather idle and fix a hiccup and I'd list it for $19,500 and that could mean I am on crack because mine is a 2001. But it has only 40k on it, not riced within an inch of its life, and a rare roots blower kit. I have no idea if I will get zero interest, but I see cars with higher mileage and run of the mill setups go for the same price fairly quickly so I guess I will see what an offer is. I see cars of the same age with 70k and an SC pull sell with asking prices of $17 or $18k. It seems like asking over $20k for a modified car is some mental hurdle.

I think location helps a lot too. Cars in SoCAL seem to get scooped up no problem, but maybe I will get zero interest listing it in Minnesota.

So many variables. But if you can't get value for the whole car, as someone mentioned, part out and back to stock is an option. But you may find like many of us do when you boost it, it is so much fun that if nobody will give you what you need for it, hanging on to it for another year or two aint such a bad deal either.

My advice is if you are on the fence, go for a solid kit (even the Kraftwerks SC if turbo is not a must) and spend less to get fun horsepower without going totally crazy and shooting for 600hp. The more you spend, the percentage return goes down as far as I can tell.

 

As a buyer last summer I wouldn't even look at a non-stock car, certainly not an abused (AKA turbo-charged) car!

As it was I bought a car with aftermarket wheels and put OEM wheels on her within a couple of weeks. Yep, I've got a modified induction system and exhaust 'cuz they make me happy. If I have to sell the car I'll restore it to stock and never mention the intake and exhaust.

But if you want to play Fast and Furious you need more power than stock and with this engine it only comes with a blower of some sort.

-- Chuck

 

You'll never get money back from your mods. I usually see it as if I can sell the car for what I paid 4-5 years later, than the mod money spent is depreciation in my eyes. If I can get more, great. That said, the S will be my first car I invest a descent amount into.

Drove stock last year to enjoy what IT is. This year I'm getting a new clutch, wheels/tires, exhaust, intake and finishing the stereo. At this point in time, I plan on adding a SC in a year or 2. I'll keep all the stock parts so I can go back to stock, if I decide to go that route. I expect to keep it for 5-6 years, so to me it's money enjoyed.

 

OK - I've decided to scrap this project and save the money. If I want more power, I'll get a different car that has it from the factory. Until then, I'll enjoy the car as Honda made it.