Do mods increase or decrease value?

I can't speak for him, but when it's necessary, I use the baby wipes to keep clean, like when backpacking, etc. If I am living in a vehicle, I'll do the $30/month Planet Fitness membership for showers almost anywhere in the country, like most of these van-life folks use.

 

Some interesting things to see here. If stealth is important I’d be looking hard at Econoline pop tops.

 

I can handle a few days when camping. I bring wipes, and they help in a pinch. But, anytime I'm camping for a few days, I try to be on a lake or river. A quick swim with a bar of soap can be very refreshing.

 

I glanced at a few of those on that site. The folks asking $299k for a 2022 Sprinter 4x4 conversion are insane. The 4x4 Sprinters, brand new, go for about $85k. I get that custom conversions by high-end companies are not cheap, but to pay $215k for the conversion on top of the vehicle price itself is just silly money.

 

Yeah. I used the filter to keep the choices under $50k.

This one is $40k

 

This thread has literally been keeping me awake. Let’s recap: Today you have the wherewithal to own a new ORP plus expensive add-ons, but you envision a circumstance under which you may, within a few months, have no choice but to live out of your car, possibly for a couple of years. And the machinations of those circumstances are such that they’d take pages to explain … that’s quite a reversal of fortune. If someone chooses to live in their car for the adventure of it, that’s fine and I’m all for it. But if you would rather not be living out of your car but feel that you will have no choice in the matter, I’d say that’s wrong and let’s flesh out your circumstances a bit more and help you come up with some alternatives to being homeless. I worry that my participation in this thread so far amounts to aiding and abetting some bad decision making.

 

Sorry to keep you awake! It wasn't my intention to come across overly dramatic or dire. I've been thinking about the van-life/ 4R-life for the past year, regardless of financial situations, since I'm at the point in life where I'm ready to do some exploring. Financial difficulties may be nothing more than an excuse I'm using to get that ball rolling. The initial question of the post has been beaten to death, but I'm enjoying the offshoot discussion about life on the road, and not wanting to derail it, so I'll shoot you a PM with the backstory.

 

Please don't do this. All soap, whether biodegradable or not, affects the chemistry of rivers and lakes and has a negative impact on fish and other organisms. Soaps can create algae blooms, which greatly alter the health of a lake. Doing it once in a huge lake by 1 person probably not the end of the world, but if you can please avoid.

 

Great looking full time vehicle but not cheap by any means. I'm not trying to detract from the utility of it, just thinking of expense up front. This has turned into an interesting thread thanks to all the thoughtful comments.

 

Thank you for mentioning that. I had never really thought about it that much. I guess I'll have to figure out an alternate system.

 

A portable shower or wet hot towel bath (at least 200ft from fresh water) works okay for me. The Planet Fitness membership shower is a good idea I have to try. But most times I can only go about a week or two then i get a cheap hotel for a good shower, rest and recharge. I also do most of my Overlanding in the NE so its not as hot.

 

To return to the Ops post. I looked at used 4Runners for sale. I passed on every one that was modified from stock. Question was how much abuse did it experience before it was put up for sale and why? Every one I looked at had major paint scuff/scratches/dents. I would absolutely pay more for a stock 4Runner with no signs of abuse. That's why I purchased a brand new one.

 

If I were buying a used Corvette I'd look for stock and unscratched. But an unscratched 4x4 is a station wagon. I would find myself wondering if the owner knew how to change the oil and keep up on the maintenance. A stack of receipts from a Toyota dealer would help with this, but dealers often sign off on U-joint lube work that never happened. My preference would be a relatively rust-free, properly modded, properly wired vehicle with no signs of being jumped or raced across the desert. Which is to say I would prefer to buy from an owner who saw the 4Runner as his horse and not his baby.

 

So...are you in the market?

Haha, all joking aside, I like hearing differing viewpoints. It shows that not everyone is looking for the same thing. According to Kelly Blue Book (they actually had an article on how lifts affect resale value that I found), a lift can do any of the three; hurt your resale, not affect it at all, or increase the resale. They said that typically it's better to have it OEM, but that if you are patient and find the right buyer, it can increase your resale. That sort of echoes your point of view.

 

Having modded many vehicles in my lifetime I have seen both ends of the spectrum. One of my first projects was a Cherokee. I used OME lift, BFG tires, flow master exhaust etc. and the guy who bought it from me was willing to pay more because I had used quality parts instead of spacers and Chinese junk. Maybe broke even on that sale but I found the right buyer at the right time.

A more recent project was a ZJ that I still used quality parts on but I went WAY overboard trying to make it a trail rig. I was successful in that it was a beast off-road but on pavement it was horrible. I lost lots of money on that rig because it was barely streetable. I even turned a couple people away because they wanted it as a DD or for their kid.

Moral of the story? I don't remember.

 

In general mods don't increase value. Depending on the buyer or execution of the mods it can decrease value.

The thing about mods is it's a preference thing, unless you got a buyer with similar taste they probably wont care too much about the mods. Fitting things like locking differentials or even a winch will increase value because it doesn't affect appearance of the vehicle and it increases capability, but bumpers, wheels, and lights are very subjective and some people will not pay more for it.

When in doubt, stock is the best way to increase value. A stock vehicle is like a blank paper, it's not something objectionable and it's a place even modders will pay for, modding is like adding lines or words to the paper. If the person likes what has been added then they will buy the vehicle at a price around what it would cost for them to do it themselves, if they don't like it then it is now less desirable than it's starting point.

Poorly done mods always decrease value. Doing a hack job on wiring or build is a sure way to make your vehicle less appealing to everyone. Well done mods can increase price as long as you got the right buyer.

 

The other question is "Does it matter?"

All about context. Did you mod a purpose built 4Runner, drive it 250,000 miles and squeeze all the value out of it or did you mod the shit out of it and plan to roll it over in three years?

 

its been my experiance to always keep the original tires and wheels,not sure why though....

 

I am certain that it has decreased the value of my wallet in a big way . I have done so many things to my 4R (supercharger included) that I came to the conclusion that I bought the wrong vehicle but in the process I have learned a ton of stuff and meet you all guys and girls here. So maybe I gained a ton of new experiences and great people like all of you.., so maybe it increases value....don't know anymore.

 

I would not sweat it too much and simply follow your bliss. Regardless, resale value will be solid.

That said, compared to most vehicles with less solid residuals, I am guessing the comically bad (by modern standards) gas mileage will come out a wash or worse.

With as many of these that have sold, you should be able to find folks into whatever mods you choose to go with.
While I severely doubt I will get back much if any of the well over $10,000 of audio upgrades, the joy it has provided has been priceless.