Would you ever buy a modified car?

[Bailes1992]

This is something I quite often discuss with er... Myself?

I drive a modified car. It's a 2008 Ford Mondeo 1.8TDCi. It has had a Decat, EGR blanked, Full performance stainless exhaust system and the suspension has been lowered a moderate 25mm.
I start my car up from cold every morning, I give it around 1min idling to ensure the oil has gotten everywhere it needs to be before setting off. Once set off I drive it fairly easily until it's upto operating tempreture.
The car does 90% motorway mileage where I generally stick to 60mph in 5th gear with the engine sitting around 2000rpm.
I do from time to time give it a boot full but only if the engine is hot and would never stress it out in any way.
I service it every 12,500miles as per manafacturers specifications and make sure the oil is changed at 6,250mile intervals with good quality oil and filters.
The car always has premium tyres put on it and generally has no expense spared.

BUT...
Would I buy my car?
I would like to think that if I bought a car off of a genuine enthusiast then it should be better maintained than a car owned by your average woman which has had it's interior coated in foundation and any issues ignored.
Problem is I know far to many people who call themselves enthusiasts yet would rather spend their money giving their car "Stance" than changing the oil. I can think of one bloke in question who used to tell me all the time that I shouldn't top out my Ford Focus because his blew a conrod at 128mph, I later found out this 'enthusiast' hadn't changed his oil for 25,000miles because making sure his car looked good was of utmost priority. This would also be a good time to mention that he had alloys worth £1000+.

And on that basis, I think that if I went to see my car I would have trouble buying it. There would be a part of my mind that would be concerned that it hadn't been maintained to any standards at all and thrashed to within an inch of it's life.

I would like to hear everyone elses opinions of modified cars though. Would you buy one?

[waue1978]

My decision would rest on my impression of the owner. Whilst I'd quite happily buy a car from yourself Sam, I'd have serious reservations about buying from the guy that's modified it, but still can't manage to spell on his Ebay ad or has just left the various warning lights on because "it's a common fault innit".

The type of mods would also be a factor as it would need to have been modified to my particular taste. I'd quite happily pick up an E39 5 Series that somebody has spent a lot of time & money transforming into an M5 replica, but I wouldn't be too keen on buying the one that's got M5 wheels on with bald tyres & various rusty bits or one that's been fitted with one of those god-awful Polish body kits that are all over Ebay.

At the time of selling, my 406 was quite heavily modified (albeit with genuine Peugeot parts), but I never got any negative comments about the fact that it wasn't standard.

[steve_earwig]

Apart from the blue oval badge... Decat I'd be ok with, they're restrictive and can give problems (t-shirt anyone?), EGRs too, they can block up or f*ck up in a variety of ways, stainless exhaust is a sensible investment. Lowered suspension though, only reason I can see for that is to improve the handling, so the car can be chucked about = boy racer alert. Car has probably been thrashed mercilessly and is probably being sold before it falls to bits. Or the owner is about to loose their license... Same with super-wide alloys (plus the "oh my god!" expensive tyres that it'll need). Nah, you can keep it

[GingerMagic]

I agree, it is more about the owner that has subtly modified and improved his car, than some guy who has just cut the springs and stickerbombed it.....

Always talk to the owner - some are passionate enthusiast who spent time on money looking after their car, and as Stu says - someone who can't spell a simple advert and gives all the talk but really has no idea, should be avoided. If they say ' I got 100mph out of 2nd gear ' then they should also be avoided....

You're okay Sam, I would buy your car - despite your dodgy spelling.....

[rufio]

Like what is said above i think you can tell an enormus amoun tabout a car from the add and the owner, there are true enthusiasts out there that treat their cars well, and on the flipside there are idiots who havent got a clue.

Ive had modified cars more or less the past 8 years. From a 306 Dturbo with alloys and a boost gauge, to a Evo 7 running around 360 bhp. Personally though i would still rather buy a car as close to standard as possible and do the work myself, but if a true enthusiasts car came up for sale well minded with the correct mods i wouldnt let it put me off either.

All down to personal choice i guess

[waue1978]

and stickerbombed it.....

Sonia - might be worth taking note before Miss Pug hits the used market!

[Bailes1992]

Apart from the blue oval badge... Decat I'd be ok with, they're restrictive and can give problems (t-shirt anyone?), EGRs too, they can block up or f*ck up in a variety of ways, stainless exhaust is a sensible investment. Lowered suspension though, only reason I can see for that is to improve the handling, so the car can be chucked about = boy racer alert. Car has probably been thrashed mercilessly and is probably being sold before it falls to bits. Or the owner is about to loose their license... Same with super-wide alloys (plus the "oh my god!" expensive tyres that it'll need). Nah, you can keep it

My alloys are 235mm wide, but they are standard.
The car is lowered mainly for asthetics, but doing this didn't hinder the maintenance or general looking after in any way. It's just something I wanted to do.
I will say though that when I had the car lowered I noticed an increase in fuel economy and generally the car felt far more stable at speed, especially in the wind!

Another thing, I wouldn't buy a car that has odd tyres on it. Especially if it's an odd mix of budgets. I think if the tyres have been skimped on what else has been?
If I was strapped for cash I would put budgets on my car, but I would always put them on in pairs. But I will always put the best tyres I can afford on the car.
At the end of the day the only grip you have on the road is down to your tyres, why would you cheap out on this cruicial item?

[Doggy]

I have bought a few modofied cars and not regretted any of them. For me, the perceived benefits have to outweigh the negatives. If all you're going to get is a low-spec slow version that now rivals the top of the range quick model, I would never touch it - buy the 'proper' top spec machine, it will always be better.

If you're going to get something otherwise unobtainable, (but still sensible), then it's worth a look.

[davew]

i've bought loads of modified cars ,i would always speak to the owner first and you can tell if the person is likely to have looked after the car or not, i'm always very suspicious about car that have cheap odd matched tyres fitted, i find that generally that if someone is going to skimp on tyres then they will probably skimp on other items ,serving ,cheap oil ect.

[lozz]

Modified engine wise then yes iwouid buy one,
bodywise, - nah,

[oldskoolskool]

As said it depends on the owner, I have brought two mildly modified cars, both of which were owned by mechanics who not only seemed mature but had plenty of receipts to back up history claims.

[DaiRees]

I agree with pretty much everything that's been said so far. It's all down to the car and owner in question. Generally the manufacturer will spend a fortune on research and development to make sure that the car is the best it can be, but invariably they have to pitch it to appeal to the largest possible market share, so it's always going to be a compromise between comfort and handling, performance and economy, cost and.... everything! So you can usually make some changes to make the car more suited to your particular requirements.

For me, if an owner has properly modified a car in such a way that I would have done myself, it wouldn't stop me from buying it. Any hint of a bodge or a "cheap" mod, or a really good mod that isn't something that I'd want, and I'd be running for the hills.

[jonny81191]

At the end of the day, I would, and have, bought modified cars, but I'd have to really like what had been done to it, as I'd rather do the work myself. That said, the only cars I've ever bought standard, (even after a very good look over them) have turned out to be utter dogs. My 406 included, there's a lot of clever hiding and bodging gone on to avoid actually fixing it. I also suspect the oil hadn't been done in a VERY long time

[Welly]

It is 100% down to meeting the owner, drilling him with questions and inspecting all the paperwork like a detective. I've got no problems with "improvements" but I do not like modifications that have been done purely for the owners 'benefit' - like Neonz, Bodykits, huge spoilerage, and stickers saying what the car has (or more likely hasn't) been equipped with.

Sensible improvements by a sensible enthusiast are fine by me if it benefits the car. One thing I do have an issue with is remapped cars! I don't know why but alarm bells start when I see this. I would remap my own standard car and then look after it like a baby but a second hand remapped motor sounds like a ticking time bomb to me. I think you'd be best NOT to mention a remap when selling a car.

[mjb]

I wouldn't touch a car with visual modifications, whether non-standard alloys, body kit, lowered suspension, 'thumpin' sound system, or anything else that screams 'boy racer'. For one, the insurance hike wouldn't be worth it.

An LSD would be an attractive modification however, as long as it's not advertised with the word 'drift' anywhere near it (far too popular with bigger BMWs). As it is, that's one thing I'd love to do with mine, if only for increased (any!) traction when the white stuff starts falling. I'd be doing a lot of research into insurance costs before I think about it though.

As for remapped cars, it depends how the seller is about it. If it's described as "remapped to 398bhp, leaves everything in its dust", that's a complete no-no. "remapped for improved economy and smoothness, maybe a slight increase in power+torque" though, wouldn't put me off too much.