Racer's Lounge - Buying used, modded vs stock. What do you like?

I know so much depends on the feeling you get with the owner and how the car is, but where do you stop? Like no internal mods, full boltons, mild boltons, fully built and forged, boosted motor, 100% stock.
Where do you all say enough is enough?

when i bought mine i was looking for stock, found one with nothing but a catback, and wish i knew then what i know now. i was of the mindset of "build it, not buy it" and then found out how expensive it is to "build it" vs "buy it." if (when) i buy another f-body, i am going to be looking for one that is already built the way i want it, and let someone else eat the cost of breakages, mods, etc. im talkin 9 inch, built trans, forged motor, suspension, etc, etc.

I bought stock. It is good to know the car was just a DD and wasn't beat on very much, but at the same time I can't stand the factory ride height or how quiet the exhaust is. I wouldn't mind buying a car with a few bolt ons, but I don't know that I'd want to buy a fully built car.

I bought stock. It is good to know the car was just a DD and wasn't beat on very much, but at the same time I can't stand the factory ride height or how quiet the exhaust is. I wouldn't mind buying a car with a few bolt ons, but I don't know that I'd want to buy a fully built car.

that was my logic, except for the fact that the guy before me beat the piss out of the car and didnt maintain it very well either. so i have had to spend a lot of time/money fixing stuff that should have already been replaced/upgraded :eyes:

I've bought modded cars twice now...NEVER FUCKING AGAIN. Nothing more than bolt-ons, ever.

And no more white cars (4th one in a row) Hahaha.

100% stock. I bought my TA bone stock and searched quite awhile to find that. My next car will be a C6 and it too will be bone stock.

:corn:

my buddies had good luck with vettes.. buys them modded to hell, takes his time fixing all the half assed problems and gets a great car in the end.

Stock.

If you believe "fully forged, cammed, blown......driven only on Sunday, to church, by little old lady".......you are naive.

Modded cars get driven hard and put away wet. Period.

Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or doesn't believe that hitting WOT at every stoplight and anytime someone passes them on the highway is "not ragging on it".

I'd buy used modded if I knew the person really well, and maybe even helped out on the car from time to time.

Otherwise it has to be stock, don't like inheriting somebody else's screwups.

depending on the car
DD - stock
high end luxary(aston martin/viper gts/ford gt) - stock
everything else(bmw/f-bodys/vettes) - mod

Stock for the most part. Something small like a catback or lid is pretty hard to fuck up and is pretty easy to notice. When you start getting into H/C/FI or things of that nature, I would walk away.

Stock.

If you believe "fully forged, cammed, blown......driven only on Sunday, to church, by little old lady".......you are naive.

Modded cars get driven hard and put away wet. Period.

Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or doesn't believe that hitting WOT at every stoplight and anytime someone passes them on the highway is "not ragging on it".



see that isn't totally true

had my car 7yrs:


2 street races both from a roll
side stepped the clutch once right after i got it...never since
NEVER been to a track (while i've owned it)
i drive it 3 miles to work MAYBE once a week, other than that its 100mile
trips to the local "party city" for a nite out once a month
i go WOT about once every 10 times i drive it, and rarely rev past 5500rpm


the act of modifying and working on the car is the hobby for me....not driving it hard.

i've wrecked and busted up too many cars doing that. i like riding around with a nice sounding car, having power to pass on the highway if need be, and being able to run the curves hard.

I don't know how to answer that question.

I want a car that is stock for the same reason everyone else does...a blank canvas, with no screw-ups (hopefully)

But in the same sense, I was something modded because I have already bought, modded and sold Fbodies and I kinda don't want to deal with having to modify another car on my own. However, I am very leary about actually purchasing a modded car because of the possibility of getting 20 miles down the road and having to motor let go because of half-assed workmanship.

my general problem with buying stock and doing the work myself is that it takes me 5yrs to save the money up to actually DO the modding.

i lucked out on current car, it was stock at purchase but i had $2000 worth of parts that i stripped off my old wrecked car.

if i could find the right kind of car, for a good price...i'd highly consider buying modded...even heavily modded (stroker, rear etc).


problem with buying "stock" is you never know if it has always been like that. pretty tough to determine if n2o has been used, assuming they plugged holes etc. if you do it right a h/c swap is tough to notice if they went back to all stock.

so even buying "stock" you could have the motor let go 20 miles down the road.

Stock, and preferably with a warranty. I have a lot more confidence if it build it myself that way i know how to go about upgrading what first and its something i enjoy doing, making a car perfect for me, not buying one that someone else made from themselves.

Nasty trick some dealers use: When a car is modded it substantially takes away from its trade in value, usually dealers then try to sell it for more then a stock one since it has "add-ons"

I will never buy a modded car again.

Stock.

If you believe "fully forged, cammed, blown......driven only on Sunday, to church, by little old lady".......you are naive.

Modded cars get driven hard and put away wet. Period.

Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or doesn't believe that hitting WOT at every stoplight and anytime someone passes them on the highway is "not ragging on it".

see, that is not necessarily true. who do you think takes better care of their cars, maintenance, etc. the guys on here that spend thousands of dollars on mods to make the car handle going faster, and absolutely love it, or the people who keep it stock because to them its "just another car"

and the point about possibly being put back to stock after being modded, gotten the piss sprayed out of it, etc, is a very good one as well

i drove 200 miles to buy mine because i wanted something bone stock and not the usual red/black cars that are wayy to common. my car only had a flowcrapper muffler which is since gone, and the only thing that needed replacing is the $5 plastic piece that holds the leather wrap around the shifter up. i might buy a car with bolt ons, but never internals or FI. they may have known what they were doing, but sometimes you jsut dont know and peace of mind goes a long way.


see, that is not necessarily true. who do you think takes better care of their cars, maintenance, etc. the guys on here that spend thousands of dollars on mods to make the car handle going faster, and absolutely love it, or the people who keep it stock because to them its "just another car"

and the point about possibly being put back to stock after being modded, gotten the piss sprayed out of it, etc, is a very good one as well

or there could be some punk 16 year old kid that drives the piss out of his modded car that mommy and daddy bought and paid for the mods and beat the crap out of it (case with a friend of a friend).

i look for stock hi miles cars, and or rollers. with wiring and chassis intact.
i dont care for modded cars. i like to start with clean slate.
i do not care about miles, as long as car has clean title.

wow lots of different opinions in here

I purchased my 93 two years ago with 82k miles on it that had full boltons with a small cam. The price was right 3800 bucks. I know it had been beat on, and it needed some new parts in the future, but for the mods that were on the car it was hard to beat. It is in pretty good shape too, no rips in the interior, carpeting very nice, dash not cracked, so it was a nice purchase. I would be willing to buy a more modded car if the seller had receipts with what parts he put on the car, and when. Also if he has any service records.

High miles and modded cars usually show extreme wear..

Low miles and non modded cars usually don't show wear..

Not rocket science people..

Exhaust is as far as I'll go honestly.

Once people start tearing into motors their true amount of intelligence becomes quite apparent.

:secret2:You have to know where to draw the line if buying a modded car. A few bolt-ons is as far as I would go even if I knew the seller. Don't buy something if you don't know what you're getting into. Have a keen eye and definately take it for a good test drive.

Also, what type of car are you looking for . . . a fuel friendly DD, or something you can take to the track. . .?

I would rather buy a modded car if i had to. You get an awesome deal.

People selling cars they dumped +30k into for 15-18k?

Nice.

:
Also, what type of car are you looking for . . . a fuel friendly DD, or something you can take to the track. . .?

a "quick" pretty reliable daily driver. So an 98-02 ls1 car will end up being what i think i will get again. I will toss a cam in it and some boltons i believe.

i would but nothing more than a full bolt on car. once the motor has ben cracked into. you dont know if bolts are stripped. under tightened. over tightened.

when i got my ls car i wanted stock so i could build it up and know wat was in the car 100% sure and stuff

^ +1 but wish i would of at least bought a full bolt on car.

I think the worst is how people try selling a bolt on car for the price of the car + mods.

Fragment from a conversation when checking out a CAI, LT, Catback, Cammed M6 goat.

Seller: I really need it gone so ill let it go for (real value) plus only a $1000 for the mods.
(car looked clean, in fact had recipts for new tires very recently even...hmmm had 17k miles at the time)

Me: Ill give you (real value) minus a $1000 for the mods.

Seller: No way, the parts are worth more then $1000, i just need it gone so im only adding $1000. Car is worth more if i wasnt in a rush to sell it.

Me: Oh really? Go try and trade it in at a dealer and see what they have to say about this if you really need it gone.
(left abruptly)

why not buy with the mods you already know your going to end up doing and save your self money.

i bought my car bone stock to the filter and have dumped over 30k into it on various things.

never again, i would atleast buy with bolt ons

also what if the guy has had everything done to the car by a well known shop? (FI, digging into the motor, etc)

I wouldnt mind buying a fbody or a vette thats cammed or even boosted depending on who the seller was. If its an older guy with a decent car collection, ok, if its like a 18 yr old then most likely not. For my next car though i do want atleast basic stuff already done as in exhaust, intake and maybe a few suspension mods.

nothing more than a catback and lid. i would much rather build then buy.

I bought mine with only a cat back and lid. I even had a little surprise since I found a Strange 12 bolt hidden under there :).