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Old 01-22-2019, 03:20 AM   #1
LH_Ghost
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Question Trading in a car with mods? 2007 WRX

Hey Nasioc,

Long time lurker here. I'm in Southern California. I've had my 07 WRX since 2013, and I'm finally thinking of moving on. It's pretty beaten up on the outside though. It has 125k miles.

Fading clear coat on the roof and spoiler, curb rash, broken front and rear bumper clips, missing fender liner on one side, random scratches and dings throughout the body. Would these be worth fixing before selling/trading it? I'm afraid the money I put in to fix it will put a huge dent in whatever I'd get back for it.

Being my first car, it's been through a lot. I never got around to fixing the cosmetic issues because I've always just focused on maintenance things. Changed the clutch out once, periodically change oil/fluids and brake pads myself. Other than that, the car has been running great.

I haven't added any modifications to it, but the previous owner did. Upon purchasing it, I had no idea the car was not smog ready (the guy had already smogged it and paid the tags for the year) so I didn't find out until the year after. He left me with the stock exhaust and downpipe, but it wasn't enough to pass smog because he also installed a non CARB legal intake along with a FMIC. I've been getting it smogged by a guy I know who turns a blind eye for the right price... but I don't want to deal with that anymore!

Mods I am aware of:
  • CAI
  • FMIC
  • 2005 STI Turbo w/SPT heatshield
  • walbro fuel pump
  • swaybars
  • short throw shifter
  • prodrive exhaust
  • Cobb accessport with a tune from a local shop (I've visited the shop to confirm this)

I've read a lot online that dealers will not take a car with a ton of mods, so what would my best option be? Is it even legal to sell a car that won't pass smog? I can't help but feel the guy who sold it to me pretty much ****ed me in terms of that. I'd feel bad about selling it to someone knowing it won't pass because of the intake. I don't really want to go back to stock either, though, I don't exactly have the time and money to invest in that, if I'd be taking a loss on the car anyways.

Sorry for typing a huge essay, but my main tl;dr points are:
  1. I want to sell this car because I'm planning to get a new one soon.
  2. If I want to sell this car, what would be the best way to do so?
  3. Should I try trading it in to the dealer?
  4. Would parting out be worth it? (Although I don't know how to take the parts off of the car, is that how people usually do parting out?)

Thanks for reading
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Old 01-22-2019, 03:40 AM   #2
GlarryHoodDIT
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Well, if you were to return the car to stock wouldn't you have to buy a new OEM turbo to replace the '05 STI Turbo (VF39?)? As well as an OEM IC, and intake? Or did the original owner give all of that to you with the exhaust?

And since you don't know how to do it yourself you're probably going to have to pay at least $300-400 in labor to get all of that taken off and put back to stock.

If you have to buy new (or used) OEM equipment to replace what you're taking off I doubt you'd be making any money from it. At least not likely enough to make it worth your while. All of the parts have been on there for at least 6-7 years, so getting top dollar for them is very unlikely.

A 2007 WRX TR in decent condition with a reasonable price tag should sell incredibly quickly in a private sale. I'd look into that first before castrating yourself by selling a used car to a dealer.
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Old 01-22-2019, 08:21 AM   #3
Loyale93
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If it's truly as bad on the outside, most dealers probably won't take it at all. Try private sale.

That all said, you're not going to get any "extra" money from a dealer or a private sale for any mods or parts. If you can remove it and return to stock, then sell that part.

But again, if you're only going to get $50 for the part, it may not be worth your time to remove. I budget my time at $50/hr, personally. If I can make $100 for an hour work to swap a part, then it's a go. If it's going to take me 4 hours to swap something and my payback is $50, screw it and sell it as-is.
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Old 01-22-2019, 09:58 AM   #4
Jack
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Any dealer will take this car on trade. Expect about $3k for it. They're going to send it to auction anyways.
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Old 01-22-2019, 10:14 AM   #5
rtv900
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if you can't do the work yourself then forget anything about returning it to stock, and that would be even IF you had all those parts on a shelf, which I doubt you do.
paying somebody to un mod a car that old, plus beat up, would cost 3/4 what you'd get.

People do buy modded cars, just not many. In your case you are kind of stuck, just sell it as is, price it realistically and somebody will buy it
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Old 01-24-2019, 04:16 AM   #6
LH_Ghost
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Thanks for the replies everyone. I’ll look into doing a private sale, and will aim to find someone who is knowledgeable about Subarus (hopefully). I’d hate for someone to make the same mistake I did and buy a car without really knowing the mods it had on it.
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Old 01-24-2019, 06:59 AM   #7
rtv900
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LH_Ghost View Post
I’d hate for someone to make the same mistake I did and buy a car without really knowing the mods it had on it.
then all you have to do is list the 6 or 7 bullet points you listed in this thread in your sale listing that shows the mods you are aware of, done.
That satisfies your duty to honestly disclose what you know if that is important to you.
You sure as hell don't need to speculate on any future issues or speculate on emissions compliance laws. If your vehicle passed it passed.
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Old 01-24-2019, 09:21 AM   #8
SirBrass
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rtv900 View Post
then all you have to do is list the 6 or 7 bullet points you listed in this thread in your sale listing that shows the mods you are aware of, done.
That satisfies your duty to honestly disclose what you know if that is important to you.
You sure as hell don't need to speculate on any future issues or speculate on emissions compliance laws. If your vehicle passed it passed.
This, exactly. I'd also google on how to write up a bill of sale, as it will be the binding sale contract between you and whoever you sell to. Whatever terms it specifies or implies can either expose you or protect you from the buyer coming back and saying "This wasn't what I was told I was buying."

It's not hard. I typed up a BoS in about half an hour based on a template and ran it by my wife (who is a lawyer, but her legal expertise wasn't needed. Just an anal retentive eye for contract details). Only mention things explicitly extent. No speculation either in the sale post, communications, or the BoS.

Do NOT accept someone wanting to buy this from you and pay YOU installments. If they want to pay installments on your car, have them get a personal or used car loan from a bank or credit union. That way the institution pays you straight up and the buyer is on the hook with the bank and either way you have your money. Also insist on meeting them in person for a test drive, and insist on them paying you directly (cash or money order. If they want to use a check even a bank check, have them accompany you to the bank to verify that it is good and that it will clear).

That way you won't have someone take the car and run with promise of payment. If they do, you'll never get your money even if you get them arrested and convicted of theft. Blood from an onion and all that.

So, protect yourself. Scammers are out there, but insisting on face to face meetings, and in person meetings to accept payment and hand over keys will protect you from that for the most part.

I had several shady characters try and take us up on our sale offer on our Malibu. Installments, or low ball initial with promise to pay remainder, etc. Hard pass. We ended up finding a guy who was offering only $200 below what we were originally willing to go down to, but he had cash in hand, it was the most he could pay, and he really wanted the car. He had a buddy drive him an hour to meet me at our house to see the car and test drive it. He had cash in hand. I had BoS and current registration with me with date of the title transfer in the BoS (so if a cop pulled him over, it'd all check out and not throw any red flags about "stolen car"). He drove away happy. I walked away with a good chunk of my WRX's downpayment in hand.
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Old 01-25-2019, 01:38 AM   #9
LH_Ghost
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Thank you guys for the additional advice, I appreciate it!
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Old 01-25-2019, 09:56 AM   #10
bdubblu
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With regards to a bill of sale, less is more. Meaning:the more specifics you include, the more you put yourself on the line for each and every thing you get specific about. Being wordy and putting a lot of verbiage on a contract, will open the door to what is implied. Folks tend to think they are being smart and protecting themselves, when in fact they are doing the very opposite.

A bill of sale for a car should be simple... list both parties names and addresses, the year make and model of the car along with it's vin #. The selling price & one line that reads. "Car is being sold/ purchased "as-is" with no warranty."

A bill of sale is really only required in instances where the state requires it. In Maryland, the title suffices. And therefore the only reason I write a bill of sale, is to have the buyer sign off on the single line that says "as is".
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Old 01-28-2019, 01:47 PM   #11
SirBrass
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bdubblu View Post
With regards to a bill of sale, less is more. Meaning:the more specifics you include, the more you put yourself on the line for each and every thing you get specific about. Being wordy and putting a lot of verbiage on a contract, will open the door to what is implied. Folks tend to think they are being smart and protecting themselves, when in fact they are doing the very opposite.

A bill of sale for a car should be simple... list both parties names and addresses, the year make and model of the car along with it's vin #. The selling price & one line that reads. "Car is being sold/ purchased "as-is" with no warranty."

A bill of sale is really only required in instances where the state requires it. In Maryland, the title suffices. And therefore the only reason I write a bill of sale, is to have the buyer sign off on the single line that says "as is".
Bill of Sale also protects you if the guy has something go wrong on the car and blames you and tries to get you to pay for it. He takes you to small claims court, you produce the BoS and the judge sees "Sold as-is", sees both your signature and the buyer's agreeing to the sale, and the guy is SoL. Caveat Empor (sp?).
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Old 01-31-2019, 02:54 PM   #12
bdubblu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SirBrass View Post
Bill of Sale also protects you if the guy has something go wrong on the car and blames you and tries to get you to pay for it. He takes you to small claims court, you produce the BoS and the judge sees "Sold as-is", sees both your signature and the buyer's agreeing to the sale, and the guy is SoL. Caveat Empor (sp?).
That's precisely why I wrote that in the last line of my post.
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Old 02-03-2019, 03:43 PM   #13
Crookshankd
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Have you tried selling it on a Facebook WRX/STI group? You could easily get more for it and you could sell it to someone who would love it for what it is.

Dealership doesn't care
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Old 02-06-2019, 11:42 AM   #14
Exit 37
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Dealerships will take it as-is and give you what they find it's worth. When I traded in my S2000 many years ago, it was straight piped, K&N typhoon intake, hondata flashpro, work wheels, and had a carbon fiber hood and trunk, the dealership took it as-is and gave me 14k for it towards a new truck. It ended up going to auction anyway, but I made a list of mods and put it in the "secret" glove box compartment for the new owner to find, if they wished to revert to stock.
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