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What's a logical amount of money to spend modding?

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Striker23

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Woodbridge, VA
Hard to justify the money other than it makes me happy. Cars are a hobby(expensive one) just Like any other. Some pay thousands for a comic book or sneakers. I get to enjoy my hobby every day which makes it easier to spend my money.
 
AERO

AERO

Go Kart Newbie
Location
SE of Denver
While I appreciate everyone's responses to my question, I'm a bit surprised that no one seemingly thinks the same way I do.

My thinking is: my GLI is a 24 thousand dollar car, how many thousands do you put into something that's only worth 24? Somehow putting $2500 wheels on a new Porsche seems totally within the logical realm, but putting 2500 rims on a 24 thousand dollar car is nuts because it's more than 10% of the value of the whole damn car.

I'm probably still going to do it though
 
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victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
AERO said:
While I appreciate everyone's responses to my question, I'm a bit surprised that no one seemingly thinks the same way I do.

My thinking is: my GLI is a 24 thousand dollar car, how many thousands do you put into something that's only worth 24? Somehow putting $2500 wheels on a new Porsche seems totally within the logical realm, but putting 2500 rims on a 24 thousand dollar car is nuts because it's more than 10% of the value of the whole damn car.

I'm probably still going to do it though
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If you want to go with that logic then shouldn't you say that the value of the aftermarket parts shouldn't exceed the value of the oe part?
 
tigeo

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Location
Richmond, VA area
tigeo

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Location
Richmond, VA area
AERO said:
While I appreciate everyone's responses to my question, I'm a bit surprised that no one seemingly thinks the same way I do.

My thinking is: my GLI is a 24 thousand dollar car, how many thousands do you put into something that's only worth 24? Somehow putting $2500 wheels on a new Porsche seems totally within the logical realm, but putting 2500 rims on a 24 thousand dollar car is nuts because it's more than 10% of the value of the whole damn car.

I'm probably still going to do it though
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Ask yourself this way - you own the car. It's yours free/clear title in hand. You don't care about trading/parting out etc. Would you put $2,500 wheels on it then if you had the money and liked them? I get what you are saying for sure and yes, $2500 wheels seem silly on a $24K car for that reason. I spent $13K all-in on a car that was $26K new (but that I got for $19K before TTL). Was it stupid to spend half the value to get the car I really wanted (a cool looking/quick wagon)? It would have been if I didn't have the money or own the car. The other question will come up, if I could afford to buy my car cash and pay $13K for upgrades, why not a more expensive car to start with like a top-end GTI or R? B/c I didn't want a more expensive car, I wanted the car I "built". I don't think putting $10K into a GLI is out of hand as it's a v. upgradeable vehicle and if you are smart about it and keep all the OE stuff, you can get some of that money back at the end. People spend $5K regularly to go to Disney World.
 
PLF8593

PLF8593

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Philly
Car(s)
19 Alltrack 6MT
what’s great about VW’s in general is their tune-ability, and the amount of value you can unlock from adding 5-10K worth of mods. You get much more than 5-10K worth of “car” out of your investment, when compared to something like an Audi S3 that’s essentially just a 2X-priced golf with less utility.

You can take a mass-market economy car, and turn it into a luxury performance car that can compete with Audi’s, BMWs, etc double the price.

So when you view it that way, OEM pricing begins to get dubious past 40K.

Just buy a cheaper car and get the same thing with some mods for 25-40% less.
 
tigeo

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Location
Richmond, VA area
PLF8593 said:
what’s great about VW’s in general is their tune-ability, and the amount of value you can unlock from adding 5-10K worth of mods. You get much more than 5-10K worth of “car” out of your investment, when compared to something like an Audi S3 that’s essentially just a 2X-priced golf with less utility.

You can take a mass-market economy car, and turn it into a luxury performance car that can compete with Audi’s, BMWs, etc double the price.

So when you view it that way, OEM pricing begins to get dubious past 40K.

Just buy a cheaper car and get the same thing with some mods for 25-40% less.
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100% what I did. Built a Golf R-ish wagon for ~$30K.
 
PLF8593

PLF8593

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Philly
Car(s)
19 Alltrack 6MT
tigeo said:
100% what I did. Built a Golf R-ish wagon for ~$30K.
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Me too :)

Or, at least, that’s the end-goal once my dampers die and the initial financial burden on the down payment and paint protection have faded into the past. I’m enjoying it very much bone stock right now. But I can’t wait to throw bilsteins+r springs on it, and once my warranty is up (in like 4/5 years) I’m gonna go Stage 2 IS20 with a Golf R MT swap for the shorter gears. It’ll be a sleeper warrior dad wagon (I expect to have children by then...).
 
tigeo

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Location
Richmond, VA area
PLF8593 said:
Me too :)

Or, at least, that’s the end-goal once my dampers die and the initial financial burden on the down payment and paint protection have faded into the past. I’m enjoying it very much bone stock right now. But I can’t wait to throw bilsteins+r springs on it, and once my warranty is up (in like 4/5 years) I’m gonna go Stage 2 IS20 with a Golf R MT swap for the shorter gears. It’ll be a sleeper warrior dad wagon (I expect to have children by then...).
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The last few things I have on my list should be done this year and next year I'll have the shop I use throws some Bilstein B8s on it. The IS20 is so worth it, the car is just awesome that way. Best upgrade I've ever done to a car I've owned and when you look at the cost, it's amazing what you get in terms of power/drivability/reliability. I mean this is a perfect daily. Mine is 100% sleeper dad mobile at this point...so fun to talk trash at stoplights to kids in tuner cars "I mean, I'm just an old dude in a wagon...come on man...let's see what that Honda will do!".
 
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