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

[El_bigote_AJ]

Personally, I draw the line at cosmetic mods. There's no value on those for me personally.

 

[GTIfan99]

All money spent on anything more than basic transportation is a waste of money and completely illogical. Every hobby is a waste of money.

Spend money on what you want.

 

[swcrow]

Logical amount you say? Logical doesn’t even belong in this equation.

 

[Ridebjj]

View attachment 177821

Lollerskates

 

[jimlloyd40]

All money spent on anything more than basic transportation is a waste of money. Every hobby is a waste of money.

Spend money on what you want.

That's a contradictory statement. I don't want basic transportation therefore when I spend money on my car it's not a waste of money.

 

[Chogokin]

I appreciate everyone's perspective.

I guess I lean towards not spending enough to hit the next, better model. For the GLI, there's not such an obvious higher level car, aside from a Golf R or an S3 I supppse.

I paid 24,000 for my GLI.
So far I've got wheels, tires, stage 1 flash, better brake fluid, and some light cosmetics.

I'm trying to build a good track car. Im thinking of doing Stage 2, intercooler, rear sway bar and better brake pads.

I think the will set me back about $2500. All said and done, ill have put about $5000 into a $24,000 car. That seems like a fairly high amount to spend. But, for about 30 grand, ill have a very capable track car that I daily, throw kids in the back, and get 30+ mpg....

I think "stage 2" is a pretty good place to be at. It not an exorbitant amount of money to spend...and the performance you get in return is good enough for most. Its when you get into the horsepower game is when it starts to get real expensive.

I'm going in small steps to keep from doing everything too fast. I'm going to use the JB4 for a bit...then move to an IS38 with a custom tune in a year or two. I think I'm under 3k so far for my mods on the GTI. 3k was the cost of the supercharger, Schrick manifold, cams for my Corrado VR6. That 3k does not include the clutch and other work done at the time of install.

 

[MonkeyMD]

Logical amount to spend on your car is 50% more than you have.

 

[PLF8593]

Logical amount to spend on your car is 50% more than you have.

 

[tigeo]

I've spent $13k on my GSW to date. It was $20k new and I own it. These stickered for $26k. $33k for a car I drive everyday and enjoy isn't a concern to me. I thought about an R but I wanted a wagon so I went this route - still $10K under what I have spent to get a new R. I'll never sell it so the value to others in a sale/trade is no concern. The issue for some is the total loss concern...so if I total it I'll get an $18k check. Maybe I can salvage some of the upgrades and get a few more grand. I own it...again...not a concern. If you are making payments and/or are upside down AND you're dumping big money into mods/upgrades...that's just not a smart move. If that is you, pay the thing down enough to have some equity before you start dumping thousands into mods and definately keep your OE parts to replace them if you ever do sell/trade and need to get some money for them.

 

[Strange Mud]

and it doesn't count if it's for safety......,ie better tires/brakes/suspension are all safety items.

 

[2slowvw]

I cant tell you how many times I have said "On this car i will probably just do tint and wheels/tires and call it a day". Now i look over at my GTI and forget everything I have put into it over the years. In the end, 95% of the money you put into modding it won't gain you anything in return. But for me, i feel like you only live once, and if you can afford it then go for it. I'm not one of those people who want to die with millions of dollars in my bank account.

 

[Charlotte.:R]

I cant tell you how many times I have said "On this car i will probably just do tint and wheels/tires and call it a day".

This is what I tell my wife about every car lol

 

[vincevtr]

As much as you can budget. If you want logical why didnt you get a normal Jetta instead of a GLI? Id say the budget depends on whatever your goals for the car is(and obviously how much income you have). If youre tracking, theres a budget for that. If youre autocrossing, theres a budget for that. If you making a showcar or be stance nation, theres a budget for that. You can guess the rest.

If you are looking for a definite number, I would say up to half of the price of your car(new). Not to say anything more is unreasonable, its just a number that seems to be satisfactory to most scenarios for most people.

 

[uvasteven]

Don't mod your car, sell it and buy a bicycle.

Not sure if this is a joke, my mod bug with bikes is way worse. Although you can get top of the line equipment for much less than top of the line car stuff.

I went too hard on my first car trying to make it something it wasn't. With the GTI I try and weigh how much a mod is going to actually make my day to day driving experience better. So far I've added a trailer hitch and an Audi 12V socket cover.

 

[Golfs everyday]

I wonder what the logical limit is in spending on a $24k car?

How do you rationalize your spending?

On my FiST which was originally a $25K car that I bought for $9K less at 19K miles, I spent below since I was bored earlier on during stay-at-home.. about a $1000 budget. I didn't have to do any of this, but had a fun time with my son installing them, and it's been more fun zipping to the stores.

To rationalize.. as long as I'm having fun it's all worth it. The only reason why I work during the weekdays is to pay for my various hobbies including this car hobby.

$630 for catback (for noise, but actually extracted more power)
$275 for intake (for noise)
$95 for 50:50 bov (for noise)
$150 rear engine mount (too much NVH, now decoration and paper weight for garage)
$25 for phone holder

On my Golf-R, I bought a BBS wheel set with new tires mounted during the pandemic.