Custom Work and Value
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Custom Work and Value
First of all, I realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and what I like, someone else will surely hate, but I was wondering about the value added (if any, or lost value) when it comes to custom work.
For example I have a 97 F-150 Lariat. I paid just under $1,000 for it because it needs a tranny rebuild. TT&L and tune ups, plus rebuild and I'll be in it for under $3 and it's value will at least be 5 or so, so I'm sitting in a happy place right now and want to make it nice and fancy.
Here's my plans. I have fiberglass experience, and I'm going to redo the interior in the theme of the new 2015 atlas dash. Time consuming, tedious, pain in the ***, but relatively cheap to do yourself. I'm going to maintain the stock color scheme (grey) or match the black and grey scheme of the Atlas (no on the LED accent lights.) This will include (if I can find em) King Ranch or other luxury seats out of a newer truck (whatever I can fit) and console. Still contemplating whether or not to do a console shifter conversion or not. All said and done, I will have invested a heafty amount of time, and more importantly, money into doing this and was just curious if I'd see any return on that investment. I might do some small woofers under the back seats, but as far as the sound system goes, just a double-din navi system with bluetooth etc... and premium speakers. Nothing too crazy.
I've seen some completely custom interiors done out there, and was just curious if those vehicles were still considered the same as a stock truck when it comes down to value / insurance etc... It's not exactly a classic truck by any means so I'd imagine it would be difficult to get an outside appraisal on a vehicle less than 20 years old that be taken seriously by insurance companies.
With all of that said, would love to hear you guys' experience with custom mods / fabrications and the fight for values with resell or insurance companies. My main concern is to have full coverage on a truck with $10,000 custom work and the insurance company totals it for stock value. If that's the case, so be it, but hoping there's some different experiences out there.
For example I have a 97 F-150 Lariat. I paid just under $1,000 for it because it needs a tranny rebuild. TT&L and tune ups, plus rebuild and I'll be in it for under $3 and it's value will at least be 5 or so, so I'm sitting in a happy place right now and want to make it nice and fancy.
Here's my plans. I have fiberglass experience, and I'm going to redo the interior in the theme of the new 2015 atlas dash. Time consuming, tedious, pain in the ***, but relatively cheap to do yourself. I'm going to maintain the stock color scheme (grey) or match the black and grey scheme of the Atlas (no on the LED accent lights.) This will include (if I can find em) King Ranch or other luxury seats out of a newer truck (whatever I can fit) and console. Still contemplating whether or not to do a console shifter conversion or not. All said and done, I will have invested a heafty amount of time, and more importantly, money into doing this and was just curious if I'd see any return on that investment. I might do some small woofers under the back seats, but as far as the sound system goes, just a double-din navi system with bluetooth etc... and premium speakers. Nothing too crazy.
I've seen some completely custom interiors done out there, and was just curious if those vehicles were still considered the same as a stock truck when it comes down to value / insurance etc... It's not exactly a classic truck by any means so I'd imagine it would be difficult to get an outside appraisal on a vehicle less than 20 years old that be taken seriously by insurance companies.
With all of that said, would love to hear you guys' experience with custom mods / fabrications and the fight for values with resell or insurance companies. My main concern is to have full coverage on a truck with $10,000 custom work and the insurance company totals it for stock value. If that's the case, so be it, but hoping there's some different experiences out there.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,848
Likes: 255
From: Southern Ontario, Canada
I'd say on the used car market it would significantly drop the value of a vehicle. On the custom market for someone looking for what you are doing could earn you a bit more $$ but a 97 Ford f150 is far from a collector vehicle.
Custom interiors add tons of unnecessary mass to a vehicle to boot due to them being made out of heavy fiberglass and mdf wood normally.
Custom interiors add tons of unnecessary mass to a vehicle to boot due to them being made out of heavy fiberglass and mdf wood normally.
Bronco II Nut
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 397
Likes: 38
From: Jonesboro, AR
A vehicle is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.
"Custom" narrows your market considerably. Me, i don't buy anything "customized", unless i saw it being built, and trusted the person doing it.
Example:
I am building an 84 Bronco II. Look up KBB for for an '84 with about 375,000 miles... not much more than scrap value.
But I have added:
5.0 from '94 F150 (converted to carb with a factory ford aluminum 4 barrel intake)
np435 trans from something old and heavy
t-case from 76 Bronco
axles from '79 F150
Suspension is a mix of Rough Country, James Duff, Ballistic Fab, and homemade.
Sitting on 35's (for now)
How much is it worth? not much more than scrap value.
Someone with enough money to buy it for what i have in it, is going to buy a decent Jeep with "proven" parts from 1,000's of aftermarket companies.
Someone interested in Bronco II's is going to be poor/cheap like me, and not want to pay a lot.
My market is someone with money, that likes a vehicle slaughtered by Consumer Reports as a rollover hazard, that is now lifted 8-9" over stock, with tires almost 10" larger than stock.
I'm not building it to sell it. I'm building it to be whatever i want it to be, at that point in time. 10 years from now, it could be completely different. I got it for my 12th birthday, and this is it's third "version."
If you want to sell it someday, keep it stock, or able to return to stock (or close to it). I hope this doesn't sound pessimistic, the keyboard can mislead sometimes. I can't drive anything stock. Heck, I am seriously considering taking the '81 mustang in my back yard, and making a mild 4x4 out of it. Hobbies don't make money. if they do, its now a job. vehicles are my hobby.
as for insurance, get collector car insurance and insure for whatever amount you want.
"Custom" narrows your market considerably. Me, i don't buy anything "customized", unless i saw it being built, and trusted the person doing it.
Example:
I am building an 84 Bronco II. Look up KBB for for an '84 with about 375,000 miles... not much more than scrap value.
But I have added:
5.0 from '94 F150 (converted to carb with a factory ford aluminum 4 barrel intake)
np435 trans from something old and heavy
t-case from 76 Bronco
axles from '79 F150
Suspension is a mix of Rough Country, James Duff, Ballistic Fab, and homemade.
Sitting on 35's (for now)
How much is it worth? not much more than scrap value.
Someone with enough money to buy it for what i have in it, is going to buy a decent Jeep with "proven" parts from 1,000's of aftermarket companies.
Someone interested in Bronco II's is going to be poor/cheap like me, and not want to pay a lot.
My market is someone with money, that likes a vehicle slaughtered by Consumer Reports as a rollover hazard, that is now lifted 8-9" over stock, with tires almost 10" larger than stock.
I'm not building it to sell it. I'm building it to be whatever i want it to be, at that point in time. 10 years from now, it could be completely different. I got it for my 12th birthday, and this is it's third "version."
If you want to sell it someday, keep it stock, or able to return to stock (or close to it). I hope this doesn't sound pessimistic, the keyboard can mislead sometimes. I can't drive anything stock. Heck, I am seriously considering taking the '81 mustang in my back yard, and making a mild 4x4 out of it. Hobbies don't make money. if they do, its now a job. vehicles are my hobby.
as for insurance, get collector car insurance and insure for whatever amount you want.
Member
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 59
Likes: 5
From: Lafayette, LA
I wouldn't worry about the resale of the truck too much. You're already in it for cheap, so you shouldn't lose, no matter how custom you go.
I am a huge fan of seeing people do custom one-off mods on their vehicles because its an expression of their personality and they got to have the joy of being the person who brought their dreams to reality.
I would really like to see how the dash would come out and how talented you are with fiberglass. Hell you might be able to pick up some work from the folks on this forum who don't have the skills you have.
As far as insurance goes, you could talk to your agent and sometimes they can insure your car for a certain value under a custom policy. My buddy had this done through State Farm on his mustang show car.
I am a huge fan of seeing people do custom one-off mods on their vehicles because its an expression of their personality and they got to have the joy of being the person who brought their dreams to reality.
I would really like to see how the dash would come out and how talented you are with fiberglass. Hell you might be able to pick up some work from the folks on this forum who don't have the skills you have.
As far as insurance goes, you could talk to your agent and sometimes they can insure your car for a certain value under a custom policy. My buddy had this done through State Farm on his mustang show car.