Around here used trucks that are lifted within 4-6" sell for a decent penny still in good condition. I was wondering how much more up the rear would the dealer get me if I traded a lifted 09 in compared to stock two years down the road? Any difference if professionally done?

 

The dealer, would not give you what you believe the truck to be worth. I have heard that lifts actually decrease the value, but that is only to certain people I believe. If you were trying to sell it, sombody who was going to lift their truck anyway, it might be worth more.

If your just going to trade it in, in one to two years, why spend the money to lift it anyways?

 

From my experience, most dealers will not figure in the price of accessories into the trade in values of a vehicle. You put a lot of money into your vehicle to make it look good or go better, but most dealers around here still view it as a stock vehicle, and they will only give you what they would give you if the vehicle was stock.

IMO, the only way to get rid of a highly modified vehicle is to sell it outright. You won't get much of your money back by trading it in, but if you can find the right person and sell it privately, you have a much better chance of getting back some of the money you have invested into the vehicle.

But as FX41 said, if you don't plan on keeping the truck very long, it probably isn't worth it to invest the time and money into lifting it. I plan on lifting my 09 when it comes in, but I also plan on keeping it for at least 4 or 5 years, probably longer.

 

agreed, dealers don't care that it's lifted. just traded my 04 w/ 5.5 inches of lift for my 09. had i waited for someone to buy it through auto trader, i probably could have gotten about $4000 more than they show me for the trade.

 

That's what I figured... a dealer would just view it as stock. After having my new truck lifted 6" someone brought to my attn. the resale value saying it'd be much lower than stock. But I figure the way dealers have been selling used lifted 150's and Super Duty's around here so much lately they've probably been giving stock value and then jacking the price up with the add-on's for the next guy to come around.

 

Yeah, they always take value off for anything done to it. Has happened every time for me. But if you plan to keep it for 5 years or so then why not drive what makes you happy. 2 years is a very short time frame, but then again, if you can afford to trade in 2 years, you can afford to take the loss.

Wish I made enough to trade all the time, some guys on here even trade every year. Imagine making that kind of dough. Although at the same time, it sure takes the fun and excitement away from getting a brand-new vehicle when it becomes commonplace, like anything else that you do so often it becomes routine. Plus and minus, ying and yang.

 

I dont make huge dough to trade every 2-3 years. I'm just a single man with no divorces or child support to pay off!

 

In the past I've applied lifts to my Jeeps and I've always kept any stock parts so when I was looking to trade it at a dealer I could easily replace the parts and sell the lift/wheels/tires to some kid wanting to lift his/her vehicle for a lower cost. I live in the South East so finding someone to buy a used lift/wheels/tires is fairly easy and you loose very little money in the end. Your certainly going to loose money regardless of what you do, but you can do things to keep the overall loss at a minimum.

 

Modifications to a vehicle narrows the resale market that vehicle would appeal to. Thus modifications typically lower the value no matter how cool we think what we've done to our trucks is.

Doesn't mean you cant get more value out of the vehicle but it may take a little more effort than a dealer trade-in.

 

I have done a similar thing with my past two vehicles. Keep the original parts and if you can't reuse them, plan on about 50% by selling them yourself. The last two time my dealer has made the deal with me and allowed me to return any part of the truck back to stock that I wish and keep the accessories to resell. This also made it much easier to trade my last vehicle which I really liked. It didn't really seem like mineonce it was back to stock.

From my experience, the dealers will tell you up front that they aren't going to give you anymore for the accessories or not. I typically do most of the work myself so that helps. If you do some checking around and keep the mods to bolt ons which can easily be switched out you can have the best of both worlds.

 

Appreciate the opinions. Thanks!