Valuations please

[dazzer]

Well folks I have been flirting with the idea of selling my S4 - still on the fence between further mods or departing company. I would appreciate an estimate of value on the following:

1999 Facelift
Reflex Silver (very good condition)
18" RS4 Replicas with brand new Eagle F1s
HR Coilovers
HR Anti-roll bars
Porsche 993TT brake upgrade
MRC Custom Remap
Milltek Dual Cat back
AWE DTS
Tanoga Shortshifter
Hyperboost DV's
Samco F hose and TBB
Autometer Boost Gauge
Cruise Control
Nappa leather and armrest
Bose
Lecky Sunroof
Phatnoise
Satnav (to be fitted)
91K on the clock
Full service history
Treated with TLC

[CliveH]

Sorry to hear this Dazzer, unless of course you're "moving up" to RS4 (or beyond)...?

As always, the car will of course be worth a lot more to you, but at the end of the day (yea, I know, it gets dark ) the value will be market driven, willing buyer-willing seller stuff.

For what it's worth, knowing your car and what I know now, I would put the range at £7k to £8k. I'm sure you'd be hoping for a bit more, but the prices really have taken a tumble in the last year or so.

[JonnyX]

I would say 7k. Upto 8k for an enthusiast who is prepared to partially reimburse you for the mods
you have made. I think book price on that mileage is < 7K

[wombar]

I'd have to agree with CliveH and JonnyX. Whilst I don't actually own an S4 (yet), I've been looking for one since July and have probably seen 99% (check AT, here and PH 7-8 times a day, I REALLY want one of these cars) of the S4 adverts out there, so have a fairly decent grasp of what market price is for these cars at the moment. Whilst the mods you've listed may be valuable to you, half the pleasure of modifying a car is seeing it evolve as the owner gets things done. I'm personally looking for one which hasn't been modified at all, so I can pick and choose when/where I get my stuff done. Driving out of MRC after a remap has got to put a smile on anyones face and I want the experience first hand instead of having everything done for me before I bought the car.

It's pretty unusual to see one above £9k and they have all either been low mileage (60K or less) or people who have priced themselves out of the market (there's been a few at £12k which didn't sell surpisingly enough ). I'd say put it up at just under £8k and see if you get any takers, just make sure you take good pictures of the outside AND inside of the car. I've seen so many adverts where the owner has taken awful photos of a dirty car and none of the interior.

Saying that, there aren't many of these cars around at the moment so maybe put it up at what you'd like to get on PH (as it's free) and see if you get any takers. You can always bring the price down in the future. I'm certainly no expert, but as someone who has been keeping an eye on the market, that's my opinion.

[si_hill]

Saloon or avant? I think the avants command a slightly higher price

[clubsport]

Very interesting to consider the valuations with respect to mods, I would have thought the car was worth £8k all day long...Wombar has a good point about the owner deriving satisfaction from improvements, yet the mods must total £2k+...I think it is all about finding the right buyer for the car.

[CliveH]

Saloon or avant? I think the avants command a slightly higher price

It's a saloon Si.

Has also been featured in Audi Driver - that's got to add a few bob...!

[CliveH]

Wombar has a good point about the owner deriving satisfaction from improvements, yet the mods must total £2k+...I think it is all about finding the right buyer for the car.

At least twice that, but all valid points.

[NeilMc]

This is a very depressing thread.
I do agree that gradually making your car better is fun, but when you buy the car is the ONLY time you will get thousands of pounds worth of modifications for next to nothing. It would be cheaper to buy a modified car, revert it to standard with the bits we all have taken off our cars, then gradually modify it again with the bits you take off
If I was to buy another S4, or a B5 RS4, I would definitely be looking for one with a few mods I would have done myself anyway... but maybe that's because I have an S4 and have been through the (expensive) process once already.
I can't believe a facelift S4, with less than 100k is going for under £10,000, but that's because I haven't been keeping my eye on the market, and the depressing truth is that even the best examples will only fetch £9,000 - £10,000 nowadays.

[wombar]

Unfortunately, that's the nature of these kinds of cars (and all cars in general). There are some mods I would find desireable (bipipe, after run mod etc) which simply help to keep the engine running in top condition and I would be happy to pay a small additional premium for them. But many buyers simply don't know (or want to know) about these things so you're lucky if you find someone who wants the mods you've done and is willing to pay for it. Other performance upgrades and exterior mods are very subjective and personal, it's always nice to do them yourself (though much more expensive). Smoked rear clusters and bling alloys are a BIG turn off for me, external mods are usually worth removing (where possible) because you just won't get the money back for them. If I see some silly alloys on a car, I usually deduct them from the price because I'd have to pay to replace them.

I'd feel a little cheated (well not cheated but you know what I mean) if I didn't get to experience the power increase with a remap. I've seen a couple of cars at £12K but these were seriously low mileage (~40K), completely standard examples which in my eyes are desireable because they're a blank canvous. These examples do however take months to sell, that's fine if you can wait around for 2-3 months to sell a car but not many people have that luxury. I do so few miles a year (2000 max) that I'd really like a low mileage example so when I come to sell on, it's going to be a VERY low mileage example.

I would say that Dazzers car looks like it's had some quality mods done to it, nothing on there that would be a turn off for me.

[clubsport]

I have considered selling my car (wrong colour for Wombar) and have held back from modifying it, partly from the valuation point if view. The other being the insurance seems ridiculously cheap on a standard car.

[dazzer]

Thanks for the input chaps it was very interesting. Needless to say as a seller of a fairly rare car, and one that's been well looked after, 8K ain't going to cut it with me. If it goes up for sale I'll certainly be punting for more but on an objective note I can't disagree with the comments.

I am not desperate to offload, merely weighing up my next steps, so maybe some bigger turbos are in order.

[DavidT]

Take as many of the upgrade parts off as you can Darren and sell them on here. They will fetch good money. Standard suspension, brakes, exhaust etc. are available from most tuners as they tend to go in the bin anyway.

I hope you keep it mind and i think you will

[S4TAN]

so maybe some bigger turbos are in order.

Given that your car is so nicely spec'd up already then I think the bigger turbo upgrade is the right option - for the cash outlay you spend on doing it you're going to get a great return on your investment grin-wise: spend a few grand and get a +400bhp car with quattro-drive, huge torque and all that lovely German engineering that'll destroy 99.9% of the other cars on the road ... even if you value your car at £10K then sticking another £3K-4K into it gives you a seriously well engineered and powerful car for £14K tops .... would you be able to get any other refined and well-engineered +400bhp car for that kind of money ... ?

...only IMHO of course.

[dazzer]

so maybe some bigger turbos are in order.

Given that your car is so nicely spec'd up already then I think the bigger turbo upgrade is the right option - for the cash outlay you spend on doing it you're going to get a great return on your investment grin-wise: spend a few grand and get a +400bhp car with quattro-drive, huge torque and all that lovely German engineering that'll destroy 99.9% of the other cars on the road ... even if you value your car at £10K then sticking another £3K-4K into it gives you a seriously well engineered and powerful car for £14K tops .... would you be able to get any other refined and well-engineered +400bhp car for that kind of money ... ?

...only IMHO of course.

Can't argue with that.