To widebody or not to widebody?
 

Hey guys,

This might be more of a philosophical discussion than anything else.

Vis-a-vis more conservative aero parts, do you believe a quality repliace widebody (Shine - RE, FEED, etc) adds more value to our cars or not?

I've been debating this with myself for the last few months and trying to figure out if I should go widebody or just get some nice sides and call it a wrap.

Thanks
T

A wide body kit will subtract from the value of the car.

Depends on the car. If it's a stock low mileage collectible, then it doesn't help the value.

If it's done right and the car is not a stock low mile collectible, then it doesn't hurt the value.

I will say that properly doing the job will cost a LOT of damn money. The cheap kits will require a lot of work and bondo and even the expensive Japanese kits can require more work and finagling than you would imagine.

I worked on a car that had a real deal Fortune kit on it and it was a turd. Side skirts held water, headlights were crappy, hatch leaked, you name it.

You have to remember a lot of those kits are for pure show or race cars, not cars that are going to see a lot of street mileage. Might look cool but you'll easily rip the lip off, tires rubbing in fenders when you hit a big bump in the road, etc. etc. etc.

It's definitely not a way to increase the value of the car, you definitely limit your market greatly with a wild body kit.

Dale

Words of wisdom. Good kits wont increase your value, and you will be out the cost of the kit. When its time to sell you will have eliminated most of your potential buyers by adding a kit. Dont do it!!

honestly, it does not cost that much money to have it done right. even the high end aero from japan will need some work, but any experienced body guy should be able to do it. every gap can be just filled in with fiberglass and recut. just let the body guys do their thing and be picky. fitment is everything.

and who cares if it adds or subtracts value. live life, enjoy the car, make it what you dream and don't worry so much about what it's worth.

life is too short for stock body FDs.

(but don't do the fortune kit, ew)

Everyone should make choices based on what may happen down the road. This is like telling someone to spend all their money now, and dont save for retirement.

Once you cut up the body for the kit, it wont be easy to put back. Someone buying a stock body wont pay full price for a car that has been repaired from a kit.

it seems like a tragedy to me to start cutting up quarter panels to fit on some kit that may or may not look good in a few years.

swap the fenders and bumpers sure, but permanent body damage just makes me cringe...

Here is a rule of thumb. If you are worried about the value of the car, do not do mods aren't reversible.

I have never been a fan of body kits. People have already said what I think. Don't do it unless the car body is completely trashed and not worth restoring. Then, maybe.

I'd love to widen mine, but there aren't too many kits I really like enough to do something that irreversible. That, and It'd also cost me like $15k to replace all three sets of wheels I have.

P