Accessorizing + Depreciation = Total Cost of Ownership

[Rewillia]

Ever wonder what you're vehicle is/will be worth should you elect to sell it? Can you spend too much accessorizing or modifying your vehicle such that its market value will actually be diminsihed (beyond what it means to you)? What is the likelihood you'll recover your investment in terms of the money spent on post-purchase modifications or accessories?

 

Here's a simple calculator that can give you an indication of the depreciation you may encounter year on year based upon the purchase price of your vehicle and years of ownership. When adding the additional cost of modifications and/or accessories which may or may not be considered as adding resale value (or limiting the resale marketability) of a vehicle, I believe one can easily overspend such that the cost of ownership proves to be more than was expected and results in a greater loss.

 

My point here being, if your prone to trade vehicles on a cycle of less than 5-years ownership, it pays to consider what the total cost of ownership can be in terms of making modifications and/or over accessorizing a vehicle which you may be considering doing or have already done.

 

We all love our trucks here but as evidence has shown, some are spending $1,000's on mods that make for a great looking truck today, but may not pay any form of dividend at the end.

 

Try it out, enter the price you paid for your truck, age when purchased (use "0" if purchased new), then enter the number of years you plan to own the vehicle. Take the depreciation and add to it the cost of any modifications or accessories you've added (or plan to) and it will give you an idea of what your total cost of ownership for the period will likely be.

http://www.carprice.com/depreciation-calculator

[Rewillia]

Ok, so I did my own calculation, based upon the 1st year of ownership + mods/accessories I've done;

 

My cost for the 1st year;

 

$ 13,325 depreciation (basis $53,300 for new truck including TTL)

$ 1,400 tonneau cover (retrax pro)

$ 350 bed liner (bedrug)

$ 400 2" leveling kit (RC 2")

$ 745 clearbra (3M)

$ 250 floor liners (weathertech)

$ 1,400 tires (upsized)

$ 500 other small stuff

 

Total cost Year-1 = $18,360 (or $1530/month)

[Dunc]

We all love our trucks here but as evidence has shown, some are spending $1000's on mods that make for a great looking truck today, but may not pay any form of dividend at the end.

My take is: if you're (not the OP specifically) doing any modification at all and think you'll recover even 50% of that cost then you're doing it wrong. Only mod a vehicle with money you don't care about and only because you want the mod. If someone pays an additional 50% of the cost of those mods when they buy your car then they're doing it wrong too lol.

 

That is an interesting calculator though.

[Gmcant33]

This is why I keep mod at a minimum I learn my lesson when I trade up my truck.

[Coppertone]

True, but most of us don't mod the truck as an investment, looking for a return. We mod trucks because it's our hobby and we enjoy the truck. News Flash: Hobbies cost money.

 

I'm ok with it.

[RyanbabZ71]

Remove the mods when selling/trading

 

 

Ryan

[2007silveradonbs]

It is interesting to see how that calculator is semi accurate. My wife's equinox did lose about 1/4 its value in 1 year.

[PMattras]

I tried to keep accessorizing or modifying to a minimum but some of these items cost a lot of money. I tried to get these items put on my truck right away so I have full use of them while I have this vehicle. Some of these mods keeps the vehicle in good condition like a sprayed or drop in bed liner, seat covers, step bars and etc. I don’t expect to get too much back on modifying but it does help to keep the vehicle in good condition for resale plus items you need to use while you own the vehicle.

[Rewillia]

I tried to keep accessorizing or modifying to a minimum but some of these items cost a lot of money. I tried to get these items put on my truck right away so I have full use of them while I have this vehicle. Some of these mods keeps the vehicle in good condition like a sprayed or drop in bed liner, seat covers, step bars and etc. I don’t expect to get too much back on modifying but it does help to keep the vehicle in good condition for resale plus items you need to use while you own the vehicle.

 

 

I agree and practice the same logic also, Mods that are functional in terms of lasting value, protection and/or easily removable such that the vehicle can be easily returned to an OE state or close to it.

 

By no means am I meaning to imply what others here should or should not do to their vehicles in terms of the modifications or upgrades they choose. I was just presenting a tool that helps all of us to evaluate the benefits (or consequence) of such. I personally compared the value indicated for my truck using the calculator with KBB and Edmunds fair market values, resale and trade in prices ex-mods and find that it (the calculator) may be at an average +/- 15% off compared to other such pricing tables.

 

Bottom line, its worth it to consider what your investment can be and what it will yield in terms of personal satisfaction vs. the total cost of ownership over a defined period of time.

[Rewillia]

True, but most of us don't mod the truck as an investment, looking for a return. We mod trucks because it's our hobby and we enjoy the truck. News Flash: Hobbies cost money.

 

I'm ok with it.

I hear you and do not disagree. Just sharing a tool that helps to estimate what the cost implications can be. The depreciation alone excluding any mods/accessories can be alarming in years 1;3. Longer term ownership has always proven to be cost effective but these days it seems that the majority of people I know seem to trade every few years more out of interest in a new vehicle than dissatisfaction with the ones they own. I plan to keep my truck and so I'm focused upon keeping the mileage low as possible while still getting the use from it I need. In may case I have other vehicles that I can drive which affords me the ability to better control the mileage I put on each of them, i.e. 2005 Land Rover, 120k miles is my dust and dump vehicle.

[jeffsig]

I traded my Tacoma for 15k recently. It shows it was worth 7.6k. Not confident in its accuracy.

[Rewillia]

I traded my Tacoma for 15k recently. It shows it was worth 7.6k. Not confident in its accuracy.

Interesting.

 

Are you sure you weren't looking at the deprecation vs resale value? That seems like a big difference as I ran a number of comparisons and found them to be with the +/- 15% range compared to FMV for resale and trade in values using other indexes such as KBB, NADA and Edmunds. The source of the calculator is carprice.com

[Rock1500]

This is my first truck and probably for a while , long while be my only truck. I am doing the mods for my own interest and nothing more. When i am done with this truck, like all my other cars before it, it will be ready for the junk heap. Till then , i will enjoy it.