coffee70

I am considering doing a Wide Booty to my 08 convertible, but I am wondering how does this affect the value of the car? Has anyone done this and ether sold or traded in their car with positive or negative results of doing the modification ?

enventr

From what I have read on the forum, you will never get that money back when you resale it. It’ will be $$$$. It will look great. I MHO I would sell the car and buy a GS or Z06. Best of luck.

cgladish

I would agree with eventr. maybe if your intent was to keep the car for a while, then I could see going with it.
while it is cheaper then buying a GS outright, you'll never get your $$$ out of it if, doing a conversion.
between the cost of the panels and tires & wheels ( and other ancillary items ), only do it if you are going to hang on to it.

FAUEE

If you sell it to someone who wanted that done, you could maybe recoup some money. If you trade in, at best you won't lose value. Many dealers may subtract value because it isnt stock anymore.

spdkilz911

I sold my 08 narrow body and bought a 12 GS. It didn't make since to me to go through the transformation. Like stated above, at the end of the day it's an 08 with modified panels. Does it look good? Absolutely! But financially it was worth it to upgrade to the GS.

cgladish

i put it in the same category as any modification. unless you know the person who did it ( craftsmanship, quality of parts ), you're always
going to have that nagging feeling. how will it hold up? did they do a good job? regardless, it'll never sell for GS monies.
if you don't have the funds for a GS but, can swing the conversion then maybe it makes sense. but then only if you plan a keeping it for a while.
otherwise, wait for the $$$ to grow a bit then step up to stock GS.

BWF07

I bought an '07 some 8 years ago with the wide body rear conversion. The original owner also added ARH and X-Pipe with their high-flo cats. The full size Z06 rear wheels and tires also new wheels up front to match the rear but in the standard size. The wheels were black chrome. I paid what a 2008 3LT Z51 sod for. No more for the extras. So if you plan to keep the car for a while and don't mind not getting your money out of it then go for it. Not very often does an owner of a modified car get back what they put into it.

cmonkey713

To answer the OP's question, yes it will in most cases impact the value in a negative way. There are exceptions if you can find a potential buyer that likes the conversion but on a trade in the value would most likely be severely impacted. A full conversion can run about $20K including panels, install, paint, brakes, wheels and tires. For that kind of investment you may want to consider trading for a GS or Z-06

Guyzer7

I'm in the process of doing the rear wide body conversion and taking it in on Monday to have it painted and installed. I bought all panels, parts and wheels on Craigslist at discounted pricing. I'm keeping the base brakes and caliper covers since I don't race the car.

When I bought the car a year ago, I started doing(and had done) improvements that were time consuming and cost money. I sound deadened the rear and door panels, added a complete sound system, added an NPP exhaust(after trying and reselling a Loudmouth and B&B PRT), changed wheel style, Bilstein shocks, new end links, Hotchkiss rear sway bar, added rear spoiler, changed to LED interior lights, tinted the windows, Morimoto red led taillights, changed to 3" Z06 exhaust to the axle back exhaust, added NPP in a box(Mild 2 Wild) and street tune, clear Targa roof panel, installed refurbished headlights, "stuck in park" mod(cut the pawl). These mods create value for me, but not for the market, and I'm OK with that.

Let's face it, we all love the wide booty look and about three months ago, I was considering either buying a GS or doing the rear wide body conversion. My final decision to do the conversion was based on consideration for all the time and money I have already spent on mods for my base model. If I were to buy a GS, I would still do the exact same upgrades on that car on top of the premium price of the GS(twice as much as my base model!).

I paid $17,000 cash for my stock '08 with 70k miles. A '12 or '13 GS generally ranges from for $32 to $38K depending on trim, mileage and condition. That's twice as much as my base Vette!

For my situation, the cost of buying a GS would have kept me out of the market, but after Monday, I will have that famous WIDE BOOTY rear for a fraction of the cost of a GS.

Stay thirsty my friends!

BigBlok502

I went full wide body, I enjoy modifying my Corvettes and did all of the work myself. When and if I sell it, I'll worry about the value then. Until that time I will continue to enjoy my Corvette.

449er

Unless you are doing the paint/body work yourself, sell your car & go buy a wide body

doomi

Do what I did and buy a used OEM set that matches your car. I only have $1200 in my wide booty, plus the wheels. Certainly can't get a Grand Sport for that difference.

ByRiver

If you aren't going to install the bigger brake rotors and calipers, which require larger wheels, I wouldn't do it. It isn't going to look right. IMHO. Trade up to a GS or Z06.

jrose7004

I wanted a wide body. After looking at the cost for parts and labor I sold my base car and bought a Grand Sport.

Guyzer7

As a follow up to my post #9, I got all the required parts off of Craigslist for $1,500. Quarter panels, wheel liners, brake air ducts, inner and outer air duct scoops and mud flaps. Although the mudflaps were pretty worn so I bought some new ones. Got a clean set of four Z06 double 5 spoke chrome rims for $640 and a pair of new rear 325 Hankooks for $450 on Amazon( I am using my almost new front 245 Hankooks for the 9.5" fronts and swapping my TPMS all around). Professional paint and install $2,200. So I will roughly be into it for just under $5,000 for a "rear only" wide booty. The additional cost of selling my base model and upgrading to a GS would be at least $20,000+. Then add sales tax, registration and the process of customizing which cost more time and more money.

But back to the OP question. If you trade it in, not only do you lose a huge chunk of money on the trade in value of any car, but when a car is modified, the trade in value drops even more significantly. If you sell it privately, it may take longer to sell, but you would get top dollar(way more than a trade in value) and probably get a slight premium for the wide booty. Bottom line: Trade in ~ Bad. Private sale ~ Good

Old Man in a C

Lost me on that one. I can't see how a comparably equipped GS would be 20K more than the base model.
Anyway, I vote for "movin' on" up to the GS.

Guyzer7

Let's do the math. I bought mine('08 1LT) for $17,000 a year ago and could probably still get that out of it. A super clean('12 or '13), low mile, 3LT GS ranges from $34,000 to $38,000. The difference would be a range of $17,000 to $21,000. Not to mention sales tax to give you the true cost of the car.

BMF_C6

O5 Base with wide booty - love the look and was cheaper than selling it and buying a GS

BadAV

Apples and oranges; you can't compare a 1LT base to a 3LT GS and expect a fair comparison on cost difference.

As far as trade-in, I would bet most dealers wouldn't know enough about a Corvette to realize a rear-only conversion had been done unless you told them.

I personally would sell the base and buy a GS.

BWF07

My '07 with just the rear wide body conversion. Like some others have said, this is a lot cheaper then selling and finding a GS or Z06 and besides it is only the rear that is done. I kept the front stock size wheels although they are black chrome to match the wide 12" wheels in the rear.