Mod or stay stock?
 

I bought my 23 ZL1 with the thought of building one last big V8 before everything goes electric. I am local to 21stCMC and their 775 package (bolt ons, headers, cam, pulley, tune) package is about $12k. I said I wouldn’t spend much on anything else but I’m already in about $7k with PPF, ceramic coating, CF spoiler, lowering springs, and other cosmetic stuff. With the 775 package 12k, I would be in the car for almost $100k. I feel like the current mods all add value to the next buyer but the performance mods will significantly limit the market. Should I just enjoy the car for what it is and preserve the resale or just WtF and go all in on the mods? I am traditionally a road course person with some highway fun thrown in. I’ve been in modified cadillac V cars over the last ten years and my wife doesn’t dig the ZL1 as much. Distilled, does the performance gain from stock justify the initial cost and associated depreciation in your experience?

'Should I just enjoy the car for what it is and preserve the resale "

Winner. Not only will you not get a penny out of the mods , it puts it in to a much smaller window of potential buyers on the back end. .02

My two cents since you’re asking. You’re already talking about the next buyer….your wife doesn’t really dig it. Just drive it as is and have fun with it if resale is on your mind. Stock cars always have more value, especially when said car is soon to become unobtanium as a new unmolested vehicle. If you have a need for speed and honestly who doesn’t, then you’re screwed, and just consider that money spent…..

My thoughts... Cars are not investments, they are either transportation, or entertainment. Life is short, so long the investment doesn't prevent you from meeting retirement goals... go all in, and build / drive, and enjoy what you can, when you can.

It's pretty simple: if you're already planning to sell the car, keep it stock for the best resale value, otherwise if you want to enjoy it to the fullest, go ahead with the mods and know that you're dumping that money into your own entertainment, never to be recouped.

Well "some" cars are investments, but I'm not sure a Chevy Camaro is in that category! One of my first posts on the forum here was almost the exact same questions!!! So my opinion is! WOW, look at all the fun you will have if you mod !!!

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=609588

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=611982

Cars are a poor investment. If your main concern is maintaining resale value, then leave it stock or do mild mods that can be returned to stock. Mods do nothing for the value of the car most of the time, unless you find that 1 in a million buyer that values what you've done.

Sounds like you got into something that cost more than you thought and now you're having second thoughts because you don't see the value in having an expensive toy. Leave the car as it is and enjoy it. PPF and low miles will help keep the cars maximum value, but it wont make it worth more.

I got caught up in the mod craze with my 2013 ZL1. It turned out to be an expensive nightmare and drastically reduced my enjoyment of the car. The experience left such a bad taste in my mouth I vowed to keep my 2017 stock and only do cosmetic mods. Short of a drop-in Green filter and removal of the rain/snow blocker my car is mechanically all stock. It has turned out to be 100% more enjoyable to own and drive than my ‘13 ever was.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the mod craze reading this forum but my advise is don’t go chasing HP for HP sake. The engineers did a great job designing the 6th gen ZL1. Enjoy the car for what it is and save the money for something else you’ll enjoy.

If you are already thinking of the next buyer of your car don't mod.

On the other hand you seem to want to experience a built car. I look at my car as an entertainment expense and not an investment or what the next buyer may not want. I don't plan on ever selling my car at my age. This is the car and build I have always dreamed of and I get immense joy from owning and driving it. I actually tour and take travel trips with it to other car events. If you know you only intend to keep the car a few years, leave it alone.

Sounds like you already know the answer.

Just to balance out the "no mods" crowd a bit, I never regretted modding my 2SS, it's much better than stock in every way with the same reliability and usability. A true Jekyll and Hyde car that has everything one could be looking for in a Camaro.

With that said, I did admit to myself that upgrading the powertrain was beyond my capabilities and decided to go about it the $$ way with Ted Jannetty's shop. The choice of professionals who work on your car makes a huge difference with mods, and while it's true that GM has all the information to make a stock car very dependable, this doesn't mean nobody else can do a good job.

Oh, and another point, it's not that stock cars are immune to issues either, just look at the dealership service horror stories here. I got very fortunate with the dealership techs who ever touched my car, they have been all top notch.

Always mod, make it your own!

I have to agree with hawk02’s post as I have been there before with a 1998 Camaro SS and a 2010 2SS that had mods done to them and didn’t recoup any of the money spent when I decided to move on to another Camaro. I could spend a s**t load of money on modding my ZL1 but it’s just not worth it to me especially now since they are targets for car thieves!

I’ll say this. ALL the above, in whole, boils down to personal preference and what you want for your car, not what others did. I'll suggest this, there are no wrong opinions, but sometimes wrong advise. As for me, I didn't have my car stock for very long (I think I started mods at 97 miles). But, that was my intension when I decided to buy my 2023 ZL1. I wasn't worried about resell value or warranty. But, I didn't want a car that was just another stock ZL1 that would pull up to the traffic light beside me! I wanted more, more in performance, sound and awesomeness! Sure, I made some mistakes along the way, but, I'm glad I've done every mod I've done! For me, the first mod I really enjoyed was the exhaust! Wow does my car sound awesome! From there, it was really enjoyable going from my first around of mods to adding Flex fuel and fuel booster running E60. That was an instant driving RUSH! So, do what you want, don't be pushed into anything you are not up for. Remember, at the end of the day if you turn off the internet! Have your car, your way, the way you like, for how you drive, and not how someone else has their car!

If you had to ask this question, then No leave it stock.

650 factory horsepower. Leave it stock. Drive, maintain and enjoy. :D

Keep it stock. A ZL1 is already a heavily modded v8 SS (+200hp and +200ft-lbs for ~$100 per hp) with some other very nice upgrades.

Enjoy it as is. 650 ft-lbs is already more than most tires can handle, and you'll start running into compromises if you want tires to hook above that.

Rarely do mods make it better, and I've never heard of anyone getting any return on the investment. Most of the time the modded car is worse. Sometimes much worse.

And raise your hand if you want to deal with someone else's ragged out bad running headache locked behind a "proprietary" tune.

Gunkk - With all due respect, I realize you've been around this forum a lot longer than I have. But, those are pretty direct statements you are making: 1) "Rarely do mods make it better..." and 2) "Most of the time the modded car is worse..." and 3) "bad running headache locked behind a "proprietary" tune..." My car has many mods and it runs awesome, no headaches on how it runs, at all. The only headaches came when I did a mod but didn't really know what I was doing and had a learning curve. Also, I'm not sure why you would consider a tune proprietary. Any one can tune a tuned car, even if it's a tune from another tuner. I started off with CSP tuning my car and then my mods go to a certain point where I then turned to Ted at JRE. I can still have my next tune done by any other tuner.

Boomer/fud talk.



Each to their own.

Warranty or no warranty, that's what I ask myself. Considering I already had warranty work, it's stock for me until that warranty expires.

This is awesomeness.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5-SbXr...u.be#searching

Smoking19 that is AWESOME !!!! One day!!! I'll do a CAM, then it's to the MAX with everything else!

Probably end of this summer !

Your story sounds familiar. I seem to do this every time. This time I spent the extra for the ZL1 over the SS. Tinted the windows and installed blacked out side markers, done. Car is a rush to drive.