Modded vs UnModded DSM - Reliability

[crazysweetguy]

I was looking at buying a modded GSX. It looks like it was very well taken care of. He put around $15,000 worth of stuff on it. What is the reliability of a modded DSM car vs. an unmodded DSM if the driver does not get on it all the time real hard. If I buy a modded car then it is it going to cost me a lot more to maintain it than an unmodded car? How many miles have you guys gotten out of a modded car? Will it hurt the resale value of the car if I have it a while then decide to sell it later since it will have been driven with mods?

 

[DSM_PWR]

Depends on how "modded" the car is...

In the end it all comes down to WHO did the work, most DSMers will F things up/half-a$$ and hense become "unreliable" while others buy the correct parts and take there time and take very well care of their cars...

 

[TRSblader]

Taking the driver out of it, it all comes down to maintenance. Plenty of people get hundreds of thousands of miles out of their modded cars. And that goes for all cars, not just DSM's.

 

[RednekBubba]

Depends on how "modded" the car is...

In the end it all comes down to WHO did the work, most DSMers will F things up/half-a$$ and hense become "unreliable" while others buy the correct parts and take there time and take very well care of their cars...

In agreement on this. My car was built by someone else, I trust the motor. But have had none stop issues with other stuff they did as far as bolt ons are concerned. They sure didn't go about building the car the way it should have been.

Also in agreement with the maintenance side. Very very important aspecially with modded stuff.

 

[SubversionX]

As said above, it really depends on how reliably modified and maintained it is. There are a lot of different factors in play including how hard it was driven, how it was tuned, what kind of parts were used (ie. used vs brand new), how often the oil was changed, if the work was done by someone who knows what they're doing, etc. Do what feels right. Follow your heaaaart simbaaaa...

 

[iminadaze]

I chose to get a clean stock dsm and am doing the mods myself or have them done while in my posession, then at least you know what is being put into it,
and the abuse those parts have been put through, for me its just peace of mind, and not to mention very satisfying to see (and feel) your accomplishment.

 

[tz97awd]

Bought my 2gb talon a few years back bone stock with 86,000 miles on it.. about to hit 130,000 with no serious problems and shes as reliable as ever!

 

[norcal_drifter]

depends who did the work i bought mine bone stock but if i could id buy one with mods and redo everything myself would save some money in the long run

 

[crazysweetguy]

The car was done by a professional shop. He says that he has receipts for it. The car is a 1998 GSX with a new black paint job. Here are the mods and what he has stated (copied and pasted) ...

First off, I just want to say that this is an actual running DSM and has NO PROBLEMS at all! There's nothing that you have to fix on it! It's going to be the cleanest GSX you've ever seen because I have been very meticulous about things and I have taken great care of the car. I've owned it for about 4 years and have done very extensive repairs and upgrades. I have every receipt available for this car to prove how much money I've put into this thing. It's somewhere between $16k - $18k total that I have in her. I just got it back from getting a new motor put in and also had a new complete paint job done to it. It's a gorgeous looking car! It's an automatic with 145k miles on the body (I bought it with 113k miles so I barely drove this car in the time that I owned it). I was told that the new engine has 104k miles. Every part that's been put on and every tune on the dyno has been done professionally by SlowMotion Motorsports. The dyno graphs are available to prove that she's close to hitting 300 horsepower to all wheels on 8 psi. The Big 16G turbo is capable of 35 psi so she's got more to go. Here's the list of upgrades that I have done over the past 4 years:

Custom AEM Intake
* Custom 2 1/4" Intercooler Piping
* REAL Greddy Type S Blow Off Valve
* Strut Bar
* NGK Plugs and Wires
* BIG 16G EVO III Turbo
* SS Braided Oil Lines
* Aluminum Racing Radiator
* 680cc Injectors from Precision Turbo and Engine
* Front Mount Intercooler from Precision Turbo and Engine (350hp capable)
* 18" ADR Rims and Lexani Tires
* Greddy Profec-B II Electronic Boost Controller
* HKS Turbo Timer
* A Pillar with Boost, A/F and Oil Gauges
* The A/F gauge is the LC-1 by Innovate Motorsports which was a $300 gauge alone, not some cheap A/F gauge that isn't accurate
* Walbro 255 fuel pump
* Compustar Alarm & Remote Start with 2 Way Paging System - range is ridiculous! It says 6,000 feet. It was installed at Columbus Car Audio and was $680.
* See website for details: RF-P2WSS | 2 Way LCD Remote Kit | Remote Starts and Alarms | Compustar.com
* Full 3' Turbo Back OBX Exhaust with a 4" Muffler
* 2 3/4" O2 Housing with an Open Dump
* EVO III Exhaust Manifold
* ECM Link V3 for datalogging
* All 4 Axles AND wheel bearings have been replaced (big issue with these cars)
* New Timing Belt and Water Pump within the past 15k miles
* KYB Gas Struts in the front
* New brakes and rotors all the way around within the past 10k miles
* All oil changes done every 3k miles with Mobil 1 Synthetic
* A/C works (don't worry, it's cold) and the heat works perfectly!

What kind of price would be good for this car? He told me that he had blown the last engine because he boosted it too much playing around with the setting and had this one set to 8 psi so that he didn't do it again on this last engine that he put in the car. He says that you can adjust the boost electronically on it. Would it need to be tuned each time you do that? I do not want to raise the boost up too high as to damage the engine.

He also says that it gets 17 mpg city 23 mpg highway. I have gotten 20 city / 31 highway out of my eclipse gst and out of the talon tsi I used to have. I imagine the mods have declined the fuel economy some.

I guess what I am trying to figure out is what kind of maintanance I will have to do on this car that I would not have had to do on a stock or lightly modded GST. Is this car considered a heavier modded car? He says he has around $15-18K in this car.

Thanks for the responses so far as you are being a great help. I appreciate it. I am a true newbie when it comes to mods. I would not do it myself but need to know some about them.

 

[Nvisabl]

Reliable is a question of who, what, where, when and How. We have numerous cars slightly modded or insanely modded some stock motor other full builds, I think a good example is my Colt the stock 4g61t went 353,000 miles with the last 150,000 or so whith a 60trim and the last 80,000 of that at 27psi on pump gas.. ( I change oil every 2000miles) Car I built many years ago 90 awd has 280,000miles on the motor small 16g 20psi plus car ran 12.49 @ 109mph with 260,000 on motor and the head has never been off .. 2g car in shop on second built motor first 2.0 still running just different car the 2.3lt now has 3076 at 32psi on pump moves 58lbs of air has over 9000 miles daily driver .. All three of the cars get TLC regular extra maintenance.

 

[Black Widow97]

Yeah, like stated many times above, it all depends. Depends on what's done, who did it, what products they bought, and how much (time and/or money) they were willing to spend. They say pick two of the fallowing three: Cheap, Fast, Reliable.

(I choose fast and reliable. But for some reason not everyone else does. )

 

[dsm03]

$15k-$18k,,..... And only 300hp...



Sounds like he didnt spend the money in the right place...



Dont know man.. This car sounds like he will be asking to much?



What is the asking price if I may?

 

[Novec64]

What kind of price would be good for this car? He told me that he had blown the last engine because he boosted it too much playing around with the setting and had this one set to 8 psi so that he didn't do it again on this last engine that he put in the car. He says that you can adjust the boost electronically on it. Would it need to be tuned each time you do that? I do not want to raise the boost up too high as to damage the engine.

He also says that it gets 17 mpg city 23 mpg highway. I have gotten 20 city / 31 highway out of my eclipse gst and out of the talon tsi I used to have. I imagine the mods have declined the fuel economy some.

I guess what I am trying to figure out is what kind of maintanance I will have to do on this car that I would not have had to do on a stock or lightly modded GST. Is this car considered a heavier modded car? He says he has around $15-18K in this car.

Price obviously varies a lot and depends on how much you want the car, but i would guess $4-$5k. Even if the current setup is tuned it is a 100k+ engine so that could go either way. It seems like he's trying to do stuff right though. You can reasonably up the boost without a re-tune, but use a wideband and research a bit more first. Also if he doesn't have receipts for the timing belt, water pump, plugs, wires, etc....I would replace that stuff and all of the fluids.

$15k-$18k,,..... And only 300hp...



Sounds like he didnt spend the money in the right place...



Dont know man.. This car sounds like he will be asking to much?



What is the asking price if I may?

It seems like he bought decent parts and is trying to do things right anyway.

 

[judozuna]

It just doesn't seem like its worth it to me

You can get 300 hp for a lot cheaper than this, plus its an automatic which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I think most of us would prefer a manual if given the choice.

 

[crazysweetguy]

He was asking $8350 and I got him down to $6500. He said he didn't really want to go below $7000 and I told him that I didn't really want to go above $6000. I was going to try to get it for $5000 but after getting an idea before throwing a number out there he said he would refuse any low offer like $5000. He is about 2 1/2 hours from me so that is a bit closer than some of the other cars that I have found but wish it was red instead of black. To spend a lot on a car and it not be the exact color you like would be frustrating although the black looks great too.

It has been so hard to find the right car especially with an automatic with mods. I prefer gst red with grey or black leather interior and that seems like it is hard to find. I have to get an automatic because my brother will be driving this car as well and he has a bad ankle due to surgery he had on it a while back (pins) and does not want to mess with the clutch. I was preferring a GST due to it not weighing as much and less on it to go bad along with it being cheaper.

I figured the mods would make up for the weight difference of the AWD and allow the car to handle better especially in turns. We do not get much snow here so I was not all that concerned about that plus I have a four wheel drive truck.

I told him that I didn't really want to pay that much for it due to the mileage on the engine and especially the transmission. I wanted to get one a little cheaper so that I would have a little bit of a cushion to fix something if it breaks such as engine or tranny. I don't want to put more money in the car and never get it back like he did. He did tell me that he put another engine in the car because he figured he would be able to get more out of it that way.

This car is sharp looking and looks almost like brand new. I do not see any tears in the seats, new paint job. I'd more comfortable paying around $5,000 for a car like this though. He says he has receipts for everything plus the dyno papers. I thought it was a lot for him to spend to get it up to 300 hp and I figure he would be wanting more out of it since he has a lot put into it.

 

[judozuna]

I would consider it moderately modded.

Is the engine that he just had put in it completely stock or does it have aftermarket internals and the "block" has over 100,00 on it? If he blew up his engine I would assume he was driving it pretty rough or boosting it way too much on a stock engine. he may have just tossed an old one in to get rid of it.

If I was in this situation I would go take it for a test drive and bring someone who knows dsms with you. You could also set up an appointment with either the shop he had it built at or another shop in the area to go have it checked out.

I would be a little weary because I just know if I spent $18,000 on building a dsm I would not let it go for $6,500 unless I was in some kind of dire emergency IE: my mom needed an operation or something. Just be careful and be smart about it.

I wish you luck

 

[Hideki]

Hell, that "reliability" with our cars is a crapshoot. I've only ever used the best high quality parts on the market, and when I needed work done I've resorted to only the most skilled of DSM craftsmen. But in reality mine still breaks down all the time, everything on it has broken at one time or another and it only has 70K-ish miles on the thing. Broke-in my new 2.1 destroker a few months back and it started to run hot last night, don't get me wrong this thing is brutally fast for what it is (the reason I hold onto it) but I never gauge this car on the "reliability" factor for what it's worth. I know everything that was done to my car, I bought one that was low milage and unmodified for a reason. Would I buy one modified by someone else? That's a crapshoot.

 

[jed344]

i went the stock route like alot of people have mine was a 97 with 132k but all stock and have had very littles issues with it my buddy got a 99gsx with less miles but modified and hes has so many issues. to each his own but i like doing it myself and doing it right the first time so i have piece of mind

 

[DSM_PWR]

Thread is useless without pics of said car

 

[crazysweetguy]

Here is a link to the pictures of said car:

Flickr: dreamnofr1's Photostream

 

[judozuna]

Well it definitely looks really clean, that's for sure

 

[dsm03]

Pretty Damn mint! Still dont believe the parts cost between that said amount...

 

[knochgoon24]

It's not $15,000 in parts, but if he paid labor for all the the work then he could hit $15k pretty easily.

 

[Zac692069]

Taking the driver out of it, it all comes down to maintenance. Plenty of people get hundreds of thousands of miles out of their modded cars. And that goes for all cars, not just DSM's.

true dat!

 

[98spydereugene]

Bought a completely unmodified 2ga eclipse with 100k and threw a rod first week, bought a 2gb eclipse spyder with 125k with mods and never had any problems, even running 15lbs daily and driving hard, crapshoot right???