Best way to raise sell value....

Lets say I wanted to get the MOST possible out of my car (sig), what should I do to get the optimum? I'm thinking new paint, rebuild engine, possible new tranny and clutch (OEM), the chrome OEM wheels (16"), new belts and hoses all around, extensive cleaning, order new stock (leather instead of cloth) seats, carpet, and anything else interior....thats all I can think of. And do you guys think adding power windows/doorlocks and fog lights would make for a better sale price? I know most people dont like the idea of buying a pre-modded car...so im just goin to keep it stock except for sound. My goal is to get a bone stock '97+ GSX under 70k miles in 2 years(<-18th b-day, I figure that kinda GSX will be about $10-12k by then.)

Here is the thing, I paid $2k for my car...it will most likely cost near twice that much, if not a little more to refurbish the car as I have listed (I will be doing the rebuilld and everything else on my own, so no labor cost, except paint.) Anyways, how much do you guys think I can get for a '97 RS mint condition? If I can't make back what I put into it, then im not even going through the trouble.

Thanks.

I don't think you will get the money you are planning on putting in back. If I were you, I would just clean the exterior and interior and make the car look as nice as it can and list it for $3000.All the things you are planning on putting on, (leather, power windows and stuff) won't get you the extra $2000, and if people are looking for a RS, they know it doesn't have leather or power windows, and probably wouldn't pay more for it.
My 2cents.

Ok, thanks, anyone else want to voice their opinions? As for people knowing the RS dosen't have power windows, leather, etc. I could just slap on the GS OEM bodykit....noone would ever know the diff. But still, if noone thinks I wont get back what went in....say so.

You can slap on the OEM body kit and "make" it a GS. However, you know if you are intentionally selling a car as a higher model and expect the buyer to pay a higher price for it because its a higher model, its illegel. Someone on here a couple of months ago actually thought he bought a GS, because it had a GS badge on it, but when he found out that it was actually an RS, he was pissed.

Oh...I really didn't think there was that big of a diffrence between a RS and GS BESIDES badging and some interior accesories, the bodykit and maybe the wheels. So actually, if I added all that, wouldnt it MAKE it a higher model in a sense? Sort of a low-scale conversion....?

You won't have a GS even if you add all of the things that the RS didn't have. You know why, because your car's title and the VIN will always report back your car as an RS.
If you really want to make it a GS, you can add the power windows/locks, get the OEM body kit, get the 16in rims, change the rear brakes from drums to discs, and make it a GS, but then when the buyer comes and look at the car, runs a carfax, or run an report on your VIN, they will see that its an RS, and they will only want to pay you what a RS is worth, you think they will care if you tell them, "oh, you should pay me what a GS is worth cause I added everything on there." Now, if the buyer doesn't know alot about cars, you might be able to get away with it, but I won't take the risk.

Nah, I don't want to "scam" anyone into thinking a RS is a GS...it wouldn't be worth it (plus I would never scam anyone anyways..) I was just figuring if my RS had the equal amount if not more luxury/misc. accesories, than its just as good....but I guess not. Thanks for letting me know that even IF my RS was better (RS>GS) it would still sell for less than the GS.

I understand how you feel, you want to make the car as nice as possible so it would sell more easly and bring more money. However, I find that you rarely get the money back they you put in your car, so I don't want you to waste money putting on stuff and not getting it back. I would just clean the inside and out, make it look clean and shiny, so the buyer know that this car is taken care of, and they will be more willing to pay more for your car then another car in worst shape.
And, good luck.

you wont get back the money from all the work you first talked about. what i would do is thoroughly clean the interior and exterior. wax the outside, armorall the inside. take off any mods you have. get a shop to check it out and give you a report on the condition of the car. also get it inspected or at least checked for inspection so that you can say it has a fresh inspection.

get rid of it as soon as possibel to get the most for it. and clean the shit out of it. everyday it depreciates more and anything you spend on it will barely get you any returns.

redoing the tranny and everythin u would be putin more money in the car then u would get for it

you can't make a car "worth" more. a GSX that does a 9 sec 1/4 mile is still worth blue book. because a bank will only finance a car up to bluebook. NEVER over. doesn't mater what you do to it. the person would have to pay cash for the amount over blue book. thats why its hard to find a GSX, people always ask more than blue book because its rare, but you can't finance it. i had this problem. it has nothing to do with credit, its just the way it is