Will a custom color repaint affect resale (1 Viewer)

[toyo9092]

First of some history. I bought a lx450 and took off the body cladding. The body is fairly rough so a repaint has been on the list from day one. A local guy gave me a deal on a repaint I can't pass up so it's going in a couple weeks for that. He's welding the holes and doing all the body work so it should be nice when done.

I'd originally thought I'd just do a factory respray of the original color because it would be, well, original. But now im starting to consider a custom color.

My question is, will that make my 80 less sellable if it's a custom color versus a factory color. I realize I've already taken the cladding off so it's already not original anymore. I'm not planning to sell anytime soon but if I ever do would it affect the value? Maybe that's an irrelevant question because I imagine a custom color already narrows down potential buyers if I ever sell. If I do a custom color it would probably be a late model Subaru green or Hyundai has a nice late model blue also.

 

[BILT4ME]

No. Paint it how you want it.

 

[voodu3]

X2 on paint it whatever color you want. It’s your truck. Post some pics when it’s done!

 

[REKCUT]

You answer would be qualified by condition of truck and quality of paint job. I personally hate color changes with the rare exception of ones done with all parts disassembled. Meaning i cant stand opening hood or doors and seeing original color. If your truck is low miles and clean then i feel its worth most with original paint. The higher the miles and or the worse the current condition then the less it will effect or even increase price but not value as a quality paint job is very expensive when you consider time spent. If you have the ability to strip truck down to the bare metal and remove engine then I feel like you can create something special but if your just getting the truck "taped off" and colored then i think it will negatively effect the value to many buyers. That said if its what you want then its your $$$ and very few things that we customize these trucks with bring back dollar for dollar value.

 

[toyo9092]

I have no plans to sell it but I think you all know how it goes with vehicles. Its fairly low miles, 167000, all new or refurbished interior but I'm definitely not doing an $80k restore job. But with it being a Lexus that already lowers its value IMO. And I certainly won't be pulling the motor for the repaint. If I would change the color i would do the door jams and complete hood. But probably not the firewall.

 

[toyo9092]

@voodu3 Ya I'll post some up when it's done.

 

[sxp]

What color is it now? If it's black, you could get away with a color change, and the engine bay won't look too bad. You could always two tone it if you want it to be unique.

 

[toyo9092]

No it's not black. Here it is stripped and ready for the body shop. I'l be taking off the roof rack yet too.

 

[bicycleagent003]

Are you going to have all those holes filled, or are you having the flares and body cladding painted to match and reinstalling them? I haven't seen the blue or green you are considering, but if they are strange colors then I could see that affecting the resale value. Some modern colors are a bit odd, and if someone is looking to buy a 25 year old SUV they might be more interested in an aesthetic that does not include whatever shade of blue a modern Korean car company focus groups into life. (Not intended to be a knock on Koreans or Korean car companies.)

Also, consider that Toyota only sells the seals which fill the gaps between the fender flares and the body in original colors. So, if you spray it a cool (to you) blue or green be prepared to live with fender flare seals which aren't the same color.

If it were me, and I had any inkling that I would be selling it in the next few years, I'd respray it the original color, a different color Toyota/Lexus offered, or a heritage Cruiser color like tan. FWIW, many people on this board at least consider white the best color. If I could snap my fingers and make mine a different color it would be white.
Good luck, post up some pics to let us know how it turned out.

 

[DocuDude]

You'll never get back what you put into it, financially speaking.

Pick the color you want, enjoy the ride.

I notice the Toyota badge in the front of your Lexus, is your ultimate goal to make it look like a LC?

 

[COYS]

If you have to ask, it probably means it’s irrelevant.

 

[FJBen]

Unless you put it all back to stock, a GOOD paint job won't hurt the value, especially if it's documented that you aren't trying to hide shoddy work or something. Someone wanting that with those Michenlin's and lift on there probably won't care to much about color.

 

[rolliges]

Might want to correct the grill/headlight mis-match.

Nice look without the cladding/flares plus the steelies and skinny tires. Like it.

 

[sxp]

I'd swap back to a Lexus grill after the repaint. Nothing wrong with it being a Lexus.

 

[toyo9092]

@DocuDude Ya I'll keep the Lexus grill and head lights to install later if I want to but ya if I could find a set of LC head lights that were in as good of shape as my lx ones I'd swap them in. Still on the hunt.

@rolliges Thanks! Ya im looking forward to see how it turns out. Those tires actually ride better than I was hoping they would.

@bicycleagent003 Yes when I bought it I was wanting white. My original plan was to go UN with the body. My dad had a UN spec 80 when I was growing up so that's originally where this was headed. Might still go that route yet. And ya the holes are getting welded shut, no flares.

 

[toyo9092]

I'd swap back to a Lexus grill after the repaint. Nothing wrong with it being a Lexus.

Most likely it'll be all Toyota when done.

 

[Cass007]

I think of how many of us that have bed linered their trucks and paint seems so much more tame, but there is a difference between a wheeled rig and a mall cruiser. I'm considering the paint dilemma on my mall cruiser LX, but if I do paint it a different color (def gonna be blue) then it will have to be stripped down so all the door jams and engine compartment can be painted to match. Having mismatched colors on a wheeling rig is fine imo, having them on a DD just looks sloppy.

 

[SHREDwagon]

I'm not planning to sell anytime soon but if I ever do would it affect the value?

Yes, it will affect value. Look at all the 40 Series that were heavily modified that are now worth pennies on the dollar. If you're not staying original, or doing easily reversible mods - you're building a trail rig for yourself and shouldn't care about re-sale i.e. paint it whatever color you want. Think about if you had left your Lexus completely stock with that low mileage and focused on the mechanical while OEM parts are still available. How much would it be worth in 10 years? If a seller has $7k in OEM parts receipts vs a paint job - which is worth more?

 

[White Stripe]

Heavily modified 40s sell for far more than stock restored 40s. It all depends on the modifications and if they are made in bad taste. Some mods devalue, some increase. A crappy poorly done paint job or one painted a weird color scheme will not increase value.

 

[toyo9092]

Well I'm certainly not trying to make a show piece or a collector out of it. Just trying to not make a stupid decision. I've been thinking this over for a long time and really appreciate the input from you guys. I'll probably keep it the original color unless I buckle down and hand over more benjamins to get the door jams and wheel wells done also. I'm certainly not going to go to the work of doing the complete engine bay. BTW the cladding was really beat up hence the reasoning behind taking it off. Thanks again.