At what point does "used" become a dimishing value?

[mmiller40]

Been on the hunt for a SC for a while now but this also applies to my dealing on craigslist, eBay, other forums and other hobbies.
I put a WTB SC thread here and a few other places. So lets use the most common SC I have been offered. The satin Paxton Novi 2200 HO kit. 4850$ shipped (cash) at brenspeed new kit, a few places offering even lower but non advertised in 4700 range shipped. So lets do some math and figure out where it becomes a better idea to buy new than used. Help me out guys. I'm am always in the market for a deal, even if I buy used.

50% off 2350$ I would be suspect, price too good to be true
40% off 2820$ Reasonable area to me, wopuld buy today
30% off 3290$ Pushing it IMO but would still likely jump at this price for a relatively new one in good shape
20% off 3760$ At this point your are saving 1K off retail. The bargain hunter in me would wait for a better deal
10% off 4230$ No way would rather buy NEW for 500$ more

For what it is worth most have wanted between 3500 with no plugs, injectors, or tuner to 4200 for the full kit. Then there is a guy who is throwing in delete plates and 4.10 gears for 4800$. A whooping 10% off brenspeeds everyday price. If I include the better non advertised deal a few are running not even close to 10% off retail. If it was new sure, but 5K on both gears and kit...?

Anyway I know some will say new is the only way to go and other will go any length to save a buck. What I want to know is where is the middle ground?

 

[94tbird]

anytime you buy used your generally going to be missing parts, hoses, pieces and after you buy all that crap you've saved next to nothing. and it all costs time because you dont evne realize your missing stuff till you get there. With my buddym, he bought a used vortech kit off a ford dealer who had it on a show car, barely ran a few minutes with the kit on and was advertised as professionally installed and removed. tons of broken crap, missing hoses brackets, ect. was a nightmare. Had to buy a brand new vortech kit from summit in the end.

 

[mmiller40]

anytime you buy used your generally going to be missing parts, hoses, pieces and after you buy all that crap you've saved next to nothing. and it all costs time because you dont evne realize your missing stuff till you get there. With my buddym, he bought a used vortech kit off a ford dealer who had it on a show car, barely ran a few minutes with the kit on and was advertised as professionally installed and removed. tons of broken crap, missing hoses brackets, ect. was a nightmare. Had to buy a brand new vortech kit from summit in the end.

And stories like that (I have heard same thing from several peeps) make me wonder if even a half off kit would be worth the hassle

 

[Kankakee]

When I bought my kit he guaranteed everything was in the boxes. Nope all intercooler brackets were missing and he already traded in the car. That was 250$ on top of the rest I just paid.

I still got a decent deal, though.

 

[Bullitt3478]

I bought a Paxton 2200 HO polished kit on this forum three weeks ago.It according to the owner has 2500 miles on the whole system.I got the kit,and a brand new, never installed ,still in the boxes, 8 rib pulley kit with belt.And a canton catch can to replace the Paxton one.To my knowledge going threw the boxes and lookin pretty hard it appears evey hose,bracket and nuts/bolts are there.I paid 3300 bucks shipped from SD to Ga.And this included 3 percent paypal fees.The seller did notify as soon as he realised it didnt have the fuel pump with it.Which is ok cuz I am using a KB BAP anyway.I think I did pretty well considering what is out there on the used market,That being said I spent 3300 bucks on something I couldnt put my hands on at the time of purchase that I new was used, it was a hard pill to swallow but for now I am glad I did.I just hope when I get it to the shop for the install that it is as complete as I think it is...LOL.A Vortch v2 aftercooled kit sold the same week,the buyer of that one and I have chatted and I know he got it a little cheaper than I got mine I wanna say around 2800 shipped.So the deals are out there I guess if the timing is right.Good luck with your search. By the way that seller has dropped the price on that paxton to 4500 , He is lookin at that NIB whipple that is for sale on this forum and he has to sell his to buy it.

 

[TonyN]

anytime you buy used your generally going to be missing parts, hoses, pieces and after you buy all that crap you've saved next to nothing. and it all costs time because you dont evne realize your missing stuff till you get there. With my buddym, he bought a used vortech kit off a ford dealer who had it on a show car, barely ran a few minutes with the kit on and was advertised as professionally installed and removed. tons of broken crap, missing hoses brackets, ect. was a nightmare. Had to buy a brand new vortech kit from summit in the end.

+1!!!!!

I installed a used Prochager on a friends 04 GT last year and let me tell you!!! LOL, God what a pita. It had some after market, universal inter cooler and what a pain that was to get everything right with that. Missing parts, tuning issues, wrong size belt and much more issues. Hell, we didn't even know what pulley/how much boost it was going to make. Nothing seemed to go right. It even came with a install kit from procharger. Supposedly the head unit was rebuilt as well. In the end he spent over $4200 with tuning when all said and done. He only paid $2800 for the USED Procharger kit.

BUT to this day it is still working great and puts down 412rwhp 420rwtq without any issues. Been about a year now/

It was just a nightmare going on and took like 4 days (about 20 hours total). Half the time we where running to Home Depot and parts stores though. Very stressful because I had to work my regular job and try and get it done before his dyno tune apt. It all worked out though!

I told myself I would never buy a used kit. Just installed my brand new Paxton HO kit yesterday. Took all of 8-9 hours with some beers and enjoying myself. Only thing missing was the TB clamps some how. So 1 quick run to the parts store and all was well. FYI, S197 installs are more involving.

You get what you pay for. <--- An oldie but a goodie!

Good luck!

 

[mac10chap]

I guess I lucked out. I bought my Procharger from Hardcore Muscle (Ernie) over a year ago and he gave me a hell of a deal on it. It had only been used for one week and I got it for $4000 shipped from CA. It was a complete kit with tuner, injectors, fuel pumps, ect. Felt very lucky

 

[MOC826]

i sold my procharger kit that i bought off my friends car that he wrecked. i replaced everything that needed to be replaced, even though it was only 1 piece of tubing and the fan shroud, but everything else worked perfect and only had 3kish miles, no more then 3500 miles on it. I sold the complete kit (injectors, tuner, ect..) along with a boost gauge and a wideband and all the wiring and ect to hook both of them up and a KB BAP and a few other upgraded stuff, all for 3200 shipped.... im actually kicking myself in the ass now cause i want my procharger back hahah

there are deals out there, its just being patient and finding the right seller who knows what there actually going for, not what they think its worth

 

[07torchgt]

it all depends on the seller man... i sold my procharger kit on here to chrisstang1... i know 100% for sure everything was there and in perfect condition... he even got extras... he seemed very happy with the kit till he wanted more power lol

just talk with your seller and get a feel for the guy...

there are ass hats out there that either "forget" and just really miss something... if you buy a used kit get in touch with the seller immediately... don't wait 6 weeks... also before you buy make sure the seller will work with you if any parts happen to be missing...