Arches' Effect On Value

I'm currently running 5.5 x 12" Ultralites on 8.4" discs at the front and the drum brakes that have the built-in spacer on the back. The wheels stuck out enough to see tread on the front when I had the standard Mini Special arches so I changed to Group 2 Wides, which look nice some of the time although they look too wide from some angles.

What I'm wondering is, when I come to sell it, will it be worth more if I put the Special Arches back on it? If I do put the Specials back on, I'm considering putting a fat rubber strip, a bit like the Group 2 and W&Ps have, on the front between the body and the arch so the arches cover the tyres - has anyone tried this?

The car is unmodified aesthetically apart from the arches and tyres.

The other option is to buy some wider (c. 2.5") W&P replicas from MiniSpares, but that's a lot more expensive.

So, value wise: Group 2 Wides vs. Specials vs. W&Ps? And then the question on making Specials that bit wider.

Edit: this is what it looked like before I put the Group 2s on (don't currently have a good picture with the Group 2s):

Edited by Mr. Bridger, 12 February 2010 - 11:26 PM.

Huddersfield group 2's are supposed to be 2.5" wide.
As far as i am aware the specials arches are 1.75"
so as long as your tyres were only protuding by about 3/4" with the specials arches, then you should be fine using the huddersfield group 2's. You get a little extra coverage with the finishing trim too.
Or as you say the W&P arches are also 2.5" wide.
Just have a check and see

Don't think I explained myself properly. I'm asking this because I've seen a few threads on car values/ebay adverts where most posters have said "Because it's modified it's worth less".

My car's only got a Stage 1 Kit, new wheels and arches. The big question for me is would my car be worth the most with the standard arches on? I.e. Would Group 2 Wides reduce the value? And, following on from that, would W&Ps?

I've still got the original wheels (the Rover 4.5 x 12" copies of Minilites), so if I really wanted to I could make it look like standard again.

Oh i see, sorry about that got the worng end of the stick.
There are two sides of the coin really, one person may be attracted to the car by the add ons.
Wheras others may prefer a standard car to keep standard or as a base to put their own mark on.

To some extent though modifications will decrease potential buyers and thus probably the price that you could get.
The changes you have suggested are not particularly wild so i wouldn't have thought the decrease would be too much.
I would have said the group 2 wides would be a bit much with the wheels you're running but with group 2's or w&P's the changes are fairly subtle and fairly easily reversed if it will make it easy to sell.

Best get some other opinions though

Tim

Don't think I explained myself properly. I'm asking this because I've seen a few threads on car values/ebay adverts where most posters have said "Because it's modified it's worth less".

My car's only got a Stage 1 Kit, new wheels and arches. The big question for me is would my car be worth the most with the standard arches on? I.e. Would Group 2 Wides reduce the value? And, following on from that, would W&Ps?

I've still got the original wheels (the Rover 4.5 x 12" copies of Minilites), so if I really wanted to I could make it look like standard again.

In my opinion, i dont think thank changing the arches is going to affect the resale value of the car at all. Unless you've got a special edition which can fetch a lot of dollar for a totally standard car, its essentially negligible.

It all depends on who you think will be buying your car when you sell it on. If you don't mind selling it to someone who mods minis themselves or has done previously, then merely changing the arches for W&P over Specials is not going to bother them - they're probably thinking more about putting sportspacks or group 6's and 13x7's! The name is all elementary and doesn't really mean that much. W&P replicas won't add or detract from value. Real ones might be different.

Even if you only want to sell or advertise to mini purists, i still wouldn't see why such a small change to stay within the law would affect the value of the car at all.

If anything it would raise the value, because anybody who knows anything about the legality of cars etc is going to know you can't have any tread on show when looking vertically down from the arch.

So long as you dont need to cut any of the arch it could be argued you're not even really modding the car as everything can be put back to the way it was before.

The conclusion of this essay would be that i wouldn't worry too much about the value changing by significant amounts (and if the buyer wants to put it back to the original arches, keep them handy just in case)

Thanks for the replies. I might still try putting the Special arches back on or I'll at least keep a set for when I sell it. It does look a bit 'over arched' at the moment with the Group 2s.