Supercharger removal???

[BillyGman]

Someone brought up what I think is an interesting topic on another car board. Something that I don't personally agree with, but that I believe is so interesting that I want to post it here to see what you guys think. The following question was posed.....

"Would you supercharged Marauder owners remove the superchargers on your car before selling the car in order to sell the supercharger elsewhere by itself, and the car as it was from the factory?"....

And here below is my answer to that question. But whether your answer would be similar to mine or not, please by all means feel free to share your viewpoints....


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Any car that I own in which I enjoy driving as much as I do my Marauder, and that I've put as much time and work into as I have into my Marauder, I would always sell the way it is w/out removing parts from it first. Cars of this caliber are like a family pet to me, and when I sell them, I want the person buying it to not only take good care of it, but to also enjoy it as much as I have. So for me, removing the supercharger would be absolutely out of the question regardless of how much it sells for. I want my Marauder to be a representative of what supercharged Marauders can do even after I sell it to someone else. I especially want ricer boys everywhere who dare to go up against it to feel the agony and embarassment of defeat, so that they know what a 4,200 LB V8 muscle car can do.

And if I'm going to start pulling parts off of it before I sell it, then why stop at the supercharger? Why not yank the Kooks headers off, as well as the Stallion torque converter to replace them with the factory stock counterparts? That's NOT in my line of thinking at all. I created a monster of a car, and I want it to remain that monster for others to enjoy also, even after I no longer own it. So even though I installed my Trilogy supercharger myself, yanking off the supercharger in order to sell the car is something that I wouldn't even consider regardless of how easy or how difficult it might be.

I guess I'm just very enthusiastic about this supercharger, because I just couldn't bring myself to remove it from this car even in the event of selling it.The car is just simply so much better with it on there, that even the mere thought of removing it is like defiling it to me. I guess I'm just a car nut. What can I say?
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[Smokie]

This is not what you're looking for, but you asked for an opinion.

I don't bore that easy, I will own other vehicles, my Marauder is for life.

[BillyGman]

These is not what you're looking for, but you asked for an opinion.

I don't bore that easy, I will own other vehicles, my Marauder is for life.For me, if I were to ever sell my car, it would be to purchase another one before my Marauder became a high milege vehicle with rattles and shakes all over the place. So selling it wouldn't neccessarily indicate that I was bored with it. I still LUV driving my car. In fact, as many cars as I have had since I was 16, my Marauder is the most fun car to drive that I've ever had. And I never thought I would say that about a 4 door 4,200 LB car. Unlike some other board members here, my Marauder is my daily driver, and is in fact now my only car. So it doesn't ever sit in the garage for days on end. It gets driven every day, and the mileage gets racked up pretty quickly on it considering the fact that I've only taken it out of state about 6 times in the two years I've owned it.

But that's another topic anyway. My focus here is on another person's idea of removing the supercharger on his Marauder before selling it. Which, as indicated, I would never do to my car.

[Slowpoke]

I dont have a S/C yet but if I did I definietely would not remove it before selling the car. With every mod I have made I have divested myself of the old parts. Just recently i sold my airbox. Original pulleys, t-stat, brake lines, sway bar, plugs, gears.... all gone. There is no going back from here. Once it becomes part of the car it stays.

Taking into account the labor needed to remove it and put it back to stock might and figuring that a used S/C wont bring in but maybe 50% of the cost of a new one, the net result, although probably positive, would not really be worth the hassle.

Besides, wouldn't a S/C'ed MM bring smiles to a potential buyer and make it much easier to sell? Figure the fact that it will sell faster and you get your money out quicker into the equation leads me to believe that any level headed finanically astute MM owner would leave it in.

If all logic escapes you and you do in fact decide to remove it... now you gotta try and sell it. YOU are the one that is going to have guarantee that all the parts are there, and offer some type of warrantee. You gotta deal with packing it up, shipping it, deal with payment.

My time and sanity are worth something... anyone who disagrees with good 'ol Slowpoke is simply not looking at the big picture.

But I can appreciate the question, and it applies to most all of us that have done even minor mods - What to do with OEM parts. Perhaps people can respond to this query instead of the S/C issue which seems to be a no-brainer.

[this particular afternoon, my son has a case of 'the runs' and since I am too busy at the computer typing this long-winded response, I cannot assist in changing his diaper - thank you for posting this question so I was able occupy 15 minutes of my time giving my important thoughts on the subject]

[Bradley G]

It may be way to premature, to say anything at this point.My kit #93 may be getting machined as we speak.I would not take the supercharger off the car. I never plan to sell the Marauder, either!
Bradley G


(Quote) "With every mod I have made I have divested myself of the old parts. Just recently i sold my airbox. Original pulleys",
If you follow the Trilogy path, you will need a oem bottom pulley.

[HwyCruiser]

That's a good question... and the reason I've got all my OEM parts in the basement. I guess it really depends if the seller can find a private buyer that will appreciate the mods in the timeframe the seller is willing to wait.

I wonder if a dealer would even consider taking a blown Marauder in trade. Certainly not at the premium the kit is probably worth loose I wouldn't think.

Wasn't there a Trilogy transplant already? There's a DR kit in the classifieds right now. The Procharger kit would be easily removed and the car put back to its N/A configuration.

When you've lost the love, its all about what a buyer is willing to take on and the different ways you can try to recoup your "investment".

[Mike Poore]

...... please by all means feel free to share your viewpoints....

There's how we'd like things to be, then there's the real world. I've never sold a car/truck to anyone but a dealer, and selling to individuals can lead to issues I would prefer to avoid.

Having said that, I doubt there are many Factory dealerships who would want to trade on a highly modified vehicle, and if they would, most likely, offer substantially less than the vehicle's value, then wholesale it. The only way he could sell such a car would be "as is" with no warranty.

So, in short, under these circumstances, I'd remove anything that in any way would make the vehicle look, run, or sound, anything other than stock.

I'd be interested to hear what Ray has to say on the subject. :twocents:

[BillyGman]

When you've lost the love, its all about what a buyer is willing to take on and the different ways you can try to recoup your "investment".That's assuming that you have "lost the love".....just because someone sells their car doesn't mean they've lost their love for it, or that they're neccessarily any less enthusiastic about it than they once were. Yes, that is sometimes the case, but sometimes, the owner just wants something newer, and cannot afford to own two cars.

[fastblackmerc]

That's assuming that you have "lost the love".....just because someone sells their car doesn't mean they've lost their love for it, or that they're neccessarily any less enthusiastic about it than they once were. Yes, that is sometimes the case, but sometimes, the owner just wants something newer, and cannot afford to own two cars.
I too am keeping my MM for "life", mine that is..... even if it does develope rattles, etc. I'd just fix them. In fact I love to get another one.......

[NAVCHAP]

Billy G, thanks for the question, hadn't thought about this before.

If my MM ever gets sold, it will be "as-is" with the S/C and all of the other mods. Maybe I would take the sunroof out and sell it separately though, LOL! There are some mods you can't undo on my car, like the cooling lines and the sunroof.

In fairness, I still have the 4 original tires, the original rear wheels, the original water pump, and although there are shorties and an X pipe I still have the original pipes, mufflers and tips behind the X pipe.

I would gladly give any original items to the person who buys the MM, although right now it's not for sale.

It was a very expensive project. I'll never recover the investment. But at 0% financing for 5 years and only $1000.00 down, it's not even a speed bump.

There are some parts that I no longer have, like the 3:55s, the exhaust manifolds, the rotors, control arms, watts link, sway bars, the piece of steel that was cut out of my roof for the sunroof, etc.

The way I see it, the car is totally different from stock at this point. It bears little in common with the car that was delivered to me via Dennis Reinhart in early 2003.

I recently drove Gunslinger's MM in Hawaii. It is all stock, with only 7000 miles.

My first comment to him was how it all looks familiar but it was a totally different car from mine.

Dynamics, driveability, handling, properties,etc. While I really liked the stock MM, it was like mine in appearance alone.

I had intentionally avoided driving a stock MM for over 3 years. I was afraid that I would be kicking myself for modifying a car that is one of 328 ever built, in a run of 11k total.

I thought it would convince me that I had destroyed the intrinsic value of the car.

Big Dog Jim asked me to drive his all stock MM last year in Indy and I told him I was not interested in doing it, although I didn't tell him why.

However, if I was to do it again, Dennis and I would have collaborated on the car all over again. I would have added some of the upgraded technology that we have been able to implement and adapt over the 3 and a half years that we have all been here as MM net.

Time for the preacher to step down off the pulpit, thanks for reading, -kjs-

[MikesMerc]

The blower and car are now one.

[mrogerc]

I am the very happy beneficiary of someone who wanted to take the blower out of his Marauder. Bill Bowker, original owner of Trilogy #009 was ready for a new challenge, and bought a different car. His wife wanted the Marauder, but not the supercharger.

Bill and I struck an excellent deal, and the rest is happy history.

I am thinking of getting a winter car/truck---just so I can keep my Marauder nice as long as possible. And then, I may just have it completely rebuilt!

[snowbird]

IMO, modded parts on car are almost a 100 percent loss on the value standpoint and they tend to take the car resale value down too. Trying to sell taken off parts (like a supercharger with moving parts and all) is hard .

Also, in the trouble standpoint its a lot easier to let the parts in the car as is and find a buyer that like the way you did the mods. If the buyer wouldn't like the way i mod it, then he can go elsewhere.

Finally, a Marauder might not be hot on design standpoint but it's body on frame is strong like a Caterpillar and easily repearable. This is a car to keep untill there's no more oil. And it appear we will miss oil a lot before than we will miss spare parts !!

I often see old Marquis and Crownvic on the road from the mid 80"s era. They probably have rattles afetr 20-25 years but they bring you to destination. And there's tons of spare NEW or used parts available.

I never see 80's era imports though. They have rusted out a long time ago ... And you can't find parts for them neither. But they save gaz don't they ?

Personnally, i must admit i ditch my loved Marauder mine twice off road and went over once a sidewalk perpendiculary without hitchs, alignment needs, wheels or tires damage. I went out without towing or shoveling. Just floored it and watched rocks passsing by the side window as i backed off. I admit i have been kind of lucky. I only scratch the paint underside of the bumper cover and it doen't show much. In fact i like it this way and gives him character!!

I would probably be on my third Honda as they would have snap or bent beyond repair under the seats each time...

[DEFYANT]

I doubt I'll sell this car. This is the first new car I bought and have since modded it to suit my needs. This car is art work in action!

[Dennis Reinhart]

Why is my answer, why would you take parts off the car and try and sell the used parts, if any of us decided to sell our cars we would never get the full investment we have in our cars, we have invested our time and money our hopes and dreams.You can not put a dollar value on this. I also feel the car would be worth more with the blower on it, because that makes the car unique, but then again the Marauder is unique all on its own any way.

As much passion as we have seen on this site and the countless SC comparison threads and a lot of those have gone up in flames, why would some one consider taking the blower off the car, unless there are other issues behind this, again I have no idea why, what is a used SC worth who wants a used drive shaft or 410 gears.

I my self believe I will always have my car, I have owned my Mark 8 since 1997, Sheila has a 1990 Broncho we just put a new motor and transmission in it, some people would say why you do that, why put 4K in a 1990 Broncho II. Well the answer is she loves the car, and could she sell the car for what she has in it the answer is NO.

But she would not any way, so again after investing time passion and money in this one of a kind car, it would never be parted out.

['03BlkMM]

I think some of the others have hit the nail on the head. In my opinion the car is less "sellable" with a SC or other mods on it or has a narrower market might be a better term. The car is generally not worth much if any more modded than it was stock. Look at what the VT Marauder was selling for, the last prices I saw on it were in the mid to upper 20's. When I recently sold my 47k mi '97 GT I took all of the parts off of it and converted everything back to stock. Except the SC, unfortunately I no longer had the stock intake and my wife had lost the stock computer for me. The SC brought me no extra money over the normal market price for Mustang GT's of that year model, trust me I tried. I listed all of the parts on the local Mustang board and sold everything to local DFW stanger's, nice and simple, no shipping. I typically asked 75% of new prices for the parts and got at least 50% or better after haggling. The handful of parts I sold off the Mustang paid for my gears and install and DR SCT tune plus a new set of back tires for the MM. If I had left those parts on the Mustang they would have done nothing to the final sale price of the car. In fact they might have actually hurt the sale price, the cams I had in there had a pretty good lope to them. It took almost a month for somebody to come and look at the car (I finally lowered the price to the upper end of the local market) and I doubt the lady that finally bought it would have liked the lope too much! Anyway to each his own, I look at it from an economics standpoint. I don't like to give my money away, If I can spend a day swapping parts out and save $1k its worth it in my book.

[BillyGman]

Thankyou for all your different viewpoints that you've all shared. ;)