Considering trading in or selling my 2014 4Runner. It seems most dealership don’t want to deal with modifications if it’s not easy for them to put it out on the market and sell.

I have pretty much did everything (lift, wheels/tires, sliders, skid plates, aftermarket front bumper, roof rack, winch, etc.

I think most of the aftermarket stuff will be easy to remove and return it to stock form, but I don’t have any of those parts. How likely is it for me to find a factory front bumper, crash bar and the associated hardware to bolt it on? My aftermarket bumper required me to remove the crash bar.

As for the roof rack, I had to drill two holes for the front mounts and had to cut away a small portion of the weatherstrip. How would I go about taking care of that?

I put a listing out to sell private party as-is a while ago, but didn’t get any serious buyers. And yes, it was listed at a reasonable price.

this is the issue with heavily modified vehicles. dealers won't touch them usually so basically zero value on trade and the general public has zero interest. you're going to have to find someone that is really looking for a heavily modified rig

the value of your truck is only what someone is willing to pay for it. reasonable prices don't mean much if you can't sell it. you can probably find a wrecked 4runner at a junk yard and try and get the bumper. or just order all the parts new from a dealer which will cost you thousands and is not worth it

IMO I think the cost in terms of $ and time for you to convert your vehicle to stock is not worth it. you may need to lower the price. I sure as hell know that if I was looking for a used car and I saw holes drilled into the roof with some sort of silicone over them I'd immediately walk away (that's a leak waiting to happen). I would try and sell as is for a little longer and perhaps reduce the price

You always get the worst deal from a dealer, so best to sell it somewhere else. Since the 4Runner is a very reliable vehicle, used ones are in demand, so it should be easy to sell with the mods.

Locally for me, the major news paper has online classified that I have used. You might try the national online classifieds like Auto Trader or Craig's List.

Also, you might look at national auto "super stores" such as CarMax. Some of those will give you a quote via the internet without them even seeing the vehicle.

I always remove all my mods and return back to stock before trading in, but I also keep all the original parts

This kind of surprises me, but perhpas it is a product of market and exact vehicle. I traded in a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that was heavily modified in 2017 when I got my first 4Runner and the dealer actually gave me a pretty good trade on it (from what I remember, a couple thousand above the blue book trade value).

Out of curiosity I waited to see if they put it on their lot and I actually found it for sale at a "trucks only" used car lot that specializes in lifted trucks. I assume it was either sent to auction or offloaded direclty to them (my thought being the dealer could have simply had a channel to send more heavily modified vehicles to a used car lot specializing in them).

Amusingly the used car lot had it listed for like another $6K above what my trade in value was and I think it sold quickly.

Jeeps are unique though and I imagine the market for late model heavily modified 4Runners is less. But that being said, in a place like Phoenix where tons of people modify and off-road trucks I bet it could sell and am surprised a dealer wouldn't touch it (allbeit, you'd probably eat $h*t on your trade in value relative to what you spent on it).

reasonable price would probably have sold by now. Can you post the listing? As for returning to stock ; post the parts for sale/ trade for OEM parts . Pending which state a trade in will knock the tax price down based on MSRP-TIV. The hassle of a private sale can be cost effective at times. Best of luck with your decisions on it.

It's illegal to remove the crash beam and operate your vehicle on public roads. Sure, it's unlikely you would ever get in trouble for this, but it is certainly your moral obligation to either reinstall it or to inform whoever you sell the vehicle to that it is not there. Without the front crash beam the entire front crumple zone no longer works. This means, in the event of a front end crash your body will see significantly higher acceleration and you are more likely to experience serious bodily injury. It also means that if there is another vehicle involved in the crash they will also experience higher acceleration and bodily damage. A lawsuit waiting to happen.

Since the 5th gen is still in production, you should be able to find these parts pretty easily. What the stock parts cost and whether it is worth returning to stock is a simple cost analysis. How much for the stock parts? How much can you sell the aftermarket parts you take off? I'm assuming you are doing the work, otherwise add that cost in too. As others have said, the private market will usually bear "off-road" modified vehicles because there are plenty of people out there who want your "tasteful" mods but don't want to pay the price for them new and to have installed.

Where are you located? I’ll trade you some stock stuff lol


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