Keep original or some light customising... how it affects value.

1
HI filks, it been a long time since a post as life with small kids and few van adventures is a little excluding of syncro mania.
However, we (mainly my lovely wife!) have recently decided to keep our high top 3 knob Trakka and I am now eyeing it with a view to some tarting up. Maintaining its value is of high importance (as we will no doubt sell one day in the next 5  years or so when the kids are simply too big too squeeze into their beds) but I also do fancy a few small cosmetic changes and value opinions of those here. 
The Trakka colour scheme has the grilles and air vents colour-coded. I prefer black as it looks more VW and so did a temp paint job of black with plastidip. Would the original Trakka silver be worth more in terms of originality to a buyer? I also want to change up the interior a bit with Led lights (instead of Trakka flour's) and possibly get the carpets re done with some colour in them and the cupboards trimmed off with some colour too (e.g. orange highlights etc) It would be subtle and tasteful, but not original. Any thoughts on all this? Maybe I should only change things that can be changed back, so have the original parts to go with it for the enthusiastic original collector? Or maybe Trakka isn't desirable as a look per se?

Everything else from the electric mirrors and central locking to full leather seating is all original.
The van doesn't get thrashed off road so is pretty smart.

Cheers

Nick
2
Hi Nick. I certainly empathise with the kids cramping your adventure plans.  Mine are 3,6&9 and the holiday drought has been long and dry for us. I would not be concerned about the originality of the trakka conversion. Being an aftermarket fit it is not the same issue as keeping the vw bits vw. Do make sure you use quality components and build with an overall aesthetic in mind. Also if you are to sell in a short space of time you need to appeal to a wide audience so don't do anything too individual. 

Sent from Greg's iPhone

On 2 Dec 2016, at 10:06 AM, Nicholas Fletcher nwjfletcher@yahoo.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

HI filks, it been a long time since a post as life with small kids and few van adventures is a little excluding of syncro mania.
However, we (mainly my lovely wife!) have recently decided to keep our high top 3 knob Trakka and I am now eyeing it with a view to some tarting up. Maintaining its value is of high importance (as we will no doubt sell one day in the next 5  years or so when the kids are simply too big too squeeze into their beds) but I also do fancy a few small cosmetic changes and value opinions of those here. 
The Trakka colour scheme has the grilles and air vents colour-coded. I prefer black as it looks more VW and so did a temp paint job of black with plastidip. Would the original Trakka silver be worth more in terms of originality to a buyer? I also want to change up the interior a bit with Led lights (instead of Trakka flour's) and possibly get the carpets re done with some colour in them and the cupboards trimmed off with some colour too (e.g. orange highlights etc) It would be subtle and tasteful, but not original. Any thoughts on all this? Maybe I should only change things that can be changed back, so have the original parts to go with it for the enthusiastic original collector? Or maybe Trakka isn't desirable as a look per se?

Everything else from the electric mirrors and central locking to full leather seating is all original.
The van doesn't get thrashed off road so is pretty smart.

Cheers

Nick

3
I dyed the Trakka floral curtains black. Gave me a headache just looking at the original ones.
I did contemplate removing all the stickers on the van but got used to them.

Making the van look a bit more contemporary without losing character is always a good move.

Sounds like a rare machine, enjoy the journey.

Mark