Is it worth the bother to remove tow plates?
We are trading in our 2010 Jeep Wrangler Sport on a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk in a week. The tow plates will not work on the new Trail Hawk. Is it worth it to have some one remove the base plate ...
Forum Discussion
I've thought about this, too, but haven't yet sold or traded any vehicles I have a base plate on.
My thought is this: You're not going to get much if anything for the base plate selling it on hitch trader, since they are specific to the one vehicle that will probably be pretty outdated if you're trading it. I doubt you'd even get enough to cover the cost of having a mechanic remove the base plate, if you don't do it yourself.
Also, as far as value of the vehicle goes: Even if you remove the base plate, in many cases base plates require cutting out some parts of the front air dam/grill. Soo, even after removing the base plate, the front end is still going to look odd with 'holes' showing where those pieces wer cut out, causing potential buyers to ask questions and be a bit nervous about it.
Sooo, even without the base plate there, the 'holes' showing at the front end will still make it a vehicle that a dealer will see as having diminished value and one that potential buyers will be nervous about (unless like already said, you are able to sell it to someone who owns a MH and is looking for one with base plates already installed). Guess you could replace the front nose piece that you cut holes out of, but that'd cost waaaaaay more than it'd be worth, especially if it has to be painted to match.
That being the case, my vote is leave the base plate on and don't worry about it.
Usually by the time I trade or sell a vehicle, its so old and worn out that most of the value is gone, anyway. In that case, the base plate being on there or not really won't make a lot of difference in any $$ I get for it on tradein or selling.
My thought is this: You're not going to get much if anything for the base plate selling it on hitch trader, since they are specific to the one vehicle that will probably be pretty outdated if you're trading it. I doubt you'd even get enough to cover the cost of having a mechanic remove the base plate, if you don't do it yourself.
Also, as far as value of the vehicle goes: Even if you remove the base plate, in many cases base plates require cutting out some parts of the front air dam/grill. Soo, even after removing the base plate, the front end is still going to look odd with 'holes' showing where those pieces wer cut out, causing potential buyers to ask questions and be a bit nervous about it.
Sooo, even without the base plate there, the 'holes' showing at the front end will still make it a vehicle that a dealer will see as having diminished value and one that potential buyers will be nervous about (unless like already said, you are able to sell it to someone who owns a MH and is looking for one with base plates already installed). Guess you could replace the front nose piece that you cut holes out of, but that'd cost waaaaaay more than it'd be worth, especially if it has to be painted to match.
That being the case, my vote is leave the base plate on and don't worry about it.
Usually by the time I trade or sell a vehicle, its so old and worn out that most of the value is gone, anyway. In that case, the base plate being on there or not really won't make a lot of difference in any $$ I get for it on tradein or selling.
