Five Ways to Customize your Car Without Looking Cheap

Stock is what you call a car before it’s had a real owner. That does not, however, give anyone who thinks they’ve got the chops the right to insult a perfectly good car through the sacrilegious act of obnoxious modifications. We have 5 options to customize your car.

Modding should be about taste. Sure, it’s fine to add some cosmetic touches, but unless you’re planning on putting down the kind of horsepower that earns single-digit EPA ratings, you’ll want to forego the whale-tale rear spoiler and stick to more practical applications. Here are five ideas for how to dress things up without attracting the wrong kind of attention:

1 New Buckets

Manufacturers don’t often put a lot of thought into seating solutions, specifically how they fit into your cars aesthetic theme. Luckily, it’s easy to find seats from another car that you can convert to fit your ride’s hardware using some custom seat mounts.

For a competition-ready car, you can even fit racing seats, but repurposing a pair from another car is cheaper and less hot-dog of you — unless you’re planning on really going fast.

2 Dash Kits

You can breathe some new life into your car’s interior using a custom dash trim kit. Professional shops offer kits in chrome, aluminum, wood and carbon fiber just for starters. These easily applied kits will completely transform the interior of your car. Add a touch of class to your interior with a wood kit, or murder it out in carbon to match your black paint scheme.

3 Aftermarket Wheels

Wheels are the upgrade that came before them all, and taste is crucial here. For example, spinners are no longer a thing — so if you’re considering that upgrade, do yourself a favor and save the cash. A tasteful set of wheels fits well under your car and still shows a little tire — possibly a lot depending on the ride quality you desire.

You can also shave some weight and rotating mass with this upgrade, but just be prepared to pay.

4 Customize your Car Lowering Kits

Giving your car a little stance courtesy of a new set of springs will almost always enhance appearance, but don’t overdo it. Consider the different options on the market and learn about common myths that might dissuade you from making the right choice for your car.

You can get great looks and improved handling from the right lowering kit.

5 Tinted Glass

Tint is an affordable upgrade that offers several functional benefits. It keeps you from feeling like you’re in a fishbowl on the road. It also lowers the interior temperature of your car on hot days, and it just looks cool, too.

You can find a tint kit for just about any recent car online, and it’s possible that if you’re handy you can even install it yourself.

So there are five easy options customize your car you can perform on most cars and feel good about. Remember that sometimes a combination of small things can add up to make your ride truly special, so take your time and don’t overdo it. You’ll be much happier if you don’t have to face the question of how to

“dial it back.”

Scott Huntington is a writer and blogger from Harrisburg, PA. Check out his site, Off The Throttle, or visit him on Twitter @SMHuntington. Also check out his relatively new and unknown YouTube channel that mixes his own car thoughts and stories with some humor and good old fashioned weirdness