Car lovers don’t just love to drive fast and rare cars. They love everything about automobiles, from the purr of the engine to the radiance of a fresh paint job. But just because you own your dream car, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s entirely up to your own standards. In fact, some people will drive their brand new car from the dealership straight to the auto shop for customization. When it comes to custom car shops near me, the work truly speaks for itself. Whether the shop’s technicians are hard at work tinting for a celebrity, modifying a vehicle for the race track, or working on a fleet of exotic car rentals — car customization shops handle everything related to automobiles from soup to nuts. But before you start searching for a custom car mechanic you can trust, first consider all of your modification options. Below we’ve compiled a list of car customization suggestions for your new or older car.
Paint Job / Car Wraps
A new paint job or vinyl car wrap is a popular car customization today, particularly for someone more interested in how the car looks than runs. But keep in mind, custom painting or wrapping your car is not cheap. If you’ve received a low quote for paint or wrap services, you might want to get a second opinion, because this sort of customization usually costs anywhere between $2,000 and $20,000. Yes, that is a dramatically broad price range. But the variety of options available when painting or wrapping a car can quickly add up, especially depending on the size and model of the vehicle, as well as the style of paint or wrap (chrome, matte, satin).
Window Tinting
While window tinting is one of the most common car customizations offered, the laws surrounding the specific darkness and reflection of tinting varies state-by-state. For example, in California non-reflective tint is only permitted on the top 4-inches of the windshield. For the front side windows, the tint film is required to allow over 88% of light in. However, there are no limitations regarding the back side windows or rear window. So for anyone with eyes sensitive to the sun or too famous to be seen driving, hopefully these custom tinting tidbits were helpful.
Suspension Upgrades
Like many car modifications, suspension upgrades can be for one of two reasons:
- To improve how your vehicle handles and optimize it for how you drive
- To look cool
Now unless you’re interested in suspending your truck well above its tires, or lower your Honda Civic to the point that it scrapes every speed bump you drive over — let’s assume you’re committed to optimizing your car to the specific way you like to drive. Most car owners decide to upgrade the suspension to help improve both the safety and performance of the vehicle.
Body Kits
Body kits are a popular car modification choice for owners interested in changing the general look of the car, while making it more aerodynamic. Body kits consist of several modified car body parts or added components that install on to the vehicle. Body kits traditionally consist of front and rear fenders (bumpers), side skirts, and spoilers. While the body parts of body kits are designed to complement and work well with each other, many car owners prefer the mismatched style of installing the front end of one body kit with the back of another. Referred to as “mix and match,” this style will make your vehicle stand out even more on the road. Additional body kit components available for customization services include bumper grilles, fenders with vents, custom hoods, hood scoops, and window louvers.
Racing Seats
Regardless of your experience car racing, some car owners opt to replace the stock driver and passenger seats with racing seats, also known as sport seats. Whether this modification is for racing purposes or simply to give the impression that the owner is a race car driver — there is no doubt that racing seats are both cooler looking and more comfortable. The one sticking point is that the racing seats mustn’t use a harness and is required to function properly with the car’s factory seatbelt. This final note might be obvious, but when installing your racing seats, do not allow for any of the vehicle’s airbags to be disabled.
Now that we’ve discussed at least five different options to consider when customizing your car, go ahead and start deciding which modifications are right for you. Do you require the vehicle to move as quickly and efficiently as possible, or does it just need to look cooler than any other driver on the road? That’s up to you, the car’s owner, to decide now.
