Bringing home a new car is always an event! But even if you order it with a bunch of extras and toys, it’s still going to look like a bunch of other cars on the highway.
You can only make so many combinations when you’ve got a dozen exterior colors and a handful of interiors to choose from. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways for you to customize your new ride. How can you personalize your new car without breaking the bank?
Window Tinting
We all love a lovely sunny day, but UV rays can wreak havoc on your interior, drying out leather and vinyl and bleaching upholstery. It can make driving challenging when the sun is low in the sky, too.
Tinting your windows can kill two birds with one stone. This is something that you can do on your own, but for the best and longest-lasting job possible, opt for a UV-blocking tint that will prevent the sun’s rays from penetrating your car’s interior.
Floor Mats and Seat Covers
There are all sorts of ways to protect your interior from the normal wear and tear of operating a vehicle. Scotchguard will protect against spills and UV-blocking tints will keep your upholstery from bleaching, but they don’t add any personality.
You can create the same sort of protection while jazzing things up a bit by installing seat covers and floor mats. Make sure you find ones that will fit the exact measurements of your vehicle, but beyond that, the options for personalization and customization are nearly endless.
You can add your favorite color or pattern, show your love for your favorite sports team, or just show off your favored style.
Interior LED Lighting
Beyond a dome light — and possibly a red map light for navigating at night, there isn’t much in the way of interior lighting. Thankfully, LEDs are an inexpensive way to decorate your interior without any electrical knowledge or skill. Stick them in place, plug them in, and you’re ready to light up the night!
Just be careful with your placement. You don’t want to place the lights in the windshield or windows where they might obscure your vision when you’re driving at night. Light up your center console, floorboards, and the bottoms of your seats. You can even rig them so they only turn on when you open the doors or trigger the dome lights to save on power if you’re running them off your car’s battery.
Vanity Plates
What does your license plate say about you? For most drivers, these plates are just a random combination of letters and numbers and don’t have much meaning beyond identifying your vehicle.
But if you want to mark a car as yours, consider investing in a vanity plate. You’ve (usually) got seven characters to work with, but with a bit of imagination, you can turn it into something that will make the car truly yours.
If you want to expand on the vanity plate concept, you can always invest a little more for a license plate frame emblazoned with your favorite team’s colors and logo. In short, you have a broad spectrum of options to choose from.
Dash Cam
Why don’t you already have a dashcam installed in your car? These handy little devices have all sorts of applications, from collecting footage of the roads you traveled on your last road trip, or capture video of accidents on the road, whether you’re involved in them or not.
Dashcams have gotten more expensive and more versatile in recent years, and if you don’t already have one, now is the perfect time to invest in these valuable gadgets.
Vinyl Stickers and Wraps
You may not want to change the exterior color of your car, but there are still ways that you can customize its look without damaging the paint job. Vinyl stickers don’t hurt the clear coat but can add a bit of character to your ride. If you feel the need for a more dramatic change, you can even wrap the entire exterior in vinyl.
As a bonus, these full wraps also help protect the paint and in most cases won’t violate your warranty provisions if you’re leasing your ride. It’s a win-win scenario.
Head Up Displays
Heads-up displays aren’t just for video games anymore. These displays move essential information, like speed, temperature, and fluid levels, from the dashboard up to eye level. They take some getting used to, but they mean you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to check how fast you’re moving.
They’re affordable, easy to install, and can give your car a sleek look while providing some functionality.
Enjoy Your New Ride!
There’s no reason why your car should have to look like every other matching make and model on the highway. Take the time to tweak things to your liking and customize your ride, so that if someone gets in the passenger seat, there will be no doubt who the car belongs to.
