The automobile industry is a giant, with cars being sinkholes of insurance and maintenance and more. However, there are ways to personalize and tweak your car into somewhere that feels like home without having to spend thousands on some custom retrofitting or part changing. If you want to customize your car on a budget, make sure you have considered the following ideas.
DIY Paint Jobs
A lot of car modifications you need a professional for, but some you don’t, car-safe paint is available in many hardware and motor stores like Halfords. With easy access to the very tools the pro’s use you can begin to experiment yourself and give your car a creative flair. Be careful to ensure your paints abide by home-painting laws in terms of the environmental and safety factors of the paint and propellant, and that if you have a car upgrade scheme (for instance with Ford), you will need to check if repaints are allowed. Once you’ve got the paints and checked those boxes you’re free to do as you please!
Custom Registration Plates
We’ve all seen them out on the road, and while some of them make us roll our eyes or cringe there are always others that make us chuckle or give a smile of appreciation. Private reg plate customization is a great way to ensure your car is your own, literally. With unique identification that is maybe a pun, maybe an important date or reference for you, or maybe just the closest thing to profanity you could get, a custom reg plate is ideal. They are unobtrusive, not requiring DIY or interfering with any of the current design of the vehicle which makes them a guaranteed option for personalization. Not to mention prices can vary hugely, so your budget can be accommodated for easily.
Interior Accessories
If the outside of your car is just too perfect already (or you don’t have the confidence to show everyone on the road your aesthetic) you can simply amend the details inside! Cute ornaments hanging from the dashboard, covers for headrests and seat belts, custom car mats for the footwell and even car air fresheners can all contribute to making the inside of your car feel transformative. With handmade touches from sites like Etsy you can make your car connect to all sorts of aspects of your life and break the grays and blacks of modern interiors with some real color!
The Sat-nav
The novelty sat-nav voice has been a feature of the devices for years, with celebrities and voice actors alike pitching in to make voice overs to tell you when to “turn around when possible”. From Morgan Freeman to Master Chief from Halo, there’s something for everyone. Personally, I’d advise investing in a few different ones that you can rotate through so as to not get too burnt-out on the lines, but it’s still a consideration worth bearing in mind especially when trying to find small, innocent changes that won’t affect the car on any level.
