Restoring a vehicle can be an expensive job, however there are some affordable tricks that can bring your old car back to life. You may not be able to recapture the smooth engine sound and new car smell on a budget, however you can make a few aesthetic improvements that can make your car feel newer. This could be great for upping the value of your car if you plan to sell it. Alternatively, you could do it for your own personal benefit, allowing you to feel that new vehicle pride without having to go out and buy a new car. Here are just some cheap tricks for revamping your vehicle.
Clean your exterior
Giving the outside of your car a thorough clean is the simplest way of making your car look amazing again. For a valet style clean, you’ll want to clean every component from the grill to the wheels. You could even consider using a pressure washer on a car-friendly settling along with some car shampoo. On top of cleaning your car’s exterior, you can also apply some wax and polish to bring out that extra sheen. Nowadays there are products that seal your car and polish it. Of course, if your paint job is already worn this may be a pointless venture. You can also buy special wheel polish and car window cleaner.
Clean your interior
On top of the exterior, consider what you can do to clean up the inside of your vehicle. Give it a vacuum could be the first step to cleaning it up – if you can’t stretch a regular vacuum to your car, you may be able to buy a handheld one. Next, take a few baby wipes and clean up the dashboard, car door and instruments (e.g. gear stick, steering wheel, handbrake). You may also want to scrub out any stains on your car’s floor and upholstery. Adding an air freshener can serve as the final touch, keeping your car smelling nice forever after.
Get some seat covers
If your car seats are scratched or permanently stained, there could be a cheaper solution that buying new seating – simply add some seat covers to mask these blemishes. You could even buy custom seat covers to add a bit of individuality to your car’s interior. These seat covers can be taken off and washed if they get stained – some may even be machine washable. You may even be able to buy seat covers with practical benefits, such as fuzzy covers for keeping leather seating warm in winter.
Replace your floor mats
You can give your floormats a clean to bring them back to life, but chances are if they’re old and cheap, they’re likely to be scuffed up and beyond cleaning. It could be far easier and more convenient to simply buy new floor mats. You should shop around for decent mats that can contain liquid – many cheap floor mats let water from wet shoes run off and are only effective at catching dirt and mud.
Replace your headlight bulbs
Your old headlight bulbs may be slowly getting dimmer without you realising. Adding some new bulbs could help to bring back that new car brightness. Whilst changing up your headlight bulbs, it’s worth giving your headlights a thorough clean – both the exterior and interior. This will help your headlights to shine bright. Replacing and cleaning headlight bulbs is an easy DIY job, so you needn’t shell out on a mechanic.
Buy a new steering wheel
A new steering wheel isn’t too much of an expense and could be much needed if your old steering wheel was starting to look worn. You could go for something basic or upgrade to something a little sporty to give you that new feel when driving. There are also steering wheels with wood panelling for adding a classic feel. Replacing a steering wheel may not be a simple DIY job – whilst there are video tutorials and how-to guides on the web for those willing to take on the challenge, many people may prefer to leave the job to their local mechanic to avoid any steering faults.
Buy new foot pedals
It’s possible that foot pedals may also be worn. Buying some new foot pedal covers could also add to your interior’s appearance. You could even upgrade to an eco-pedal to save fuel or buy sports pedals for feeling like a racing driver. If you’re just changing the pedal covers, this could be an easy DIY modification. However, improving the pedal mechanism could be a job better placed in the hands of mechanics if you’re not confident – you don’t want your shiny new brakes to suddenly fail because you didn’t connect them properly.
Disguise exterior blemishes with vinyl wrapping
If your paint or bodywork is damaged and you don’t fancy shelling out on a new paint job/scratch repair, you could always disguise these marks with car wrapping. This can completely transform your car – you could use it to change your vehicle car’s colour or you could add patterning. If you own a company, you can even use vinyl wrapping to add branding to your car for cheap. The great thing about vinyl wrapping is that it’s not permanent – if you’re leasing a vehicle or want a personalised paint job that could affect the sale value of your vehicle, it’s possible to use wrapping temporarily and then remove it when you no longer need it. Alternatively, you could keep it on there to up the value of your car if it’s not too personalised. Adding vinyl wrapping requires some care and patience so it may be best hiring professionals to design and install it.
Tint your windows
For disguising window scratches, it could be worth tinting your windows rather than replacing them. You can buy window tint to stick onto your windows. Not only will this disguise marks in the glass of your window, it could also give your car added coolness. Obviously, you can’t tint the windscreen, and any scratches here may require replacing this entire window.
We all want our cars to look dashing, after all. A good wax for cars will help present the exterior of your car with a splendid shine. No one likes a subpar look, that’s why we should make sure to only use quality products with our vehicles.
