A Car Restoration Guide with Tips On How to Make Your Daily Driver Look Brand New Again
What is it that attracts us to newer cars?
Is it the technology?
Could it be the car interior and upholstery?
Is it an immaculate exterior without dents or scratches?
Or is it the shiny new alloy wheels that come with the more expensive packages?
We would say it’s a combination of all those factors. As a matter of fact, any car, no matter the year it was built, can look brand new and modern.
This is proven when you take a look at a classic car restoration, the attention to detail makes cars that are decades old look better than when they came out of the dealer.
However, we all know how expensive it can be to restore a car, especially vintage cars. But this is not what this guide is about.
This guide is about restoring your daily driver to its glory days, when it was sought after by someone at the dealership.
The best part about all these tips is that you can achieve a brand new look with minimal to no monetary investment. And it will also not take you years to finish your project.
We’ll break down these tips in two categories.
Tips on Category # 1: No Investment Required
Clean & Organize your car.
Probably not a shocker to anyone, but the auto interior is very important. This is where you spend most of the time and where the passengers are going to see and feel the car with detail. Stop procrastinating and get to it!
So here are some tips to make it look like you got a professional detail.
Do this at least twice a month and your car will remain spotless.
Replace the Floor Mats
Yes, these get stepped on, but these can also cover up damaged and worn out rugs from the floors of the car. If you have old floor mats that still look worn out and old after a thorough cleaning, replace them for new ones. The new mats will give your car a refreshing look, since the colors will be bright and not faded. You do not have to get custom or OEM mats if the ones you have are torn and faded, just buy a set from Amazon or Ebay and you can have them delivered to your house for 30 bucks.
The Windows
Keeping this clear is a must! Not only you need to clearly see through them to drive, your passengers will be looking through them too, if these are dirty they will notice it.
Out of all the windows the windshield probably gets the most dirty, so you need to maintain the windshield wipers. If you want to keep them in good condition all year around, make sure you wipe the blades with alcohol and a microfiber cloth once every two weeks. This way you won’t hear that annoying squeaky sound every time there is light rain.
If you have an older model with weak wiper arms, you could replace them all together. If you do so My Auto Store has hundreds of windshield wiper arms with the motors.
Category # 2 Tips: You’ll Save Tons While Restoring Your Car
By investing just a little bit of money and using the tips we are going to give you, you can get your car to look brand new again.
Most of the time, car restoration utilizes original parts. People go to a junkyard and get muddy or spend thousands on dealer parts. Why do that when there is a new company that delivers you any used car part to your door completely free and with a 6 month guarantee called My Auto Store?
Using My Auto Store to obtain the parts you need for the restoration along with the tips we are going to give you will make your car goals come true. If you need any OEM replacement car parts contact My Auto Store today! One of their part experts will browse our extensive inventory to find the part you need.
We are going to focus on the main things you should replace or upgrade to transform your daily beater to something that resembles a luxury car fast and easy.
These tips will focus on the exterior and interior of the car, so you can decide what to prioritize first. Let’s begin with the exterior of the car, since this is what everyone sees at first glance.
The Exterior
Body Parts:
Nothing will make your car look like a beater than having dents, scratches or even cracks on the car’s body.
We know how expensive going to a repair shop is. For this reason the first tip is how to get around those expensive repairs.
Usually an auto body shop will charge you in two ways:
Repair, Prep and Paint:
Here you are charged for the repair of the part, like a fender or bumper. Even though you might save money buying the part, the main cost will come from the labor to repair it. This however only works if the part is not too damaged, car paint restoration is not cheap either. All of this could cost you around $300-$350 per part.
Replacement, Prep and Paint:
Here instead of the damaged part being repaired, a new one is purchased and then replaced and painted. The shop will usually let you choose between an aftermarket or an OEM part. The OEM parts are so expensive that most people choose aftermarket parts, but these are made with cheaper materials and they might not fit perfectly. However My Auto Store has quality OEM parts like fenders and bumpers for a fraction of either of these options.
Our alternative to these options would be buying a used OEM body part from My Auto Store and get it delivered to you. If you are lucky to find the part with the same color as your car, you could just replace it and save yourself a lot of money.
If you aren’t lucky enough to get a part with the same color as your vehicle and the part is in good conditions you could opt to install it as it is and wrap the whole car instead.
Yes! You heard it right, get your car completely wrapped with vinyl. It will completely change the look of your car and it will also cover all the other scratches you didn’t have money to fix.
The reason we are giving you this alternative is because getting your whole car painted will cost you way more than getting it wrapped with vinyl, plus the vinyl wrap will protect your paint from scratches and corrosion.
Wheels:
Another thing that will definitely upgrade the look of your car is a good set of alloy wheels.
Alloy wheels really make the difference here, this could be the reason why you can only get them as an extra when purchasing a new car and we would argue is a must.
Alloy wheels really give your car that expensive look, and you don’t have to spend a ton of money on aftermarket wheels for your car restoration.
Instead you can buy the original ones that would have come with the car if the more expensive package was chosen at the dealer.
But do not get them from the dealer or they will charge you a lot of money for something you can buy at My Auto Store for a fraction of the cost.
Aftermarket wheels can run you between $400-1500 to replace. On the contrary, you can get each wheel at My Auto Store for around $50 dollars a pop, half of the price of an affordable aftermarket wheel.
Since My Auto Store recycles around 50,000 cars per month, chances are we have the wheels for your make, model and year.
If you have the steel wheels and don’t have money to replace them, you can paint them black to mask any dirt or rust and get rid of the hubcaps.
Nothing makes your car restoration look cheaper than plastic hubcaps, this is a no no!
Instead, remove them, clean and sand the wheel a little bit and then apply wheel paint that you can get at your local auto store.
Your car will definitely look better than before and you won’t have to replace the wheels at all.
The Interior
Even if your exterior looks amazing once someone gets inside your car and notices broken things or worn out and ripped upholstery, they will be disappointed.
You also spend most of the time in the interior of the car, so you’ll be the one to enjoy a nice interior the most.
Technology / Infotainment:
Convenient and appealing elements such as having a nice infotainment system, touchscreen, GPS and bluetooth are a must in modern cars, making your car ride more enjoyable. Don’t wait to have enough money to buy a new car with all this technology.
Just install an infotainment system yourself and you can have the same experience and benefits for a small percentage of the cost. It’s not a hard or expensive thing to do and it will upgrade the interior of your car immensely.
You can get OEM infotainment and radio systems at My Auto Store or buy a universal aftermarket one. Either one will look great, however the original ones will be easier to install.
Upholstery:
Replace damaged or worn down interior parts. Things that get a lot of wear and tear from the constant rubbing such as the seats, center console, shifter, door trimmings and more can be replaced.
We recommend replacing these parts instead of repairing them because it will cost more money to take it to a professional upholstery repair expert to get these parts restored.
Instead of doing a car interior restoration with old pieces of leather, torn seats and trimmings, buy them like new at My Auto Store! Most of them have an intact interior, especially newer cars.
Instead of going to a junkyard and see if you get lucky, shop at My Auto Store for the interior parts you are looking for, at the best price you won’t find anywhere else.
See how clean the interior of this Mercedes is!
Conclusion
As long as you keep your car clean and well maintained people will appreciate getting in it and enjoy the ride. With these tips you can begin transforming your daily drive little by little. It is important to improve your driving experience since we spend a lot of time inside our cars. So why not give yourself as many comforts as you can? If you want more car tips, check out this article on scheduled maintenance and when it is time to get some work done on your vehicle.
Hopefully these tips help you transform your car into something you are proud to drive.
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