What Kind of Accessories Do You Prefer?

[Alpha]

Hello members.

As the thread title clearly says, this discussion is going to be on the type of accessories people prefer for their car. Broadly, I have divided them into 4 categories -

1. Expensive + Complicated

Those which are expensive aand involve a lot of wiring, parts, etc. and pose a risk to warranty as well. Eg - Engine swaps, turbocharging, high-end audio installs and so on. These may result in huge problems in case the install goes wrong and requires high level of professionalism and in-depth knowledge. These can not be done as a DIY. Benefit is that it will pay you back and be as reliable and perfect as stock if it goes well.

2. Inexpensive + Complicated

Those which are not that expensive/out of reach for common people but involve complicated wiring, lot of parts, etc.. Very often, parts need to be sourced at one point and a DIY needs to be performed to keep the costs in check. Eg - DIY install of HID projectors, creating custom circuits for lighting and so on. These accessories require a basic amount of knowledge but can fry up your electricals if done otherwise. Risk of losing warranty coverage is higher.

3. Expensive + Simple

Those which are expensive but act as a one time investment because of their simple straight forward nature. Eg - Upgrading wheels and tyres, changing to a high end OEM multimedia unit, remapping to an already tested map and so on. Benefit is that they can outlast the vehicle without causing any serious implications as the functioning/installation is straight forward or plug-n-play in some cases. Reliability can be maintained with the correct choice of products.

4. Inexpensive + Simple

Those which are inexpensive and do not included major complications during install/use. Eg - Magnetic curtains, floor mats, and so on. Most of them can be done as a simple DIY and are reversible as well. Benefit is that one can frequently repeat the use-change cycles because of the inexpensive nature of the products. Though these are not reliable as stock, these won't threaten your warranty coverage either.

If given an option to choose from one, and practically live with it on your car on a regular basis, what will your choice be?

PS. I have opted for the fourth option by the way. I prefer the reliability over anything else and believe in maintaining the car in stock condition than sprucing it up to make it stand out.

Regards,
Alpha

 

[Nairrk]

I am bit confused which option to select (from 3rd and 4th). Nowadays most of the low end cars comes without many important features anticipating that customers will go for accessories to fulfill their need/likings. With this attitude the accessory market keep growing day by day and dealers are most happy as they get major benefit from accessory sales. May be, a day will come when cars will be introduced like only 4 wheels, body, steering wheel, seats and couple of other important features and customers are left with no other choice than go for 90% accessory to fill up the car.

With competition among car companies shooting up, inorder to show lowest price, manufacturers are just introducing a base model without any feature (not even power steering) and claim that their car is cheaper in that segment etc etc. So basically if we are chosing a low end model then we will end up in paying more money for accessories.

And from recent experience, showroom discouraging custmers to go for high end variant because they will lose accessory sales (recently, I enquired for Alto K10 VXi(O) variant but they said that this variant will have long waiting period but VXi model is available in few days... and now I have to buy some accessories like Central Lock, Fog lamps etc because of selecting the variant available now).

Having said all above, I have selected 3rd option (it is not that I want expensive item but I need couple of accessories which are expensive)