If you have recently purchased a car or have been owning one for quite some time, you must have experienced the temptation of accessorising it with aftermarket car accessories and equipments.
While there are a thousand different types of accessories available in the market, promising enhanced comfort and convenience, many of them are absolutely unnecessary.
A car is a classic depreciating asset. The value of a car decreases over time due to wear and tear, aging, and market changes. A brand new car loses 20% of its value immediately after the purchase, in the very first year. In the subsequent years, the value continues to drop, due to the aforementioned reasons. While some measures like maintaining the car well can decrease the pace of depreciation, it can not be stopped completely. Hence, considering the financial factors, it is best not to waste money on unnecessary car accessories, which ore often simply add on bills, but don’t serve much to real purposes.
If you are confused about the car accessories, which ones to buy and which ones not to buy, here is a guide for you. This will help you understand top five absolutely unnecessary car accessories, which are just impulse driven add-ons.
Slip-on steering wheel covers
The slip-on or fuzzy steering wheel covers are intended to provide the driver a better grip. However, cheap or poorly fitted slip-on steering wheel covers like the furry ones available in the market can actually reduce the grip. These may result in slipping the steering, making steering the car difficult and dangerous, unlike securely stitched covers. In tricky situations, these could be dangerous.
Fancy seat covers
Most modern cars come with good quality seats. However, many consumers feel that adding a fancy seat cover from the aftermarket will further enhance the comfort level. This often results in the car owners buying expensive or overly decorative aftermarket seat covers. While these customise the vehicle’s look inside the cabin, they often don’t enhance much comfort, which make these impulsive purchases, not practicality focused ones.
Aftermarket TPMS device
Just like the mushrooming market share of the dashcams, tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) too have been finding an increasing number in the automotive aftermarket. Many of them are cheap products, luring buyers promising real-time data of the tyres’ air pressure via Bluetooth connectivity. However, there are major questions about the reliability of these devices. Buying a cheap aftermarket TPMS device, especially the ones that can be fitted externally, are often impulsive buyers leading to buying products that deliver inaccurate data.
Roof carriers or roof racks
A new trend is fitting the cars with aftermarket roof carriers or roof racks. These accessories are not used frequently and add significsnt pressure on the vehicle. They not only pose threat to the vehicle’s structural safety but also impact the fuel economy by putting weight. Also, they add wind noise and can result in police or RTO imposing fine on the vehicle owner for using unendorsed accessory.
LED ambient lighting strips
Many car owners feel that adding excessive ambient lighting via installation of LED strips enhance the interior’s aesthetics. However, while these LED strips add cosmetic enhancement to the interior, they don’t add to safety or functionality of the vehicle. Also, they eventually put pressure on the vehicle’s battery.