Daffunda

I need to justify things before I buy stuff for my car, if it costs decent amount of money.

I have already done,

1. Hood/Bumper/Mirror 3M clearbra - $700 dollars , but I didn't want the bumper and hood to look like craters.

2. Radar Detector+hardwire - like to know where the LEO's are, not that I speed excessively. Also it has saved me many times from a ticket......

3. Paint mudguards to body color - $5 can of spray paint, $5 can of clearcoat and paint adhesive. I'm cheap....

4. CATZ yellow fog light bulbs - fog lights should be yellow, although some may beg to differ....

These are not really mods, more like insurance policy, but I can't justify getting coilovers, intake, JDM lights, or other expensive things...... Every day I visit and press the "ADD TO CART" button, but I just can't pull out the wallet. It is like two sides of yourself coming up, one side telling you to buy it, and other side telling you that you're wasting your money.

I want to get the JDM alu pedals, but one side is telling me that it looks cool so I should buy it, but the other side telling me that I won't see it when I'm driving the car, and it's just pedal covers..... $220 dollars for pedal covers, not worth it..

Frickin mods, I feel like I waste more time thinking about this than anyting else......

EuRTSX

Well, you can go the alternative route, get Supercomputer pedals when he comes back after his wedding which should run you 150$ shipped or less.

Mod's are addicting. There are plenty of things that I bought and regretted buying. But hey, that's what the mod bug is right? Mod on brotha, mod on.

Knox

It's funny that you posted this. I feel the exact same most of the time when looking to purchase modifications. I personally feel that my remorse stems from a subconscious voice telling me that the car was designed the way it was in a factory state for a reason. With that, I almost hesitate making additions to the car like suspension or wheels fearing it will negatively impact the rest of the car at some point. I'm one to keep cars for several years so I know that what I do I'll have to live with for months to come. It's hard to explain but I know that I'll break down someday.

Now where was that A-Spec suspension website again...hehe...

PACman

I don't want my tsx looking like the tsx next to me at the stop light.

rza49311

iTrader: (1)

Modding can be considered a hobby, an expensive hobby!

rmpage

It is justified because I want to. Seriously, it is my money, my car, my time and effort, so why not? Money is made to be spent, and I realize that crap for my cars is for disposable income only, so I'm not starving myself to buy a set of valve springs or whatever.

Now, there are some mods I would not perform in retrospect, but it is all a learning experience anyway so 20/20 hindsight doesn't keep me up at night.

VCman123

I commute 80 miles round trip to and from the office each day (San Francisco to Palo Alto and back).

I purchased the reflash, Icebox, and DC Header for my 06 TSX and I arrive at the office in a better mood, which makes my day more productive.

Modifications worth every penny.

n1ke5h

^^agreed but then again i spend so much time thinking about my car for the rest of the day until i drive it again

TodaSi

How do you justify what you had for dinner last time you went out?

or

How do you justify what shoes you buy?


Get it?

tsxdriver

i just do.

CCColtsicehockey

I just do.

ruffellprefley

do you have any pics of this? preferably a full-body side shot and a closeup of one of them? thanks

Superb0o

i have a sway bar, basics, new tires, intake and headers. I'm loving all of them. few months ago i spun out on the freeway. everything I get is a "safety precaution"

jwood_06TSX

Honestly i think it depends on one how you view a car in general, and two what you use your car for. Some people view a car as just a simple mode of transportation and nothing less whereas some have FAR different views and take pride in them etc. I think there are two very different extremes that can both be taken too far. So i would look at both of those first before trying to justify anything to yourself. The way i see you based on what you have done so far is that you are a mixture of both but more of a nice car gets you where you need to be put requires care and maintenance. Your 3M bra and painted mudguards, shows you car what the car looks like and the radar detector and yellow fogs show that you care about getting places safely. I honestly don't see you being the high end modder type.

Just to show you what happened to me. I had a 04 TSX that i got for free and had just started my job. I am still living at home with school loans but not that much per month. I had a lot of money that i hadn't had before and a NICE NEW car i had never had before. So, i went a little crazy and in less than 4 months, i spent $6k on mods and did tint, coilovers, sound system, wheels, body kit, spoiler, intake, and a few other things. I was then communting home from work and got hit by a stupid girl that ran a red light and caused $12k worth of damage to my car. I ended up trading it for a new 06 TSX cause the repairs where no where near what they were before and having the mods on there made it worse. This changed how i view modding a car. The car is my only car, my commuting car, and everyday driving car. Therefore, with my new 06, i put on the rear sway bar and intake because i had them left over from the other car, and i wanted to change the ride quality a little and got the OEM aspec made by Acura. This was so that in the event of an accident it wouldn't cause any problems. I already had the wheels order as well and put the on. I'm an advicate for tint and temperture control and did that as well. I will never again heavily mod an everday driver but that is due to my life experience. I am not concentrating on saving my money, getting out of dept, and investing so that later on in life, i can have 2 cars, one for commuting and one to play with

Sorry long read but i was trying help you look at it realistically. You can't control other people....

mrgold35

The only difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys.

As long as you are not going into the poor house, it is a fun hobby. You could be like Kanye West and spend $32,000 on porn in one month for a hobby

tsxdriver

hooo shit lol

Firefightr86

I cant justify it at all,

I could say I Auto-X, so I need this,

I could say my goal is to make the car perform the way it always should of

I could say I love the way it looks now

I could say I love the way it feels

I could say I love the feeling being underneath the car, wrench in hand.

All of that is true, but my wallets empty, and I spend way to much time on different forums, you'll never be done, you always want something bigger and better, theres always a cooler part that you can get... so its never done, its never justifiable, it just happens

dom

As much as I would like certain mods I can't justify it when all I pretty much do with the car is drive it to and from work.

Throw in the fact that I won't likely be keeping the car past 09-10 and its a no brainier IMO.

CGTSX07

I don't agree that you will never be done as long as you have an end goal in mind b4 you start modding. Before I even got my TSX, I said I would just try to make it visually appealing so that entailed getting my tein SS coilovers, tint, yellow fogs. I am also planning on getting the euroR kit as well as new wheels/tires. After that I should meet my end goal.

hunterk1

Daffunda, I'm with you all the way.

I mean no disrespect to all those who do lots of mods on their cars in these forums - in fact, I'm jealous to a minor degree - but I've just got much better places to spend my money. Like, I just paid off my student loans four 1/2 years early - that was $16k! Similarly, in the next 12 months, I'm going to try to pay off my TSX three 1/2 years early... again, that will probably be another $12-15k. That's a lot of money and could have bought some great mods, but I'd simply much rather be out of debt.

I don't know about you, but dinner and shoes - each about $50 - are a lot easier to justify than say, $800 Tein Basics. That's probably just me.

waTSX

I don't justify it, I just buy what I want. Like rmpage said, my car, my money, and one of the few extravagances I allow myself.

I don't sweat it, I enjoy it.

khmy2nr

clee109

I do mods because I like too. A form of self expression really, but I don't send myself to the poor house with them. Mainly I just save up alot of money for a while so I can buy a bunch of things at once to quench my thirst then that carries over for the next months as I save again.

It all comes down to this, mods are for you and your taste F*ck the rest, do as much or as little as you like, not what we tell you to do =P

DAYTA

People certainly differ in terms of priorities. I'm the kind of person who can't see the point in spending $50 on consumable items like food that will be in and out of me in an hour or so. However, I have absolutely no problem spending $5,000 on a tangible item like a supercharger that will last me for years :shrugs: .

Speaking of, Red Shift...I'm waiting on you!

EuRTSX

"Life's simple. You make choices and don't look back"




Han from Tokyo Drift.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

My decision goes pretty easy...

1. Can I afford it? (can I pay for it in full when the bill comes?)
2. Do I need it? (the answer is usually no, but if I want it, at least at the moment...)
3. Does it satisfy my needs to have something to do as a hobby?

Tsx536

This is my main hobby and I look at the mods as a way to reward myself for all of my hard work. I don't do it to impress others, it's all for my own personal enjoyment. The smile and the feeling that I get everytime I get into my car is priceless. Even after almost 3 years, I still turn around and take a look at my car sometimes as I'm walking away. It's my passion, what I enjoy, and what I love.

With that being said, I still stay very responsible with my mod spending. I never go above my means and have never bought any of my parts on credit. If I don't have the cash, I don't get it. Even though I've spent quite a bit on my car, I still think that it's all been worth it. I spend at least an hour and a half in my car commuting every weekday, so I figure hey, why not make it an enjoyable drive. Even after 3 years, I'm still not tired of the commute!

shrykhar

And look where he ended up ...

I can't bring myself to justify exterior/cosmetic mods -- you become cop/thief bait, and the exterior (rims, lip kits) gets beat up pretty quickly. On the flip side, I've spent quite a bit on interior and audio.

Daffunda

Here is the pic with mudguards

ruffellprefley

looks pretty good. but i wonder if asm is easier to match than cgp

lito

I mod my car to serve as an inspiration for others

EuRTSX

Han..

suleman

reasons why i mod my car:
-i like messing with my car
-i like to think of ingeneous(sp) ways to make things work even when someone else has alreqady done it but i haven't heard about it
-trying to figure out ways to squeeze(is it two ee's?) out power from oem honda parts

and that's all for now

vidgamer

Ok, but what if, then, the other one looks better?

Modding is an expensive hobby. Unless you have a goal, I say keep things modest, and look for bang-for-the-buck if you have to do something.

Since I spend so much time in the car, my main goal was upgrading the audio a bit. So, I found it easy to justify that cost. Other than that, if it involves big money, I agree with the others who say that it's easier to justify the cheap mods than expensive ones.... Past a point, you have to ask if it's worth it.