What are somethings i can do to my car to make it look better appearance wise? ?

Question

It is a silver 2008 Toyota Matrix XR

Here are my thoughts

- 18" rims (black gloss with chrome lip) ($1100)

- chrome grille ($70)

- H.I.D headlights ($75)

- window tint ($200)

- black carbon tail lights ($95)

- VVT-I emblem ($12)

If i could only do 3 of the things i listed, which one should i do?

Any other suggestions? Thank you!

Answer 1

the rims, headlights, and tint

the chrome grille i would replace the window tint with if you were strapped for cash

but when your windows are pure dark it attracts people's eye.. as in d**n whos in there? lol

but the rims should be a definite. and the headlights not only improve your  lighting it adds some style as well.

Answer 2

No offense, and I'm not making fun, but $1,100 in wheels for an econocar seems like MAJOR overkill. Depending on what size wheels your car came with, increasing the radius is only going to harm performance. You're just making an economy engine work even harder. If you keep the overall radius the same by going about only an inch larger wheels and then shorter sidewall tires, that could help handling a little bit... But is it worth it? Especially if your current tires still have plenty of tread on them.

The wheels you already have should work fine. $1,100 can buy you a HDTV or a new laptop, furniture, wardrobe, etc. I'm not an econocar fan so I wouldn't think twice about just painting the wheels you have (flat black, gunmetal grey). I don't think a single person would notice the difference between painted stocks and $1,000+ wheels...

If you really must have wheels - check the used market. Find some Matrix/Toyota online forums and check the classified. You could save quite a bit of money. Or at least just get some cheap Enkeis.

I'd get the HID lights and if you really need it, the tinting would keep the car cooler. But other than that, I would not put a dime into that car. $100 to have black carbon tail lights that nobody is ever going to notice does not seem worth it to me... That's $100 towards gas, to rent or towards a nicer car.

For the price you paid for your car you could get a used WRX or other real driver's car. The difference in performance is night and day. 0-60 in under six seconds, all-wheel drive, sedan or hatch. Sports Car International didn't put the WRX in their latest "Top Sports Cars" list by accident;

    1. Porsche Carrera GT

    2. Ford GT

    3. Ferrari Enzo Ferrari

    4. Pagani Zonda C12S

    5. Lotus Elise

    6. Porsche Boxster S

    6. Porsche 911 GT3

    8. Lamborghini Gallardo

    8. Lamborghini Murcielago

    10. Subaru Impreza WRX

If you can get $10-15k for your car used, seriously consider other car options. The $1100 in wheel-money could instead be going towards a Cobb Access Port and Catback exhaust for a WRX, giving you another 30-40+ hp.

Even a regular Civic, Mini Cooper or Mazda3 would be better options if you want to do light upgrading to an economy car... They all handle very well for the money, combined with great build quality... And the Civic's MPG rating is hard to beat...