I bought a boring car for £400 but made it look expensive with 5 cheap & cheerful DIY hacks…including FREE floor trick
A DRIVER who bought a “boring” car for just £400 has revealed the 5 cheap DIY hacks he used to make it “look much more expensive”.
Jonny Brighton managed to give his tired old VW Polo a complete makeover for less than £100, including adding some extra mod cons.
Speaking on his CarsWithJB YouTube channel, he said: “If you’re watching this video I’m going to assume that, like me, you have a properly cheap, old car like my little £400, 20-year-old Polo.
“It’s basically impossible to make my Polo look expensive.
“But it’s definitely possible to make it look much more expensive than the £400 I paid for it without breaking the bank.”
Alloys
A new set of alloys can make a night and day difference to the look of your car.
At the top end, these can set you back upwards of £500 but if you’re working to a budget, you could get away with a cost as low as £40
Fresh alloys will brighten up your wheels and add a bit of sparkle to the exterior of your car with minimal effort.
You can change them yourself if you have the know-how or get a garage to do it for a small fee.
Lights
Similarly to your tyres, a grimy and faded pair of headlights can really drag down your vehicle’s aesthetic.
A £5 headlight cleaner spray can be a quick and convenient fix to revive old bulbs and make them shine brighter.
All you need to do is spray the lights with a good coating and then wipe them down after a few seconds.
You can also replace the bulbs for around £30 if you fancy going the extra mile.
And if you have cash to burn then £140 will get you a fresh set of LED day-running lights to lend your car a real premium finish.
Badges
The manufacturer’s badge has quite a profound effect when it comes to premium motors.
Name recognition for brands can add a sense of luxury and value all in themselves – see examples like Ferrari and BMW.
Then again, if you’re trying to give off a more high-end impression but, mentioning no names, don’t quite have the badge to back it up, there are still things you can do.
“It’s highly likely the floor mats will be all crusty and tired from dealing with your dirty shoes for many miles”
One completely free option is to “de-badge” your motor by removing the emblem and either filling in the slot or replacing it with a less-visible version.
For example, Jonny replaced the traditional silver VW badge with a blacked-out version that looked a bit sleeker and gave a nice contrast to the bright blue bodywork.
And if you’re happy with the brand you have, around £20 should get you a new replacement badge just add little extra shine to your front end.
Floor Mats
Now that you’ve spruced up the exterior, it’s time to make it feel just as luxurious inside the car.
Jonny said: “In older cheaper cars, it’s highly likely the floor mats will be all crusty and tired from dealing with your dirty shoes for many miles.”
Fortunately, you can fix this for free at home with a vacuum cleaner, a sponge and some soapy water.
Rubber floor mats can often be passed through a hot cycle in the washing machine too, leaving them gleaming.
Or if you want to try something a bit different, one car detailing expert revealed how a B&M staple can leave the mats looking brand new.
Touchscreen
Finally, one of the key things that date a car is the level of tech included in the cabin.
Case in point: how many motors do you see these days with wind-up windows?
Perhaps the biggest car tech fad in recent years is the introduction of large touchscreen infotainment systems to replace traditional dashboard buttons.
Now, rewiring your whole dash to fit one of these is time consuming and costly, but there is a budget trick to help you out.
Devices like Apple CarPlay can be installed by plenty of garages and give you a paired-back version of the touchscreen experience for as little as £40.
These can incorporate Bluetooth connectivity, sat nav and your favourite playlists into cars of pretty much any age.