Topic: Am I Lame For Considering Buy A Body Kit...? (Read 140 times)

The Pen is mightier · « **on:** June 19, 2004, 09:53:00 PM »

My neon is in ncie shape, body-wise, and engine wise, but absoultely everything in it is stock...I am thinking about buying a body kit, putting in some leather interior, and other such things...I am not, however, planning on doing any engine customization at all, it has enough balls, and speed for me as it is...so, is this a good idea? or a horrible idea...?

HSDEMONZ · « **Reply #1 on:** June 19, 2004, 09:58:00 PM »

That's a gut check.

Alot to consider. What are the roads like you are on usually? alot of bumps and inclines etc?

Reason I ask.. is that alot of the time.. any kit you add.. will liley reduce your clearnace.. and you might add to that by further lowering the car yourself. Now.. imagine going up some curbs/driveways with a kit and a lowered car.

That would be my only concern. If road conditions are generall good for you.. and you got the money handy.. go for it. Enjoy your ride..

jesterrace777 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 20, 2004, 09:45:00 AM »

I think a Neon with a body kit looks kinda nifty. As mentioned above though, you better be prepared to lose that investment at a moment's notice. speed bumps, low dips, ect. will smash that thing faster than you can believe and a body kit looks terrible once you get enough rock chips. The other thing to consider is that you do run considerable risk of having your car labeled as a "ricer" after doing that. I hate to say it but while it looks kinda nifty, Neons with body kits are just about as common as Honda Civics with body kits. I would want to do something maybe a little more unique but you would need a different car for that. You will definitely want more power before you do something like that. Once you get a body kit then you will be targeted for racing and just about anybody on the road will kill you. Nothing worse then spending money on making your car look nice, only to get the shit kicked out of ya by a sleeper.

The Pen is mightier · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2004, 03:04:00 PM »

yea that's the thing, I can get body-kits fairl cheap, but I can't get engine parts at that great of a deal...

l2andom · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2004, 07:07:00 PM »

I'm more of a engine/motor parts kinda guy and dont care too much for looks... but i guess people are different. if you do get a body kit, make sure its clean and not overly fancy. those tend to look stupid

oh.. if u just do exterior mods.. do what i said ^^ there.. keep it clean

Rylinkus · « **Reply #5 on:** June 23, 2004, 07:24:00 PM »

And please paint it to match your car.......

Rylinkus · « **Reply #6 on:** June 23, 2004, 07:25:00 PM »

And please paint it to match your car.......

l2andom · « **Reply #7 on:** June 24, 2004, 09:55:00 AM »

mike96sc2 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 24, 2004, 01:50:00 PM »

Don't do it, I say it being a body kit owner myself even.

Here's my reasons.

Ricer Mentality - Even if you do it because you think it looks good, other people will look at you and label you ricer.

Expensive - It's almost $2k in the end to have it fabricated to fit your car, plus painting it (a must). Don't cheap out if you spend the money, there's too many body kits on the road that half fit and weren't done right that look hideous.

Constant Reinvestment - Like many people here said, a curb check once, some roadkill, a speed-bump. All of these can easily cause about $500 in damage minimum with a body kit. (New front end, repainted, etc.)

Attention Getter - Neons, Vinyls, Body Kits, they all draw attention to you and your car. You will be followed everywhere by the police. I'm followed home nightly taking the same route night after night by the cops. Also at every stoplight some doofus is going to try to race you, or rev their engine. It gets annoying.

Also a Maxima body kit sounds like ass for the record.

My advice is the same as others, really think it though and if you do it then do it cleanly and do it right the first time. Also forget performance if you're going to kit your car. Adding a few hundred pounds of fiberglass isn't going to make it faster.

Rylinkus · « **Reply #9 on:** June 24, 2004, 08:31:00 PM »

Being a Probe owner and enthusiast for awhlle I have 2 favorite Probes.One is Darin P's old Probe. "Big Probe" was one of the first turboed Probes that lasted longer then ANY other turboed Probe I'd ever seen. One of my first memories from Probetalk is seeing a video of it racing an M3 and losing by inches. Everyone made a big deal, and I had no idea why. I figured it out in time and still have the video saved.

The other Probe that comes to mind is the veilside Probe. It's engine mods are minimal, but it is simply one of the best looking cars I've ever seen. Simply gorgeous and I'd be proud as hell to drive it every day regardless of speed. And I'd never consider myself a ricer and wouldn't care if others did.

But that IS something others may think. And you should be aware of that. And as Mike said, a kit is not simply buying a kit. Very often they need serious work to fit without gaps all over the body and painting is a must or it WILL look like shit. So keep that in mind. And they are fragile, and sit low and break easy. A bud hit a raccoon in his kitted 240SX. It's broke ALOT of shit. He's great with fiberglass and bondo and is fixing it up for repainting, but it could have meant a new front bumper cover and a side skirt. And that's definately something to consider.

Everyone has a different opinion on what's important on a car and what's not. I may not do the same things as my friends but as long as they love cars and are doing everything as well as they can it's great to see. My money for body work on my Probe went into buying my Sprint. I love it and would rather have 2 beat up looking cars (One an absolute rarity) the one good looking one. Others would totally disagree. It's not my place, or anyone else's, to tell you what to do. Just realize the money it's gonna take to do it up right.

BTW: Maximas are among the nicest looking 4 door cars on the market. (It's nice that there's a few) And there are some very impressive kits that make them look even better. Classy and not ricey.

jesterrace777 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 26, 2004, 11:35:00 PM »

Oh yeah, forgot one other thing. Someone above mentioned you become a bigger target for cops, there is another angle to consider here. You also become more of a target for theft/vandalism. I don't know if you have a nice stereo or anything like that in your car but putting a body kit on your car can almost be like painting a big target on it. I have known several people who have had their cars broken into/vandalized and they all had body kits/spoilers, ect. This is one of the reasons why I haven't done any modifications to my RX-7. I have a nice soundsystem in there but I don't want to advertise to everyone going down the street that I have a car that stands out. I even had the guys down at the local stereo shop build my soundsystem so it doesn't even look like I have one. Anyways, just something else to consider.

V8rx7 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 27, 2004, 01:08:00 AM »

Every sat night i help with the austin, tx area car show/ street races....my job is to make sure no rice gets mixed in with the elite cars of austin. there is a couple fo things you want to make sure in purchasing a bosy kit....

1.when purchasing a kit make sure it isn't to "loud" looking......that kills the look of a car

2. when installing it make sure everything is flush with the car......

3. paint it before you drive it around.....you will look really gay for driving a unfinshed project around....

4. if your rear valince has dual exhaust ports make sure you get dual exhaust.

around here you wouldn't get in, but would reather be rejected......for the money your going to spend on the kit honeslty i would put that into your engine...

moistness · « **Reply #12 on:** June 28, 2004, 01:33:00 AM »

V8rx7 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 28, 2004, 03:55:00 PM »

well there is pics of my old corvette powered rx7 in the thread titled "cars you have owned"

if you want some more...you can go to www.streetrays.com (register and ask someone abou it my name on the other boards is 350rx7), www.cardomain.com, www.texasracingscene.com, www.torquecentral.com......and if you want more just ask......................

mike96sc2 · « **Reply #14 on:** June 29, 2004, 09:24:00 AM »

i'll check it out, just checking because i was curious, i'd never swap the rotary from my rx3, but to each their own

Author Topic: Am I Lame For Considering Buy A Body Kit...? (Read 140 times)