Pros and Cons of Auto Body Kits

There are plenty of pros and cons when it comes to auto body kits. Some people love them because they add style to a car and help it stand out from the crowd. Kits also have the advantage of making a car look fast, even if it isn’t! Others find them to be a needless and expensive luxury. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of auto body kits?

The Advantages

An auto body kit can even make a beaten-up model look better. When you can only afford an older car, or your parents have given you one, you will want it to stand out and reflect more of your personality. An ordinary car is just the same as every other vehicle on the road but a customised car is considered cool.

If you’re not the mechanical type and are unable to improve the engine and performance of the car, an auto body kit is a way to make your vehicle look classy. If you’re a good mechanic, customising your car on the outside after you’ve worked on the engine adds the finishing touch. By adding a body kit, you improve the aerodynamic flow of the car. That means it will go faster and use less gas.

Some body kit items can actually make your car safer. If you like to drive at speed, adding a rear spoiler will keep the back end down on the ground especially when you’re cornering. New headlights with Xenon bulbs are brighter and let other traffic see you better at night.

The Disadvantages

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage to auto body kits is the price of the parts. A complete kit can cost several hundred dollars which is sometimes more than the car is worth. Even single components aren’t cheap. If you’re on a limited budget, it can often seem like even more – it can be a lot of money to invest in a car that might die at any moment.

If you buy parts online, there’s no guarantee they’ll fit your vehicle, even if they’re supposed to. Body kit parts online are often cheaper but can end up in you losing money if they’re not a proper fit and you need to replace them again – you often can’t return them after trying to fit them.

However, buying the parts is only the beginning of the expense. Unless you’ve had extensive shop training, you’ll need to take the car to a body shop to have parts like skirts and fender flares fitted. Even when all the components are on the car, it still needs to be painted and a good paint job can cost hundreds of dollars more. It turns the car into a big investment that simply might not be worth it.

Since the car looks more valuable, you’re more liable to have it stolen, too and with an older vehicle, the insurance wouldn’t replace all the money you’d put into it.

Safety can also be an issue with body kits. Things like front and side skirts mean less ground clearance which can be hazardous on uneven roads. Since body kits tend to be made of fibreglass or polyurethane, they’re likely to splinter easily in the event of a crash, especially fibreglass. The more you’ve customized your car, the less safe you’ll be in an accident.