How to make your car look and feel FACTORY FRESH

Much like everything we love and cherish in our lives, cars too grow old. And as cars age, the number of problems keep growing. We look at five inevitable issues and how to get rid of them. All this to make the car look and feel younger, essentially as good as it came from the factory, hence the term ‘factory fresh’.

Starting with the most evident of problems,

Outdated styling

We are yet to reach an arrangement where car companies will allow us to swap a vehicle’s bodywork for a cooler-looking version’s so that it looks up-to-date. But that’s not to say you can’t make the vehicle look good. Paint detailing is one good way of ensuring that the vehicle returns to its stock look. Getting the plastic and rubber bits polished, and wheels refurbished if the need arises, should add to it.

It can also be made better by simple modifications like alloy wheels, slight lowering of the vehicle, and even a repaint. Keep in mind that the latter has to be endorsed on your vehicle’s papers if you plan to change the colour.

You can read more about how to enjoy your car without hitting its resale value here.

Stale interior

Like outdated styling outside, the car’s interior can also start to look old. But more than that it starts to feel old. Thankfully interior treatment takes care of stains and discoloured leather. Polishing the dashboard gives it an extra shine and almost new-like look.

Thorough cleaning, putting new carpet and mats, and even changing seat covers and door panels will make a difference. The new car smell is hard to get unless you plan to change the interior, a new air freshener should make things better.

Now getting to some serious changes

Rust

Every car’s worst enemy that finds its way to somehow, or rust as you and I call it, is expected to be sitting in a corner, near a hinge, or worse still, might have consumed a panel already. If preventive measures aren’t taken, then chances are that it has done so.

Removal of rust, replacement/repair of the affected panel, and getting an anti-rust treatment are some of the things that must be done as soon as possible. The bodywork might take some time but the step, if done at the right time, will save your car’s body from further damage.

A few things must be kept in mind about rust: un-repaired parts, damp carpets, and even accumulation of dirt can trigger it again. It can be worse if you stay in a humid part of the country.

Bad Handling

We slowly get accustomed to the way our vehicles behave, and if there are slow, gradual deterioration, there’s a good chance that we might not even realise that something has gone terribly wrong. And with age, components like tyres, wheels, and even the suspension are bound to go ‘kaput’. It all can collectively hamper the way the car handles.

Wheel alignment and balancing needs to be checked, and so does the tyre wear and the suspension. Any deviation in the normal functioning has to be taken care of, in order to make the car run normally. Further TLC including changing tyres shall bring the vehicle close to how it came from the dealership.

Reduced performance

We’re talking of a scenario in which the car hasn’t undergone any major damage but has been subjected to the regular wear and tear. Now that will also affect its engine’s performance, like in case of the handling. Thankfully, getting the engine back to its shape isn’t a big task.

As the informative video by Fifth Gear shows, a few simple steps and the engine can be made to run optimally, again. Starting with cleaning the tank and the fuel lines, to changing the engine oil and filters (oil and air), the exercise was concluded with changing spark plugs and connecting leads. While this is not the exhaustive way to do it, but it goes on to show that replacement of vital components (although not very expensive) can bring the engine back to its former glory.

These are some of the ways of making the car look and feel factory fresh. If you think there’s something else that we must include, please add that in the comments section below.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5