15 Pointless Car Add-Ons That Will Drain Your Wallet

Love customizing your car to enhance the owning experience? From giant rims to roaring exhausts, the options are endless. But not every add-on is worth the cash. We have explored 15 car accessories that might drain your wallet without adding any value. Maybe you’ve fallen for one of these gimmicks.

Fake Exhaust Tips

Fake exhaust tips with their chrome or black finishes and sporty angles are designed to trick onlookers into thinking you’ve got a beast. However, it’s more like tricking yourself, as these exhaust tips can be detected “fake” easily. Moreover, this add-on offers no performance upgrades. Your car will still accelerate, brake, and sound the same as before. So, why dump your hard-earned cash into something that does absolutely nothing but look like a cheap imitation?

Oversized Spoilers

It costs around $100 (minimum) to install a spoiler or rear wing on your vehicle. While they improve downforce at high speeds, you’re unlikely to push your SUV or a sedan to those limits on public roads. If you want to do so, there are vehicles designed specifically for that purpose. So, unless you’re constantly hitting 200+ mph on a racetrack, that giant rear wing is probably just for show. In fact, spoilers on a regular car look ridiculous and can even impact fuel efficiency.

Neon Underglow Lights

You must have heard about this car mod. It’s common among owners looking to transform their car into a rolling disco. These vibrant lights, often emitting red, blue, purple, or green shades, might give aesthetic vibes but serve no practicality. In fact, under glow lights can be a safety hazard. The luminosity can affect the visibility of others, or the shades may mimic emergency vehicles, confusing road users. That’s why many states have strict regulations or outright bans on under glow lights, especially those that flash bright red or blue. 

Headlight Protectors

Headlight protectors are a wise choice to shield a car’s headlights from damage. However, they often do more harm than good. The plastic covering can actually reduce the light output of a vehicle’s headlights, compromising visibility, especially on foggy nights. Moreover, these films are not entirely resistant to road debris, dust, and moisture, which can accumulate over time and cause safety concerns. So, consider buying durable, high-quality headlight bulbs instead of wasting money on such mods.

Spinner Hubcaps

While spinner hubcaps look cool, they are a recipe for disaster in terms of price and safety. Depending on the brand and design, a single spinner hubcap can cost anywhere from $50 to several hundred dollars. The installation cost further burdens your pocket. Secondly, the spinning motion (even if your car is at a standstill) can confuse other drivers. Some states consider this a safety concern and have proposed bans. So, installing spinner hubcaps is nothing but a foolish way of spending money.

Gesture controls 

How much does it take to reach for a button or touchscreen to change the navigation inputs, turn down the music, or decline a phone call? Not much, right? Gesture controls in modern or high-end vehicles aim to make this even faster, but ask yourself one thing: do you really need that? People with this feature in their vehicles experienced a high rate of problems, making it their last choice. We’re not saying that technology is bad. But sometimes, it’s just not that necessary.

Bullbars 

While big metal bars might make your ride look like a rugged off-roader, trust us, they serve just this. The bullbars don’t protect your car well. Additionally, they may amplify the force of impact in front collisions, causing severe injuries and even fatalities. So, save your money for other “practical” modifications. Your savings account (and maybe even road users) will thank you. 

Stick-on Hood Scoops

If your car were a high-performance track-focused model, it would already have scoops or vents on its hood to keep your engine ventilated. However, if you have to stick aftermarket ones on it, which have no functional benefit, they are useless. Modifying your car should improve its overall performance. However, with these fake hood scoops, you will only boost the laughs of fellow enthusiasts rather than your car’s performance.

Turbo Whistles

Who doesn’t want to hear the spools from their boosted engine? For that, installing an actual turbocharger is a good idea. Sure, a forced induction setup has a pricey tag, but installing a turbo whistle into your exhaust tip is nothing compared to the real thing. It doesn’t even work correctly. So, enjoy a cheeseburger instead of getting these turbo whistles from Amazon for 20 bucks. 

Carbon Fiber Wraps

Want to shave some kilos off your car? Get real carbon fiber parts for weight reduction. These wraps are useless. Anyone can tell that a hood is wrapped just by looking at it. Moreover, carbon wraps are adhesive, which can ruin your paint if torn out improperly.

Automated Seat-Belt Presenter

If my Bentley offered me a seat belt whenever I stepped into its elegant cabin, I would fancy it, but only in a luxury vehicle like this. Getting automatic seat belt presenters for a regular car, such as your Altima, is just a waste of money. Hooking your belt every morning while leaving for the office takes no effort.

Tinted Headlights/Taillights

Why would someone want to make their headlights and taillights less bright after sticking tint films on them? Some individuals prefer doing that. They think it makes their car look fantastic, but the reality differs. It not only looks weird but is also illegal in many areas, such as California, New York, Florida, etc, because the reduced visibility can result in accidents.

Fuel Line Magnets

Low gas mileage could be a sign of a mechanical issue or that you need to examine your driving habits, but attaching magnets to your vehicle’s fuel line just to increase the gas range is not ideal. Sellers claim that the magnetic field aids the atomization of the fuel, which results in efficient combustion, but there is a lack of evidence to back this up.

Fake Performance Badges

Please don’t get them. These badges belong to high-performance cars as they are worthy of them. An irrelevant AMG label on your Mercedes will make you look pretentious. And there is no shame in owning a base model—you still own a Mercedes.

G-Force Indicators

So your Honda is pulling enough G’s? Unless it is an NSX GT3 being pushed to the limits around the Nurburgring, then fair enough, but having a G-Force indicator added to your 2004 Civic seems pointless and offers few practical benefits. 

Save Your Money

If you are passionate about your car and have planned to keep it for a long time, adding upgrades to make it more fun to drive seems reasonable. Just ensure they are effective and provide benefits rather than a sign of misspending.