Why spend loads to pimp up your ride?

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#1
Undergrads can afford $10,000 to pimp their ride? Wow. Confused

Why spend loads to pimp up your ride?

Mr Christopher Chua spent $20k to create a Super Mario-themed Honda. Why bother? -My Lifestyle My Drive

Sun, Dec 12, 2010
My Lifestyle My Drive

By Cheryl Tay

Motorists who spend big bucks to jazz up their cars believe in one thing: theirs is more than just a mode of transportation.

This is why they indulge lavishly to customise and beautify their cars to make them look distinctive and different from the others on the road.

Some believe that the high Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices and rise in the car resale market now make the aesthetic enhancements even more worthwhile to enhance the value of their prized possession.

There are many ways to pimp up a car, such as adding a spoiler or body kit, a kitup for the wheels, and elaborate paint jobs.

Mr Reg Teo spent $10,000 to paint his Honda S2000 convertible in apple red glitter flakes specially imported from the United States. The 26-year-old undergraduate even flew in the supplier of Kustom Flakes so that he could teach the local spray workshop how to perform the task.

"It took about five months to complete the job, but it was well worth the wait," says Mr Teo. "It's the passion for my car as it is an extension of my personality and so I want it to be unique."

The glitter extends all the way under the bonnet as some of the engine parts are painted in purple glitter flakes.

Mr Teo adds: "This would be able to fetch a better price for the car if I sell it off one day. I actually received an offer from an overseas buyer after my car was first done."

But he did not stop there. He added other enhancements including an in-car entertainment system, red leather upholstery and race bucket seat, all of which has cost him about $40,000 to date.

Many car owners who go for visual enhancements rather than technical modifications cite the regulations on car modifications here.

One car owner who wanted to be known only as DT (left) spent $1,100 to cover his Nissan 350Z Fairlady roadster in matte finish stickers. His car now sports a black matte finish that draws comparisons to the Batmobile in the Hollywood blockbuster Batman Begins.

"There are so many regulations in Singapore and you can't really drive a car to its limits here, thus there's no point spending so much on enhancing its performance. Instead, I chose to strengthen the visual appeal of my ride," he explains.

He has spent about $16,000 to dress up his Fairlady convertible, which never fails to draw attention.

Mr Christopher Chua, who owns a Super Mario-themed Honda Airwave (right), says: "The restrictions on modifications in Singapore are very strict and you can't really go very fast with a sports car so I decided to dress up my car instead. Others won't be able to appreciate the car if it's going fast all the time."

The 30-year-old Navy personnel spent about $20,000 to create a complete "Super Mario world" on wheels. His themed car has won him an award at a local auto-styling competition.

Besides the dressing-up and stickers, another method of enhancing the car body is airbrushing, one of the techniques used for custom painting.

Unlike a spray gun, airbrushes are a lot smaller and they are used to perform detailed graphics on cars, motorcycles, helmets and even wall murals. The artwork is thus able to feature a lot of fine details, creating reality-like images.

The winning car of the Best Airbrush category in the Ultimate Auto Styling Showdown at Super Import Nights 2008 was a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 that was designed and airbrushed by local custom painters cum airbrush artists Aire Pro Designs.

The judges of this competition were from the National Custom Car Association, one of the largest automotive showcasing sanctioning bodies in the world.

"We do everything inhouse from preparation work to artwork design to finishing. Our trademark is the sharp and 3D-looking artwork with its sleek, smooth and shiny finishing.

"The cost of custom painting and airbrushing this car is about $12,000 and it took us about a month to do up this car for the competition," says Mr Dylan Liang, 30, one of the three artists at Aire Pro Designs.

Mr Shane Chia, 30, another artist at Aire Pro Designs adds: "It's hard to put an average cost to our work because it really depends on the vehicle model itself, the condition of the vehicle, and the extensiveness and complexity of the design. For example, we have custom painted and airbrushed kart racing helmets starting from $200 all the way to $1,800."
My Value Investing Blog: http://sgmusicwhiz.blogspot.com/
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#2
Well, if we consider that he can afford to pay for a car in the first place, the 10K extra is nothing right?
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#3
They forgot to put in their undercarriage neon lights and the NOX cylinders companied with techno songs like "Barbie Girls" and the likes.

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#4
(13-12-2010, 01:50 PM)arthur Wrote: They forgot to put in their undercarriage neon lights and the NOX cylinders companied with techno songs like "Barbie Girls" and the likes.

Ah yes the perennial favourite song of the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians. Big Grin
My Value Investing Blog: http://sgmusicwhiz.blogspot.com/
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#5
(13-12-2010, 11:47 AM)Musicwhiz Wrote: Undergrads can afford $10,000 to pimp their ride? Wow. Confused



But he did not stop there. He added other enhancements including an in-car entertainment system, red leather upholstery and race bucket seat, all of which has cost him about $40,000 to date.

He spent 40K to date.
40K! it took me quite a few years after I graduated to accumulate that amount.
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#6
For bragging rights..........

After you got the money, you wanna show it...........so, I guess "dressing up" cars is one way.........

Warren buffett is different, the whole world knows he is rich.......... =P
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#7
(14-12-2010, 04:27 PM)newborn1000 Wrote: For bragging rights..........

After you got the money, you wanna show it...........so, I guess "dressing up" cars is one way.........

Warren buffett is different, the whole world knows he is rich.......... =P

Oh true hmm, I never thought of it that way - bragging rights! Oh well, I guess there are truly a lot of people out there who would love others to view them as rich and successful. Whether or not this is really the case is another matter!
My Value Investing Blog: http://sgmusicwhiz.blogspot.com/
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#8
I dun think we should be so superficial about people pimping their cars to label all of them as people who like to brag or for people to view them as rich and successful.

Sure you have the usual show-offs and the stereotypical bengs and lians; but my own observations and my limited interactions with some of these people suggest otherwise.

Pimping a cars is actually more a statement of individuality. To some its a labour of love and a passion for them.

Most of us are probably appalled at the large sum of money involved; but think about it. How different is it from some Hello Kitty fanatics who spend $10,000 on a Hello Kitty dollhouse? Or cosplayers who spend thousands on costumes dressing up? Or the many different interest groups in society that spends large sum of money on their hobbies and passion?

Of cos its good that most of us here at valuebuddies is planning and thinking about the future and working on making our money works harder for us (we would not be here otherwise). But all of us have our own hobbies and passion. Things we do in our spare times for fun, to add a dash of spice in our lives, to makes us smile. To live!

If you do not have such a pastimes and your life is pre-occupied with working, sleeping, eating, tending to the family's needs and planning for the future, then it may be time to reflect on whether we are living life to the fullest.

If you think about it, life is too short sometimes for us to keep worrying and planning for the future. We should stop once in a while to smell the roses too. Its about achieving a balance. Time and tide waits for no one. Let us take a pragmatic approach toward life and look back in our golden years and have no regrets on how we have lived our life.

Just my thoughts.

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#9
(15-12-2010, 11:44 AM)lonewolf Wrote: Of cos its good that most of us here at valuebuddies is planning and thinking about the future and working on making our money works harder for us (we would not be here otherwise). But all of us have our own hobbies and passion. Things we do in our spare times for fun, to add a dash of spice in our lives, to makes us smile. To live!

If you do not have such a pastimes and your life is pre-occupied with working, sleeping, eating, tending to the family's needs and planning for the future, then it may be time to reflect on whether we are living life to the fullest.

Good thoughts, and I agree with the above! For me, I guess it helps that my hobbies are of the relatively inexpensive kind as compared to say pimping a car or buying a full cosplay suit. Some of the activities I love to engage in:-

1) Taking walks to parks near my house with my wife and daughter
2) Making trips to nearby malls for shopping (mostly window shopping) - the cost of an MRT or bus ride
3) Listening to music on my home computer
4) Playing an energetic game of squash - $10 an hour booking fee
5) Cycling to various parts of Singapore, including ECP and once even to Marina Bay Sands!
6) Eating out for nice restaurant meals
7) Watching some good movies in cinemas ($10 per pax on weekends) or renting good DVDs to watch ($4 to $5 per DVD)

I think probably only number (6) qualifies as a real money-burner, so I try to watch myself on that. For the rest, the expenses incurred are quite minimal. Smile
My Value Investing Blog: http://sgmusicwhiz.blogspot.com/
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