Modifications are available for cars in all price and age ranges

Personalising your car goes beyond just making it recognisable in a crowded car park, it can show others aspects of your personality, increase aesthetics or increasing performance. It is a great chance to make your car into a truly unique machine.

Having knowledge on how your car works can help a lot when considering what modifications to get for your car, very few people would want to add modifications which hinder performance or decrease efficiency. With the internet providing a vast amount of information which is freely available, it doesn’t take long to find trustworthy information or opinions on specific models and brands. Joining forums for manufacturers and other like minded people is a great way to get ideas for your car.

Exhausts and other performance modifications are relatively easy to install

The internet is also a great resource for sourcing parts for car styling and modifications, letting you browse for the best price for quality parts and receiving them quickly. Asking for help and advice from established businesses can help you along your way, from installation to maintenance.

An added bonus with modifying your car is the experience gained and fun (hopefully!) from installing parts on your car. If it turns into a passion, your skills can even be turned into a business as there is a popular market for quality modifications.

Getting the most out of your vehicle and allowing you to enjoy it for years to come just takes a bit of research and can go as far as your imagination allows. Why not start looking now at the options available to you.

The market is full of Land Rover spares for this very reason, owners love to change their vehicle until  it suits them perfectly with changes to the suspension, exhaust, roof and a whole host of additional extras before we even look into changing or upgrading the engine itself.

Land Rover the company encourage this modification of their basic vehicle and so they provide many optional extras that you can have fitted such as flood lights, protective bars and racks for carrying extra equipment. This not only allows you to customise your car for your needs, but it also allows you to strike up conversation with other Land Rover enthusiasts about what modifications they have made or are considering. With the right extras, your car could tell a story as you remember the time you installed protective bars for your off-road holiday.

The other advantage of the customisation of Land Rovers is that it makes the vehicle even more indestructible as you are free to take apart, add and remove various different parts as you change or repair the broken parts. You could potentially even do this by the side of the road or in an emergency if you pack your car with a few of the more valuable spare parts so that you are fully prepared for any unexpected eventuality. This is why many Land Rovers feature a spare tyre or space for one somewhere on the body of the vehicle.

It is not uncommon to hear of scams involving cars that were meant for the scrap heap to be sold on by unscrupulous dealers. Imagine the owner’s surprise when they were hit with hefty fines for cars that they believed had been disposed of responsibly! These dealers make the cars into “cut and shut” vehicles that are highly dangerous. Scrap cars can be big business for criminals so you should make sure that you never let your car fall into the wrong hands and always make sure that the right papers have changed hands to ensure that you have denounced responsibility. When scrapping your car, the dealer should ask for the v5c registration document, key, logbook and additional ID such as a driver’s license or passport.

There have been reports of up to £5,000 worth of fines being given out to people who had been totally oblivious to the fact that their car was still out on the road – a danger to motorists and pedestrians. If a certificate of destruction is not issued to the owner, then they remain liable for any fines the car racks up which can have devastating financial consequences for them. Andrew Scotter, who runs a scrapping service said;

“The DVLA have to stick to the letter of the law and if the car is registered in your name then you are liable for the fine. We want people to think about how they would feel if their car was used for something like an armed robbery”

This is clearly a problem, but one that can be easily avoided if you ensure that you approach a legitimate business to scrap your car for you, and always demand a certificate of destruction as proof that they have done what you have asked.

If you’re considering buying and restoring one of the original Series Land Rovers, there are a few things you should look out for before you part with any money.

Is the body of the car in good condition or is it rusted? Is there any rust on the outriggers and spring holders? Has the chassis been repaired by somebody else and if so, have they done a bad job?

Is there any rust on the bulkhead at the window frames and footwells?

When driving, does the car seem to pull sideways or jerk upon braking?

Will you need to purchase new parts or is the vehicle complete? Are these parts original? Check for modifications to the engine, seats, gearbox and dashboard.

Is the electrical wiring safe?

Do the springs sag, or are they cracked?

All these things need to be thought about before you part with your cash. The condition of the car will ultimately dictate how much you spend and can range from anything between £10 – 40,000. Bear in mind that some Land Rover parts can be hard to source, particularly if you are planning on restoring a Series I though these vehicles are not commonly found for resale and are generally found only by word of mouth.

Series IIA models are easier to come by but do tend to rattle and are pretty bumpy to drive. Original versions are hard to find, and most come with engine conversions, and Series II are very few and far between. The most common second-hand Land Rover is the III and IIIS and completely original versions are still out there.

It can be a dream project to build a car completely from scratch in the garage, sourcing all of the different parts individually and watching it as it develops and grows over the months or years that it takes to build. This has become easier in the modern age, because finding car parts online is far easier and cheaper than the alternative. Also the internet enables us to reach an entire community of like-minded hobbyists from the comfort of our own home. The chances are that if you are starting a project, somewhere online there is someone similar who is working on the same model or has done in the past and this can be immeasurably helpful for both of you.

Building or modifying a car is both a hobby and a skill with incredibly functional patterns. Once you have started playing with your car and learning things that you never knew before you will discover the joy of physical engineering. It is incredibly satisfying to see how two parts work together and to understand how and why it works like that like two pieces of a puzzle.

As a general rule of thumb, any part that is at or nearing its useful lifespan will most often not be covered but that isn’t exactly the whole answer either. It depends on the level of cover and whether or not that worn part causes a vehicle to fail the MOT testing. If a Mazda Warranty is purchased with optional MOT cover, and the part that fails is covered by the MOT plan, then it doesn’t matter if it is worn or not – it will be covered. This is why it is so vitally important to carefully consider both the level of cover and the optional cover available for any given vehicle.

A Honda Warranty, for example, can be offered under Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze plans. Each of those levels provides pre-specified cover for mechanical, electrical and electronic breakdowns or failures. Even so, keep in mind that any warranty company would go broke providing cover on worn parts that are beyond their useful lifespan, which is why in many cases they are not covered.

Even a Platinum Lexus Warranty would not cover worn parts but a Lexus Warranty with optional (at extra cost) MOT plan would most often cover the part that caused the failure as well as covering the cost of re-testing. The point is, choose your cover wisely based on the year, make and model of the vehicle as well as in terms of what you can afford within your budget. When purchasing a used vehicle, things are bound to fail so it is always safest to get the broadest cover within your budget.

Sim Card Contracts

There are two main types of sim card plans available in the UK. Let us take a look first at the monthly contract option. With a monthly contract you are locked into a certain amount of minutes with a set payment per month. If you go over those minutes you are charged for the additional minutes. The contract is usually set up on a yearly basis, though you may find something for six months to 24 months. A contract is often cheaper per minute because the company knows you are in a contract and will have to pay the amount or pay for breaking the contract. In either case the phone service provider gets the money for the contract. It is the least flexible option when you are changing providers, but keeping your phone.

Pay as you go options with SIM only deals are highly flexible. They make the most sense if you have yet to find a phone service provider that you are happy with. A pay as you go sim only plan provides you with a set amount of minutes for 30 days of use. You can use the minutes up before 30 days and purchase more for an additional 30 days. However, you cannot let the pay as you go minutes lapse beyond 30 days as you will lose them with most phone providers.

Since you pay in advance for the minutes, the phone will not allow you to make a call unless you pay for a new plan or pay for the amount of minutes you feel you will use. You are not locked into a contract with the provider. Instead, you are sent a SIM card for that provider which you put in the phone and then use the minutes. At the end when all the minutes have been used you can switch providers.

Even if you are happy with the phone provider it can make sense to stay on a pay as you go plan. Often times with SIM only deals you get to take advantage of special promotions. In other words, you may spend less on pay as you go plans because of the special deals available. One month you may go with Vodafone, but in the next month Orange may have a better SIM only plan.

This is why you should compare the available options out there in order to determine what is best for you. If you are searching for the perfect mobile phone provider checking out each one with a SIM only deal and then signing a contract is still an option.

There are times when one gets into a mishap such as an accident because of the bad luck or any other reason. Car and van insurance basically saves your cost in a way that you don’t have to get your car fixed from your own pocket. The liability is on to them. There are several short term car insurance and temporary can insurance companies which insure your car for a period of three to five years. You can also get vehicle tracking comparison quotes that are given to you by these companies. These quotes basically give you an estimation of several leading insurance companies along with the insurance premium that they charge you with.

• Car head unit. If you want to listen to music you must have a decent radio and CD player to appreciate modern recording techniques. Over at Car Audio Centre there is a great selection of head units – whether you want to be able to play cds, mp3 CDs or just listen to the radio then you will find what you are looking for here. There are also head units available that enable you to directly connect your MP3 player, iPod or Laptop.
• iPod and MP3 players. Or if your head unit doesn’t have direct connections for your iPod or MP3 player then you can buy special adapters so you can still listen to your favourite playlists where ever you are. Over at Dynamic Sounds they have an extensive range of adapters for many different car models to ensure that you get the right one.
• Speakers. Of course no head unit is complete without a quality set of speakers to accompany it. Bass Junkies have a great selection of speakers, amplifiers and sub woofers. Or if you fancy letting someone else do the hard work then Ice Beat do the lot – they design and make customised boot builds, and even install it all for you.
• Audio Visual. An audio visual unit has many different functions, such as to see what songs are playing, to allow passengers to watch dvds or to be used as a Sat Nav. Of course safety is an important aspect of all these clever bits of gear so choosing a handsfree unit is also advisable. You can go one step further by kitting out your car with DVD headrests to keep the passengers in the back happy on longer journeys.
• And something extra. To gain a rep for having the coolest car to travel in, there is a package available from In Car Electronix  that allows your passengers to play their favourite games on the PS3 while on the move.

For safety it is important to remember that unless the accessories are handsfree, they should only be operated by the passenger, or by the driver when the car is stationary.

It is also worth checking what your car insurance will cover you for in terms of in car entertainment and you should inform them of any modifications you make. If you dont declare them and you have to make a claim your insurance company may not pay up as you wont be covered.

Who remembers Ridge Racer on the PlayStation? This was actually the first game to come out on the original PlayStation, and boy it was good. If you were to look back at it now, the graphics would seem a little primitive but, come on it was 1993!

Need for Speed will go down as an all time classic. They are still being made today and there are all sorts of variants of the game. As with many modern racing games there is an ‘underground’ version, inspired by the Fast and Furious movies. They are always great fun and the gameplay, particularly on the more recent versions, is superb.

Gran Tourismo is another racing game that first came about many years ago, but continues to be successful today. This is one of the more realistic of the games. It is quite difficult as there is little room for error, yet this makes the game all the more addictive. A range of cars are available to choose from, including Ferrari, Lamborghini and Mercedes export.

On the complete other end of the spectrum, the might Mario Kart. This game has gone from strength to strength since it began life all those years ago on the NES. The latest version of Mario Kart can be bought for the Nintendo Wii and lives up to its massive reputation.