Preface

In Part-I of this 'series', I shared with you my thoughts and experience about what all to look out for while buying a new or a used car.

          So, having got hold of one, let's get wiser on 'Accessories' and 'Customising' of one's Car - as any mistakes committed here will have a lasting impact on its drivability and reliability.

      Here's what I've learnt the easy or the hard way over the years it's yours for the asking.....

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1) On repainting - what colour for my Car

When deciding to repaint a car less than 5-yrs old, one should keep in mind the following as these days, the paint tech. has advanced quite a bit – incl. addition of UV-Blockers and what not - making practically all colours equally stable and durable. However, exceptions due to poor batch quality of a particular manufacturer/colour cannot be ruled out.

1) Metallic paints are more difficult and expensive to 'touch-up' than 'solid' paints.

2) After mkt finishes can never equal the OE standard - even if it be the latest '2K' technology which will set you back by atleast Rs: 20k. Besides, in the process, your Car will be thoroughly 'de-flowered' to do the job and will never be the same again.

3) Black colour is the worst in our tropical climate - from AC heat load and keeping it clean and ‘cobweb free’ points of view - though it's not prone to fading as such. White or off-whites are to be preferred to keep the heat load on a Cars' AC as low as possible. They also command a better resale value.

4) Re-painting will vertically depreciate its re-sale value, as the prospective buyers will have every reason to suspect its having met with a major accident.

5) In case you’re toying with the idea of changing its colour completely, prima-facie it'd be illegal as your RC would then become invalid and you'll have to seek its fresh validation all over again. The RTO's will also have a legitimate reason to suspect a foul play behind your seeking such a colour change - by way of it's true ownership or having being a stolen one !

2) On importing a Music System

1) Given the human spinal cord like sensitivity of the Mpfi Cars' Main Wiring Harness, it's advisable NOT to cut/splice/tape/twist-joint it anywhere, for installing ANY electrical accessory. In fact this is stated so in the Car's Warranty Policy, detailed in the Owner's Hand Book.

2) Consequently, practically all such Cars have an OE/Dealer Option of Music Systems specially produced in India for them by renowned players including 12-months warranty and assured after sales service, such as Kenwood/Sony/Blaupunkt etc. These are 'model specific' by way of 'mating' wiring harness couplers, which slip in straight away into the Car’s wiring harness w/o having to ‘tamper’ with it as such, unlike to olden days where one could stand on the wayside Car Accessories mkt and see it 'butchered' with your own eyes w/o any detrimental effects though, coz there were no Mpfi/EMS-Comps on board then.

3) However, one should go in for the best possible speaker systems coz they will make all the difference in the end. Towards this, one may read the Article 'Car Audio Systems' on the Cruising/Home page of CS, before you committing to some thing one may not like later.

4) So it would make sense to choose any one of these (other than speakers perhaps) from one's Dealer AND have it installed by him, so that one's Warranty is not affected. Take a formal receipt of it for later use, the possibility of it cannot be ruled out, in case one shifts town/Dealer and has some problems with the Car's Mpfi system later.

5) Our Site <indiacar.com> has informative Articles posted under its 'Infobank' Pages on Car Audio Systems, which you may like to surf for further details.

3) On converting a CNG run Car to LPG.

Sometimes, it becomes desirable for people who have CNG run Cars to convert them to LPG for want of ready availability of CNG when they move from one area to another and whether it’s possible to do so.

Such a question is rather difficult to answer. Suffice to say that - i) The gas storage tank, ii) Vaporiser and iii) various control valves/solenoids for the 2-gases will have to change coz they work on vastly different pressures. In addition, if operating in cold climates, the LPG Cylinder will require an ‘electric blanket’ type of a heater wrapped around it and its Vaporiser looped into the car heater circuit, in addition to a different 'auto timing advancer'.

Under the circumstances, I feel that instead of going by hit and miss in what can turn out to be a dangerous affair in case of a mal-function, it'd be worthwhile to replace the entire existing CNG Kit with one for LPG from a reputed supplier.