EmberData

A few years ago, I thought that cars were just a status symbol. All the rich friends of mine have their own cars. Well, not long after that, I was surprised that we had our own car. It wasn’t a status symbol at all. We got our car because of the need for transportation. Commuting is quite tiring and a bit costly (riding a taxi almost daily, sure is costly). If we try to compute the amount of money spent riding a taxi daily, against having a car and spending on gas daily, the latter would be much lighter on the pocket. This has completely changed my mindset. However, there is another aspect to owning a car. I thought to myself, “here comes the status symbol again”. Well, I’m trying to convince myself again otherwise. A car is not a car without accessories! It’s like a house with no furniture. I don’t think anyone would want to ride a car if it looks dull and boring.

A car should be comfortable to ride with. It should have a nice and clean ambiance. It should filter out the noise from the outside. Nice, cool music may not be necessary but it would be an advantage. Of course, safety should also be put into consideration. With this, I came up with my top 10 list of car accessories (for casual riders, not for sports enthusiasts):

1. Steering Wheel – A car’s steering wheel should have a firm hold. It will help you avoid accidents specially when you need to make sharp curves. It would be best if the color matches the car’s outer color.
2. Headrest – Sometimes, a car’s seat is not comfortable enough for the driver. A headrest helps the driver relax his head and focus more on the driving.
3. Floor Carpet – Cars make a lot of noise from below because of the road. Sometimes we encounter small humps that add up to the noise when riding.
4. Dashes – These things keep your car’s status in check. It shows how fast you are currently running. It shows the fuel level, as well as the number of miles/kms the car has gone off the road.
5. Mirrors – Side mirrors and rear-view mirrors are very important. It keeps you safe from bumping other cars because if restrains you from making a turn when you see who’s behind you.
6. Car Audio Systems – Music keeps our head cool. It makes driving comfortable. Just be sure you don’t play ultra-mellow songs that will cause you to sleep while driving.
7. Lights and Lamps – These things help you see in the dark if you need to drive at night. In some places where fogs are too thick, Fog Lamps come in handy.
8. Bull-bars (Bumper-guards) – These are those metallic objects placed to cover a car’s bumper (not applicable to all cars).  These prevent the car’s bumpers from suffering huge damage in case of collision (It’s much cheaper to change a bumper-guard than the bumper itself).
9. Shift knobs – For some people, not just any knob will do. A driver should be able to have a firm grip on the knob so that shifting to another gear will be easy. Some drivers have sweaty palms, so it’s better to have a rubberized shift knob.
10. Air Freshener – Finally, the air freshener. No one wants to ride a car with bad odor!