Car Fads That Robbed Drivers Of Their Hard-Earned Cash

Cameron Eittreim June 14, 2021

5: Branded Decals

Branded decals are some of the most annoying accessories that drivers have wasted their money on. From the giant Honda sticker across the top of an Accord to the various off-road stickers, you see on pickup trucks. These decals often cost a boatload of money and don’t do anything for the resale value or performance of the vehicle.

Branded decals are perhaps one of the most obscene accessories that have come out of the past decade. Drivers tried to show off their vehicle pride but these decals seemed foolish for the most part.

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4: Lamborghini Doors

Auto enthusiasts were doing everything featured in rap videos in the early 2000s. Adding a pair of Lamborghini doors to your Honda Civic or Chevy Tahoe seemed like the popular thing to do at the time. These doors were very expensive to install and it required quite a bit of fabrication to get the job done the right way.

Fortunately, the fad seems to have gone away for the most part; you’ll still see it in the South but that’s about it. Lamborghini doors are a modification that you don’t need and they won’t add any value to the car other than a unique look.

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3: LED Lightbars

Adding various lights to your pickup truck can be a fun experience but it’s oftentimes unwarranted. LED lightbars came into popularity in the mid-2000s as an add-on to be placed at the bottom of the tailgate. While these lights can make the truck more visible, it takes a lot of wiring and extra work to get it done right.

With the newest wave of modern pickup trucks, it seems like this fad has all but gone away. You’ll see these lightbars on the tailgates of pickup trucks from time to time. Albeit not at all as popular as it once was an upgrade that people would go for.

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2: Keyless Ignition

With all of the other expensive audio upgrades that went into cars around the 2000s, keyless ignitions gained traction as well. Adding a keyless ignition to your car or truck was a great way to get it warmed up for you. Unfortunately, wiring one of these systems is very difficult and it caused a lot of reliability issues in certain vehicles.

Nothing is worse than having an electrical gremlin in your car and these keyless ignitions did that. Most new cars can be started from an app so the need for a custom keyless ignition all but disappeared for the most part.

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1: Baja Lights

Baja-inspired trucks became quite popular in the 1980s and early ’90s. Baja lights, which could be mounted at the top of your truck, were a common modification. Fortunately, the lights didn’t do anything in the way of added performance or value to the car. Nowadays most of these lights have vanished although you have an enthusiast show off a pair from time to time.

Baja racing is still a popular thing but these days Baja trucks come from the factory, such as the Ford F150 Raptor. The Baja racing scene has changed a lot since the early days and Baja lights are just another car fad that drivers unnecessarily spent money on.

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Car Fads That Robbed Drivers Of Their Hard-Earned Cash

5: Branded Decals

4: Lamborghini Doors

3: LED Lightbars

2: Keyless Ignition

1: Baja Lights

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