While nobody wants to have an older car, not everybody can afford to get a new one. At least, they wouldn’t be able to buy one without saving up for a while. That could often leave them feeling dissatisfied with how their current vehicle looks and feels.

You mightn’t be able to afford some upgrades, regardless of how recommended they may be. If you’re in this situation, you have a few options available to you. You shouldn’t have to settle for your car looking and feeling relatively old.

Instead, there are more than a few things that you can make it feel like new. Though this will need a certain amount of ongoing effort, that could prove to be worth it. At a minimum, it’ll have your car looking and feeling much nicer than it did beforehand.

How To Make An Old Car Feel Like New

Clean It Regularly

Cleaning your car regularly may be the most obvious way to make it feel like new. While you might wash your vehicle regularly, that mightn’t be enough. Instead, it could be worth going to a professional car wash for this.

They’ll get into all of the nooks and crannies in your vehicle. They may also remove the seats to make sure that they get everything. Once it’s done, your car should be much cleaner than it was.

It might also be worth choosing some of the more expensive cleaning options. These will have more of an impact than you’d think. It might also be a while before your car needs another deep clean.

Get A New Air Freshener

One of the easiest ways to make your car feel like new is to make it smell nicer. While spraying an air freshener from your home or airing the vehicle out can help with this, they’re not great long-term solutions.

Instead, you’ll need a high-quality air freshener. There are countless options you can choose from, with all being on the affordable side. You might want to avoid the cheapest of these, however. These often won’t last as long or have as noticeable a smell.

You could also consider custom air fresheners if you want to add a more personal twist. While these could be slightly more expensive than their non-custom counterparts, they should be more than worth it.

Restore The Dashboard

Unless you buy one of the more expensive cars, dashboards can fade relatively quickly. That’s primarily because of the plastic that’s used to make it. The fading process could take a while, and you mightn’t even notice it. It could be worth restoring the dashboard, however.

There are several ways to do this, each of which is relatively easy. Perhaps the most notable is using silicone polishes and dashboard waxes. You shouldn’t need to spend more than a little while on this. Once you’re done, however, your dashboard will look much fresher than it did.

When you’re focusing on this, it’s also worth looking at your steering wheel. Adding a wrap or cover could be enough to make it look much nicer.

Take Care Of The Headlamp & Tail Lamp Lenses

You mightn’t pay too much attention to your headlamp and tail lamp. Over time, though, the lenses on both of these will fade. You’ll need to replace them after a few years, typically after six years. Doing so will help with both lamps’ brightness and make them look more attractive.

If you can’t afford this, then you could consider getting them buffed. While that would only partially restore them, it can be a much more budget-friendly option. It’ll still be worth replacing the headlamp and tail lamp lenses when you can, however.

This will make driving at nighttime much safer, which you’ll typically want to take advantage of.

Fix All The Rattles & Squeaks

As your car gets older, it’ll start to rattle and squeak somewhat. While that can be seen with most vehicles, it’s typically seen in more affordable sedans and hatchbacks. They’ll occur regardless of how much maintenance you might have put in.

Typically, you’ll focus on a few particular areas, while the squeaks and rattles will turn up in a completely different place. You’ll want to get these fixed as soon as possible. Though these can be relatively minor, they can lead to much larger issues in the future.

As they typically affect older vehicles, these are problems you’ll want to avoid completely. Needing to replace the entire dashboard, for instance, will cost much more than addressing the minor things that would cause rattling.

By getting things done now, you’ll save yourself from having to get more expensive repairs done.

Check The Suspension

Depending on what kind of suspension your car has, it could need to be repaired or replaced relatively regularly. At a minimum, you’ll have to start paying more attention to it after a certain number of miles. That’s primarily the case with coil- and leaf-spring suspensions.

There are multiple areas that you might need to replace. The shock absorbers and bushes will be some of the more common, although you’ll need to take a look at the struts and other areas, too.

Once your suspension has been repaired and is well-maintained, you’ll notice a large difference in your driving experience. 

Look After The Seats

When you first buy a car, it’s likely that seat covers won’t be included. If you haven’t gotten these since getting your vehicle, they’re worth investing in. These could make a more significant impression on your car’s interior than you’d expect.

After all, the seating will be one of the largest surface areas in the car. You can choose quite a few car seats, which gives you a chance to make your car look much nicer. It could be worth having a specific theme in mind when you’re doing so. Having a color in mind for highlights could be a recommended option.

These will also protect your seats against the typical wear and tear. You also wouldn’t need to change these too often. Car seat covers will typically last about four years, although this could depend on what ones you pick up.

That should make them a worthwhile investment.

Upgrade The Infotainment System

Everybody knows that they’ll have to update their phone every once in a while. Your car’s infotainment system is quite similar. Most people don’t realize this, however, as they’d typically see this upgrade when they get a new vehicle.

Why should you have to wait this long to update the infotainment system? There are multiple ways you can do so. Naturally, replacing the actual hardware would be the most obvious. A more modern screen could be the more stylish option to choose from.

You could also look at the Bluetooth, GPS, reverse cameras, and multiple other areas. That’ll not only make your car look nicer but have the infotainment system functioning much better. It could also be worth adding some new software to the system, especially if you can think of any that would improve your driving experience.

Wrapping Up

Trying to make your car feel like new may feel like an uphill battle. At some point, it could be worth getting a new one. Often, this could prove to be more affordable than you’d think, especially if you budget right.

If you plan on keeping your current car for a while, however, you should take advantage of as many of the above as possible. These can have more benefits than you’d think. If you end up selling your vehicle, for instance, then they could help you sell it faster and for a higher price.

With that, there’s no reason not to put some effort into making your car feel and look nicer.