I’ve been talking with some people about the current trends that we’re seeing in today’s car scene. I asked them what they don’t want to see in 2013 going forward, so we all started brainstorming about the things we’ve either come across in person or on the internet that just left a bad taste in our mouths. Whether it’s the trends that we’re seeing or the general attitude of people that seem to drive the scene downward rather than help it progress. As you read on, you might get the feeling that I’m contradicting myself and that’s fair, but when you put it all together as a whole, you’ll understand. A big part of the car scene is being able to be open minded, without that – it’s tough to appreciate things even if it’s something you wouldn’t do and that’s probably where all these trends came from.

Disclaimer: this is personal opinion. I don’t care what you do with your car or what trend you’re following and I’d be the last person to tell you to rip something off your car cause I hate it. I usually just walk away or pretend I never saw it. Afterall – what did momma say?

Anyways  – what else would you add to the list?

• Sticker bombing – This seems to have died out near the end of 2012. And while it was an “OK” trend at first, it got old super quick. The excuse of covering up a rock chip or a dent also worked for a while. But then everyone seemed to believe that it worked for wherever there was a scuff. Now instead of hiding your little scuff that I’m sure nobody even noticed, everyone is looking at the full sticker book from Chapters on your front lip.

• Blacked out headlights/taillights – Kind of 50/50. Light tints – fine. Blacked out or murdered out film? What? The only all black car that ever looked good was the Batmobile. Other than that – please let the rest of us be able to see your lights.

• Unpainted body kits – You still see this. I appreciate the fact that you need to test fit it to make sure it fits. I even appreciate the fact that you want it on so bad that you can’t wait. I’ve been there – having a kit or a part and not being able to put it on because it needs something else. Fight the urge – unpainted parts don’t look good, even if it’s a real Mugen bumper. Your stock (painted) part will always look better.

• Car lashes – just don’t.

• Whatever-flush. Fitment is important to me and I can appreciate well thought out sizes and offsets. As JC said – a hellaflush sticker isn’t the deciding factor to whether your car is dope or not. While I appreciate and love the fact that people try to push the limits – the limit can only be pushed so far before it’s just straight up dumb.

• Di-noc. I personally dislike di-noc. I tweeted the other day “if carbon pieces aren’t made for your car, chances are it wasn’t meant to be di-noc’d. If there is, don’t di-noc it anyway”. Go ahead, wrap your key fob. Knock yourself out, wrap your cellphone. But when you wrap your hood and trunk and every other piece you can lay carbon vinyl on, you probably could’ve just bought a real carbon piece that you won’t have to worry about ripping.

• Widened steelies – it doesn’t happen often. As Punit put it “Ain’t nobody got time for that”. That sums up widened steelies.

• Retrofitting parts – This is a little tougher to dissect. What I mean about retrofitting parts is putting parts not meant to be on your car on there anyway because it might be unique or different. I am all about uniqueness and it works well with some parts. Examples: S2000 cluster in your Honda – awesome. Spoon S2000 diffuser on your RSX/Civic/Integra – great. It’s when you start getting into putting an STI lip on your Civic by just bending it a bit and securing it with some screws. Retrofitting within good reason and taste is far and few in-between. I just never see it work too often.

• Less ego – so your car got featured on a website. So you made a magazine cover. So your car got reblogged on tumblr 1000 times. While all of it is great and dandy and something to be proud about, it doesn’t entitle you to celebrity status. Pat yourself on the back and stay humble.

• More you – Building your car for yourself. Something that doesn’t happen all too often anymore because they are building it based on the internet’s opinion or to gain some sort of fame. Doing what you like is what makes builds great. While not everyone can envision something awesome, the end result is the same – you’ve got a car that you made yourself.

• Last but not least – fake parts. A controversial issue. I’ve mentioned in one of my posts way back that I don’t care whether you rock Rota’s or Volks – at the end of the day, if it looks good then that’s all that matters. Not everybody can afford to spend $700+/wheel and I don’t blame you. I have friends that rock Rota’s and could care less because the car itself was put together nicely with what they got. We all agreed on this, and JC mentioned “fake it till you make it”. You either come to realize that saving for a little longer for “better” products ends up being worth it in the end, or you just continue faking the funk. At the end of the day, a humble and true car enthusiast can respect everything if it’s done right while biting your tongue at shit you don’t like.

That pretty much sums it up. There’s probably a bunch of things anyone could add to the list, but we all kind of agreed we could probably live without this list. We all build our cars the way we like, we follow trends – some good and many bad, and we learn as we go. The best approach to building your car is your approach. Even if your car is the definition of this whole list – who gives a shit? Nobody can change it anyway.