With independent “restyling”, easily removable exterior elements such as headlights, bumpers, hood and trunk lids are often replaced, while the vehicle remains structurally the same. However, technical problems after an accident can often be hidden behind such a spaciousness of appearance, experts warn that potential buyers of such cars should take this into account.
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota models are one of the most popular in terms of redesign for a new look, and the Land Cruiser SUV fits perfectly in this – even in the transition from 200 to 300 in the generation, its build and body shape remained the same,
and the price difference between old and new machines is huge.
The conversion kit to “300” includes bumpers, grille, headlights, taillights, trunk lid, fenders, hood and other necessary parts.
Such sets are offered in Russia at a price of 330 thousand rubles. The car owner will have to spend additional money (about 200 thousand rubles) on the installation of new elements and painting.
Toyota Camry
Converting the Toyota Camry of the V50 generation (2011) to a restyled version of the 2014 model is even more cost-effective – a set of bumpers, optics, a radiator grille is offered by specialized stores for 75 thousand rubles without the costs of delivery and installation. You will have to spend money to paint the new parts.
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Tuning masters from Kazakhstan offer to replace the Mercedes-Benz S-Class body parts in the W221 body (produced since 2005) with parts of the current generation W222 model. This requires replacing not only the bumpers and optics, but also the front and rear fenders, the hood, the trunk lid, as well as the so-called “TV” or radiator frame – a support frame in the front of the car. outer body elements are attached.
Instead of the original headlights, a quality copy is installed, while the interior remains the same. There is a simpler option without replacing the body elements – the wings and hood have been redesigned, and their shape changes according to the new version of the sedan.
Gelandewagen
Tuning studio Modern Cars transforms the 1998 Gelandewagen SUV into a modern model, but the price of such work is comparable to the cost of the cheapest non-SUV. During such improvements, modern seats with two-tone leather upholstery and a dash with two LCD screens from the 2019 car were installed in the car.
“The internal work on this project took a total of three months.
In this case, the wiring was not changed much, but an Android-based media system was installed, which made it possible to replace the analog instrument panel with a digital one. ”
– Says the representative of Modern Automobile Daniil Tambovtsev “socialbites.ca”. “The budget for such a project with the replacement of the interior and the replacement of seats is about 2 million rubles.”
According to him, it is often practiced to transform the Mercedes ML W166 crossover, produced since 2011, into an updated version, which in 2015 changed the model index to Mercedes GLE. Similar modifications are often carried out with the Mercedes GL SUV.
The head of the tuning studio estimates the budget for converting a Mercedes ML to a GLE, taking into account the necessary work – spare parts made in China, subject to the use of a “mix” of new and used original parts, as well as new.
What about traffic cops?
Specialists require re-documentation of such modifications of cars, they are considered changes in design. And if such a setting on the road does not attract the attention of traffic police inspectors, problems will arise when you visit the MREO traffic police by car.
“There are more tricks to restyling a car or converting it to a later model than it might seem at first glance,
– The head of the avtocriminal expert center Maxim Shelkov warned in an interview with socialbites.ca. “The traces of a particularly serious accident are very often concealed in this way.”
According to him, with careful inspection, it is possible to distinguish a simply tuned car from an emergency car: in the latter case, traces of body repair remain on the power elements. The fact that the car was broken can also be indicated by a discrepancy in the date of manufacture of functional parts in the engine compartment: for example, if the car’s radiator was changed, this is a good reason to suspect that it is defective. An accident.
In addition, situations regularly occur when thieves steal a car and customize it from a car from an earlier production year, according to documents,
Shelkov assures a potential buyer that he is dealing with the consequences of tuning, although in reality the car has only a criminal history and fake markings.
Also, when a car re-registers with the traffic police after an amateur restyling, its registration can easily be refused, since according to the law it is necessary to obtain a design safety certificate of the vehicle (SBKTS) for such improvements.
“Now all the cars on the estates are photographed, at least in the big cities, and the traffic police pay close attention to their appearance.
And the registration of the converted car was denied, ”
Shelkov notes.
From a safety standpoint, such styling does not hurt, and often drivers do not register improvements, but he warns that if they refuse to register, they must first restore the car to its original state in order to legitimize them. Jan Haytseer, vice president of the National Automobile Association.
According to the article of the technical regulation “On safety of wheeled vehicles”, this is definitely a change in design.
I have not seen them caught and punished for this in practice.
In this case, the car becomes like any other standard car, and inspectors usually do not have any questions, ”Heitzeer tells socialbites.ca.
Source: Gazeta
