Modifications give you the ability to improve the look, safety and performance of a vehicle. However, they can also cause a number of problems if you don’t do your research.
Before even considering modifying your new car, you might want to carry out an HPI check. This simple check could save you fortune, as well as give you peace of mind. Here, we’ll look at why HPI checks are important and the top things to consider before modifying your car.
Why is an HPI check important?
When you’re buying a used car, there’s a lot of things you need to look out for. However, one thing you might not think to check is whether the car is stolen. As a decent, honest human being, it sounds absurd that a seller could be trying to pass on a stolen vehicle, but sadly it does happen more than it should.
An HPI check looks at the history of a car and shows you it’s previous owners, MOT history and whether or not the car has been reported as stolen. So, how could this help you if you’re planning on modifying it? Well, if it does turn out the car is stolen, you’d have to give it back to the original owner. That means, any money you spent on modifying the car would be lost.
Modifications aren’t cheap, so it’s always worth checking the car is 100% legally yours before you make any changes.
Another way an HPI check can prove invaluable, is it will show you whether any other modifications have previously been made. If it has had some, you might want to hold off adding anything further. That’s because, too many modifications to a car can affect it’ssafety. This isn’t just dangerous, it could also be against the law. So, as you can see, an HPI check could prove invaluable before you carry out modifications on a used car.
Other things to consider before modifying your vehicle
As well as an HPI check, there’s a few other things to think about before making any modifications.
For example, beaware of the law when moving images in infotainment systems, headlamps and exhaust systems. Various modifications have rules and regulations they must follow and ignoring them could result in significant penalties.
Overall, it’s extremely important to do your research before making any modifications to a used car. Carrying out an HPI check is one of the first things you should do to ensure you can legally upgrade the vehicle you invested in.