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We have known for a long time that the car is not just a means of transportation. It is for many a status symbol, a badge of honour, procured as a result of hours spent slaving away at the office.

After buying a house, buying a car is the most expensive purchase many people make and so it has to suit your requirements as well as your pocket. To some, Gloss Anthracite Alloy Wheels are a must to others wheels are wheels and serve no other purpose than going round and round.

Going to a Ford approved dealer such as Jennings Ford Direct will provide a full list of all the available add-ons for your Ford where you can customise the interior and exterior of your vehicle. You can choose an almost endless array of optional extras to personalise your car. So what are the most popular and some of the more unusual add-ons?

When it comes to pimping your ride Family Circle website lists the top five cool car accessories as GPS navigation, video entertainment, Bluetooth accessibility, high strength headlamps and rear parking cameras.

Obviously add-ons come at a price, but exercise caution as some can reduce the resale value of your car, while others can enhance and make it more desirable. Consumer organisation Which lists air conditioning as the top car add-on adding up to £300 to resale value of your car. Metallic paint is another good option if you want your car to demand the highest price when you come to part company with it. Other add-ons in the ‘high value’ bracket are integrated sat nav, leather seats, automatic gearbox and parking sensors.

Some that can reduce the resale value of your car are inappropriate sized alloy wheels and overpowered stereos. Superchargers or turbochargers can also reduce the resale value as they give the impression that the car has been driven ‘hard’. Loud exhaust modifications, lowered suspension, window tinting and certain paint jobs can also be detrimental to your car’s resale value.

As you would expect some of the more unusual or extravagant add-ons come on the higher end luxury or supercar vehicles. For example, a mere £2,000 will get you a carbon fibre cup holder on your Ferrari F12 – that has to be value for money in anyone’s book! Alternatively £50,000 spent on your Nissan GT-R will get you SpecV brakes, you would hope at over £80,000 for the car in the first place the standard brakes would suffice to stop the car. Last but not least is the famous Bugatti Veyron, now bearing in mind that the air inside this car is expensive you would expect a carbon fibre body finish to add a hefty sum, but in excess of £200,000 … really?