When you drive a normal daily but you need more excitement without the budget of a great job or rich family connections. Even a Toyota Camry can be made more fun to drive. Im not talking high school upgrades cutting off exhaust ridiculous wheels ect.. I’m talking tasteful mods that can make those turns, and sounds pleasing enough you might turn down your radio more often. Lets set the full budget to around a thousand. Our test car is going to be a 2001 Toyota Camry, basic zero cred but plentiful and lots of people are stuck in them.

Time to change the wheels and tires. First contact isn’t just a movie it’s the most important part of getting a grip with your time on the road. If you have those basic alloys time to sell them, If you have steel wheels with hub caps keep them. Either look around for a cheap modern set that fits your car or save your money and get ahold of those cheap steal wheels take off the hub caps and look for better rubber. 15inch wheels are going be cheaper to cover with new shoes. Check around at all the local shops or order from a place like Tire Rack. Easy to keep the tires around 300 for the whole set. Also look around in car groups you might find 300 dollars goes way farther and helping your fellow enthusiasts would appreciate the support.

300 down we now have 700 left to get this car into shape. Sound is a huge part of driving, and I cannot stand quiet cars but I also cant stand an open header on a road trip. So lets find that local exhaust shop. For cheap most shops can have you axle back straight piped for around 100 dollars. No tip needed just smooth pipe out back. A little more sound but that crappy muffler can go.

More sounds worth hearing are in front. The intake on a Camry has a maf sensor. Its way to expensive to buy a full intake so keep your stock filter. But you can drill open the area in front of the box so you can hear the muffled intake sounds for free without disrupting your oem equipment.

With a solid 600 left we should look at cheap suspension upgrades. Cheap but decent coil overs for this car can be as cheap as 250 dollars. They are adjustable and a great way to finally feel those new tires and drop that ride height a little.

350 left another fun upgrade is color rattle can is cool but not as cool as vinyl wrap. For another cool upgrade average vinyl needs for a large car is 65 sqft so that should be more than enough to find your color and practice a lot. 3m 2080 series is decent wrap and you can have your 75 sqft for just 150 dollars. That’s for gloss vinyl and plenty of choices in color. Tasteful is the key here as a warning remember you are possibly driving a dropped loud Camry. This is where taking your time to find a perfect color that can bring this whole car together. Alpine White can look just as racy sunburst yellow on black steelys.

200 dollars left and I would spend it all on your regular maintenance. Get fresh brake pads, change your oil, replace your spark plugs, change your gear oil, and replace hoses and belts. Spend all the left overs on car wash and interior detailing cleaners. Believe me these last upgrades are the most important. A well taken care of car is more fun and ready for what you want to throw at it. When your done you will have a clean smooth running, decent sounding ride with a little more road feel and sound. Hopefully its not a Camry but if it is at least your getting more out of it. Also if you love the color of your car or love your rims save your money and spend more on other aspects. You can always use the thousand to buy one nice part and enjoy that. There are so many cool ways to budget build your list could be different but I hope I brought some ideas for you to use.