So, you’ve finally bought your first car! It’s a shiny, new Myvi. But it looks the same as any other Myvi out there! How?
Can you change its looks and specs without getting in trouble? Short answer is yes.
Long answer is, as long as you adhere to some basic guidelines here, you should not get into trouble.
Now, let’s very briefly touch the topic of Puspakom vs JPJ. Puspakom is the authority that registers each vehicle and its components (chassis, engine, lights etc).
The details in your Puspakom certification needs to be exactly the same should you wish to sell your car in the future.
If it is not, ie you’ve changed your engine or even changed the color of the vehicle, you might find trouble when selling the car.
JPJ however, have certain guidelines for ROAD SAFETY. It covers anything from tinting, to chassis height to the color of your lights.
Let’s explore what you can and cannot do, in a nutshell.
1. Colour
You dye your hair to stand out right? So yes, the first thing people want to do is to change the color of the car.
Maybe the make and model that comes from the car manufacturer didn’t have your favourite color, and as soon as you got the car, you went to get it repainted.
However, this may pose a problem should you get into an accident and want to claim insurance.
The color of the car now doesn’t match the color of the car on the insurance card! Your insurance company then dismisses the claim as in their books, there is no such vehicle.
Can they do that? Yes. What can you do?
As soon as you change ANYTHING about the car (the color, the engine, the spoiler etc) you should report to JPJ and then Puspakom and inform your insurance company to change the description of the car on their records.
2. Tint
According to the release by JPJ, all cars will have to abide by the new Malaysia Standard (MS) 2669 standard that has been set by the Department of Standards Malaysia beginning 1 January 2017.
This new guideline will see the enforcement of QR code security labels that come with the tint.
Enforcement officers will then be able to obtain the details of the installed film to check and verify its compliance to the ruling.
However there have been talks of deferring the enforcement of the QR Code, so stay tuned to the news.
The current VLT (Visible Light Transmissions) levels that are allowed are 70% for front windscreen, 50% for front side windows, 30% for rear side windows and rear screen.
3. Lights
Very briefly, JPJ does have a ruling against HID (High Intensity Discharge) Lights.
This appears as the super bright light (sometimes even blinding) you see on some cars. Is it illegal?
Yes. Can JPJ fine you if caught? Yes. Why? It’s debated that the HID lights are so bright, making it very distracting to other drivers.
Other lights are those “decorative” lights that you sometimes see on cars.
This includes LED strips on the bottom of cars, along the doors, or even the bumpers. Is this illegal?
Not unless you are driving on the road. This means you can install these decorative lights (whatever color it may be), you can turn it on, but ONLY when parked.
4. Others
Fancy Number Plates
There are very strict guidelines to the size and type of number plates that are allowed.
Exhaust Pipe
You cannot increase the size of your exhaust pipe (and engine) by more than 35% in capacity to its original engine.
This goes back to the Puspakom ruling and regulations. How does a layman know? Well, if you’re driving a Kancil, but sound like a Ferrari, then there you go.
So, final word of advise. If you want to MODIFY your vehicle, then the likely answer is NO.
However, semantics being semantics, if you want to upgrade your car to make it slightly better, then usually it’s alright.
BUT if you have a new car, best be aware that certain things will VOID your warranty
– installing body kits that include drilling into the original body, this voids the warranty that covers body issues such as knocking sounds, rattling etc
– Changing wheels or sport rims, springs and absorbers may void the car suspension warranty
– Modification on the engine or any part of it will void the whole engine warranty.
Disclaimer: The regulations of JPJ is correct at the point of writing, kindly verify and adhere to the latest rules and regulations set by JPJ.
