Future Mods

At Sue's request, I'll explain the whole "future mod / present mod" thing.

While this phenomenon certainly stretches far beyond the Internet - it is certainly older - the "future mod" syndrome seems have to become far more widespread since message boards have made competition between fanboys so much easier and direct.

A "future mod" is an upgrade or other acquisition which one talks about and plans in great detail while he or she is saving up for it, but never actually buys. This person may go so far as to purchase accessories for said item that will "mod the mod," but those will sit in that person's garage until they ultimately give up or lose interest and place them on Craigslist.

Take, for example, Cardomain.com. Since the mid 90's, this has been a site where people post pictures of their cars and all the various updgrades they have done to them. All too common is the member page of a used car with various cheapo Pep Boys cosmetic changes (a new shifter, blue turn signal laps, tint, a new stereo head unit) listed as "current mods," followed by a list of "future mods." These "future mods" will contain things like turbos, 18'' rims, street slick tires, cat-back exhaust, and some obscene 4x15'' hidden-wire 2000W stereo system with capacitors and video screens in the floorboards. Though well planned, these mods will never come, and the owner will probably settle for something that does little more than lower the resale value of his car.

My favorite real-life example: I once worked with a guy who drove a '98 2-door civic. He bragged to me about how he was "going to install, soon" a quad-turbo setup ("One for each cylinder, yo!") in his Civic. Bear in mind, the only car I've ever seen with a quad-turbo is the million-dollar Bugatti Veyron 16-4. Needless to say, he never got the turbos, and instead just drilled holes in his exhaust to make it louder.


This apartment, finally, is not a future mod.