After tons of research and headache, I finally bought a 2010 Honda Accord LX 4D, certified used, with 39k mi. Being the biggest purchase of mine in a while, I am very excited, and happy with the car. I have never owned a car newer than 97 so I want to make sure I get the most out of this car.

First things first...Right now the car is completely stock and I am looking to add some visual features. I'll start with the window tint. I live in CA which looks down upon tinting the front windows, but I feel the car would look weird if I didn't. So basically, I'm asking what tint have you guys put on your Honda's and what do you feel looks the best. I was thinking almost limo tint on the back, and maybe a light tint on the front?

Next, being that the car does not have leather seats, I wanted to pick up some good looking seat covers to protect the existing cloth seats, as well as a full car cover because there are quite a few trees over my driveway. Any recommendations? I was thinking just grab something simple off ebay, but I dont want to take away from the nice Honda interior look.

Now for rims...the car currently sits on stock steel rims with hubcaps, so I was thinking getting some 17-18" alloy rims. Any size recommendations? And wondering if I should go aftermarket, or stick with a Honda style rim. I'm definitely looking for something nice but not too pricy.

Before I move away from appearance, is there any other "must have" mods you could recommend? (lights, trims, etc.?)

Now moving on to performance. I am very pleased with the stock performance of the LX (for a four cylinder I was amazed!) , but being an enthusiast Honda forum, there must be some sporty/essential mods that would be great to add. Let me know if you guys have something you just love, and think of has an essential upgrade.

As far as maintenance goes, I want this car to last as long as possible, so I will be condtucting regular oil changes (every 5k), check ups, etc. As far as gasoline goes, I was told regular gas (87 in CA) is fine, should I consider a higher octane gas? Other than that, I did see a Honda Oddesey grill idea to protect the radiator on the bottom grill, but anything I am missing and should consider? Again I want this car to last as long as possible, and will do what ever it takes to do that.

Oh, one last thing, I bought a 6yr/120k mi bumper to bumper warranty for 2k (doesnt cover "wear and tear," which are cosmetic defects, break pads, tires, etc.), did I just throw away money or do you guys believe I can take advantage of it? Again, the car has 39k mi on it.

This was supposed to be a short post....my bad! Excited about this car!!

Thanks guys!!