Car Club Spotlight | Sneakymods - Fusion Fun and Inclusiveness

The task of buying a car and the privilege of ownership has always been a deeply personal matter. The marriage between man and machine exists ever since the days the first car rolled off the assembly line.

Nothing beats the relationship between a man/woman and his or her car. Humans, more specifically Filipinos are social folks, however. Our natural tendencies are to reach out to others for companionship and camaraderie. Nothing can be truer than taking a peek at our car culture.

Sneakymods, a group established by a bunch of friends

You’ve finally had your chance of getting a new car. After months of scouring our Philkotse.com website and finding great deals, you finally have your baby. The only questions that pop up into your head every time you look at your new steed are, what more can you do with it?

If you scour social media and the internet for car groups, you will be bombarded by links leading you to literally thousands of car clubs. These clubs are great to meet like-minded people who love their cars and share your passion for driving, tinkering and modifying or just simply appreciating the automobile.

I can truly say there is hope yet for our car culture

What car club do you wish to join?

There are clubs out there that focus exclusively on a particular model, time period, brand and even color. Choosing the right car club is also vital because you will be representing the ideals and reputation of a particular group.

We’ve previously discussed the benefits of joining car clubs. To name a few perks, firstly, joining a club would help you get to know your ride better. It would be easy to research online about your car but what’s better is to know first-hand information about your ride from other people.

Car clubs aren’t just about the prestige or the fun but about learning more about other people’s experience with their cars and finding out what fixes they’ve done on their car that you can apply to your own.

Arjay Palma Grana - Subaru Legacy Wagon BG5

Car clubs provide you with more options for car repair shops, dealerships, and source of parts and connect you with a trusted, tried and tested option other than who you already know. Some clubs actually tie themselves with shops and garages with possible discounts just for being a part of their community.

There are, however some drawbacks and negative stereotypes with joining car-clubs. One popular viewpoint is that car club members are often snobby and have this sort of tribal mentality.

Not unlike a college fraternity looking at non-members as savages and vandals., being someone who has become more knowledgeable about cars and creating a hive mentality will have a tendency to make you snobbish and exclusive.

Giashley Glass - Mitsubishi Pajero CK

You also can’t avoid jealousy among the members within the club, not everyone is equal and not addressing the issue would just fan the flames dissent and creating an army of green-eyed monsters.

What if I told you that there is a club out there that tries to imbibe the true ideals of friendship and camaraderie among its members by actively implementing inclusivity not just among its members but also with their recruitment process and over-all vibe on how they operate.

You would probably call me naive but after weeks of coordinating schedules with these guys, I can truly say there is hope yet for our car culture.

Johnzel Cureg - Mitsubishi Galant GTi 4G63

Sneakymods - Young and Dynamic 

Sneakymods, a group established by a bunch of friends in December 2015 started off as a simple group chat session between Long-time friends, Robby Cireneo, Bryan Vidal, Vince Revuelta, Rey Olarte and Albert Bantugon.

Kim Chan - Honda Civic LXI

They began organizing their then small group as an excuse to get together themselves more often, to check each other’s cars out, suggest shops to have their repairs and buy and sell their own wares among each other.

Their name, as interesting as it sounds has a more benign yet comical origin as an inside joke among themselves.

Whenever anyone of them wants to sell their own car-related item to another, they would simply add a hashtag #sneaky or #ygpm in their messages as a signal that they have an item for sale. This inside joke would then alert the other members discreetly about the sale.

Andy Gonzalez - Honda Civic EK

Why they would hide the fact that they have the intention of buying car parts is up for debate and the crew would just chuckle whenever I ask for more details.

These guys aren’t all just about the fun either. They have some social advocacy programs in mind to give back to the community.

Ryan Figueroa - Nissan Silvia Spec S SR20DE

Their primary project and concern are about elderly care, visiting an elderly home in the outskirts of Manila. This gives the members an opportunity to bond with a fun drive and convoy but meaning as well.

From the original number of 5, Sneakymods now have a total of 120 members. They maintain a Facebook group page to announce all their events, post anything that might pique the member’s interest, and as a landing page for new members to apply for membership.

The environment of the meet was comparable to a car show

Speaking of membership, Sneakymods do not bar any car owner from joining. As long as you are a car owner, willing to share their ride via their page and can actively contribute to the all-around good vibe of the group you can be a member. Don't forget to check out our Cars for sale section if you are on the hunt for a great car.

Members can discounts and freebies at events from partner establishments ranging from car-shops for PMS, mags and tires and other car accessories and even meal discounts from some restaurants.

Ma Mon Austria - Honda Civic FD

I had the privilege of joining the group in one of their meets and was thoroughly surprised by the sheer amount of diversity among them.

You have old and restored cars, SUVs, sports cars, and everyday drivers lined up proudly carrying the Sneakymods name. What triggered me most was the overall good vibe that surrounded the members.

Their name, as interesting as it sounds has a more benign yet comical origin

I’m no green-horn when it comes to car-clubs and whenever I join some, I always felt lost and out of place, hence the stereotype of snobbishness rearing its ugly head, but you can never find another group more accommodating and friendly than these guys.

They welcomed me with open arms and was actually excited to know that Philkotse.com was doing an article about them. The environment of the meet was comparable to a car show with all the cars that were on display.

You can never find another group more accommodating and friendly than these guys​​​​​​​

If you want to join the group you can visit their Sneakymods Fan page to get more details.