Whether they forced it on you is irrelevant. Customization is easily one of the biggest selling points of the game, they even touted it so much before it was even released. It's as relevant now as it was back then.
That's all fine and done, but the fact is that the body parts are not doing anything in terms of performance besides the spoilers. Does a car with stock rims, but everything else maxed out, handle the same as the exact same car with an identical set-up with wider rims? I've not heard anything of this yet.
And you've come to this conclusion how? You made it seem like being low would be a problem, and that if you hit a bump or a scrap you're going to destroy your lights. Like I said, they are not housed under the car, but within. So hitting a bump would not be a problem concerning the neons. The body panels though, that's another story. So lets not try to throw around insults because you got called out.
Which is almost completely irrelevant as most of the parts in the game are only effecting it cosmetically. This game is based around a scene that is practically focused on form > function, the ricers of today.