Your question is a bit vague, but i think this is what your after:
const value = $('#selectID option[value=""]').prop("selected", true);
if (value....") {
// do css stuff
}
Additionally you can get the value / text like so:
<select id="car_manufacturer">
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
<option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>
<script>
const element = document.getElementById("car_manufacturer");
const value = element.options[element.selectedIndex].value;
const text = element.options[element.selectedIndex].text;
</script>
You could extend on the above with a on onchange event on the select element.
<select id="car_manufacturer" onchange="selectManufacturer(this)">
Manipulate CSS:
JavaScript:
document.body.style.backgroundColor = "red";
jQuery:
$("body").css("background-color","red");
Fiddle
onchange example with css manipulation:
http://jsfiddle.net/9L0czmeq/