If you live anywhere except for a large city with a killer public transportation system, you probably spend a fair amount of time in the car. It is a daily activity for millions of Americans. Maybe you commute to work every day and reliably spend a couple hours in the car every morning and every night. Perhaps you have a whole legion of small children that need to be chauffeured all over the world for their extra-curricular activities and sports.
Maybe you just like taking a joy ride when you can. Whatever you use your car for, you deserve to make it as comfortable and luxurious an experience as you can. These small gadgets will take your car from “metal box with wheels that gets you from point A to point B” to “metal box with wheels takes you from point A to point B that you actually enjoy spending time in, turning up the radio, and singing at the top of your lung.” These products will get you there.
This Garbage Bin For Your Car
How many old water bottles and receipts and crumbs and granola bar wrappers and gum wrappers and burrito wrappers and all other types of wrappers do you have strewn about the floor of your car? No? Just me? Well, if you ever have a sloppy passenger like me in the car with you, it’s probably a good idea to have a leak-proof garbage can with adjustable straps like this one!
These Car Back Seat Hooks
I don’t know about you, but the floor of my car is filthy. Dirt, leaves, dust… Sure, sure, I should clean my car, but my point is that I never want to leave my purse on the floor of my car. This tiny gadget could solve that problem forever! Why don’t these come with all cars already? Seriously, these are the best, simplest gadgets I have ever seen.
This Wheel Desk
If you spend a lot of time waiting in your car, maybe waiting for kids to get off the bus or something, this little desk, which hooks right on to the wheel of any car, is perfect. It is lightweight, but it is sturdy enough to support a whole meal or a laptop. Now you can entertain yourself for hours while your kid takes forever to say goodbye to every single member of the French club individually.
This Piggy Snack Holder
You simply cannot be in the car without snacks. That is unacceptable. Luckily, this little piggy container is literally designed to fit in your car’s cupholder. That way, you will never take a trip again without at least a handful of Goldfish or pretzel nuggets or mini Oreos. I’ve got you thinking, now, don’t I? Don’t worry: These come in three different colors so you can have a different one for every cupholder.
This Document Holder
Wow, this is just the thing I need! Who has a well-organized glove compartment? The answer is no one. An organized glove compartment is not even a thing. Until now! This document holder has five inner pockets and a zippered outer pocket and it is so much nicer than the old envelope I currently use to organize documents in my car, which has broken down the sides so it just opens like the world’s flimsiest book.
This Magnetic Car Mount
I am not kidding one bit when I tell you buying this cheap little magnetic car mount to mount my phone in my car was the single best purchase I have ever made. Seriously. These things are amazing. All you do is slide a thing magnet between your phone and its case, and this little magnet, which fits right on your car vent, will hold your phone up in perfect position forever.
This Smart Charger Adds Bluetooth to Your Car AND Reminds You Where You Parked
This little device is small but mighty. It can do a whole lot. It has a Bluetooth connection so you can stream music straight from your phone to your car’s speakers. Oh, and it has also got a built-in car locator, so you will never lose your car in a parking garage again. I know that has happened to you because it has happened to everybody.
This Multi-port Charger
I bet everyone has been in the car with a friend, switching back and forth between one charger because you only have room for one. It kind of sucks! But this car charger takes up the same amount of room as a single charger while having ports for up to six USB charging cords. It comes in black or white, and you’ll never have to fight over the charger again.
This Trunk Organizer
We have all experienced that thing where we brake and then there’s a mysterious thump in the back of your car. It is always a random object that you totally forgot was rolling around in the trunk of your car. But, if you had a trunk organizer like this, with sections and pockets for all your mysterious trunk objects that you never use but that would feel weird to actually remove from your trunk.
This Car Vacuum
This is possibly the product that could transform my life the most. Car washes have free vacuums most of the time, but then you have to drive to the car wash, and that is way too much effort. This little portable car vacuum plugs right into your car’s lighter, and it comes with all the tubes and attachments you need to suck all the gunk out of every nook and cranny of your car.
This Seat Protector
If I had one of these, maybe I would not have to waste so many hours vacuuming dog hair off the seats of my car (although that portable vacuum would also come in handy). This seat protector is heavy-duty, waterproof, and non-slip, and it fits almost every car with a bench seat in the back. It’s perfect if you have a dog or even a kid who gets particularly dirty at the park. It comes in gray, black, or tan so you can get one that goes with your car’s interior!
This Cleaning Goop
Remember Gak, the ’90s progenitor of the slime craze? Yeah, it’s back, and it’s purpose-made for cleaning. No joke! Just smush this stuff on any surface you need to clean, and it will grab hold of every speck of dirt and dust without damaging that surface. That means it works on your phone, on your computer keyboards, anything with nooks and crannies that are hard to reach.
This Window Shade
These dark mesh shades are the perfect addition to your car to keep your passengers nice and comfortable. They block over 99 percent of UV rays from the sun, which is especially important if you have a small child back there. They literally stick to the window in an instant using electrostatic absorption, so they are super easy to install and remove. They fold up easily too. All you have to do is twist and fold them.
This Liquid Wax
If you are into making and keeping your car bright and shiny and new-looking for minimal cost and effort, you have to get yourself a bottle of this stuff. Twice-a-year applications will keep water beading on your perfectly shiny ride.
These Reusable Grocery Bags
You need some reliable reusable bags to keep in that trunk organizer you just purchased. These fold up into tiny little things so they will hardly take up any space, and they are essential to have, as most grocery stores and even drug stores have stopped providing plastic bags. A pack of these will last a long time and save you a bunch of dimes.
This Bullet Space Pen
The bullet space pen writes in any direction, making it perfect to keep in the car. It’s sleek, it’s classy, and this one has a clip so you can always have it on you and whip it out in times of need. Bullet pens are super compact, so they’ll fit in even the tiniest of pockets (looking at you, ladies), and they write in every direction, so if you happen to find yourself in space, you won’t have to worry about the lack of gravity.
This Key Finder
This is a list of car accessories, but you will not even be able to get into your car if you can’t find your car keys. That is why the Tile is an essential product to have. It is a tiny Bluetooth tracker that comes with an app that helps you locate your phone, keys, or anything else you attach the little tile to. You can locate your objects by sound or by seeing its last location on a map.
This Bluetooth Connector
If your car doesn’t have a built-in Bluetooth connector, this little guy will do the trick for you! Plug this into your car, and it will pair with your phone or another device so you can play music, take phone calls, and do everything else Bluetooth technology allows. It’s battery-powered and has up to 15 hours of playtime. Never has such a tiny object been such a lifesaver.
This Slim Cleaning Brush
It is such a pain in the neck to try and clean all the nooks and crannies of your car. I am sure you are aware of the struggle. But this brush is slim enough to fit in your windowsill and in all of the corners that are generally impossible to reach. I’m talking the slats of your AC, your cupholders, the dusty spot where the dashboard meets the windshield. Anything! Its handle makes it easy to use, and the hole at the end means you can hang it anywhere!
These Grocery Handles
Look, I love to challenge myself to carry every single grocery bag in from the car at once, just like we all do. But if I’m being honest, it’s actually a real pain and I do it mostly because I am morally opposed to second trips to the car. Anything that minimizes my grocery-carrying trips between the car and the house, I am on board for, and this Mighty Handle does just that.
This Scavenger Hunt Game
If you have kids, you need to keep them occupied on long car trips or even on short car trips, and this scavenger hunt game is the perfect way to do it. Sure, all your kids probably have screens they can zone out to for hours, but this is a great way to get them engaging with each other. You get to look for things you’d see out on the road, like a red car or a stop sign. It’s fun for the whole family.
This Car Care Kit
This car care kit includes everything you need to clean and take good care of the interior and exterior of your car and keep it looking brand new. The Original Protectant fights fading, aging, and cracking, the Ultra Shine and Wash makes your car, well, super clean and shiny, the Tire Foam Protectant cleans your tires, and the glass wipes keep your windows crystal clear.
This Car Seat Cushion
If you have a long commute or you spend a lot of time in your car each day, which a lot of people do, you need support for your lower back. Lumbar support is very important, especially if you suffer from back pain at all, and this cushion is a soft but firm memory foam cushion. It attaches to any car seat and comes in three colors: black, gray, and yellow.
This Pocket Organizer
If you don’t want to simply cover up those no-man’s-land gaps between the seats of your car with the product we saw earlier, these are actual pocket organizers that you can purposely drop your change into, and it won’t fall into the abyss from which things never ever return. This is a two-pack, so you can put one on the side of the driver’s seat and one on the side of the passenger’s seat.
This Essential Oil Diffuser
Cars can get stuffy and smelly, especially if you are transporting burritos or gym clothes regularly. This little portable essential oil diffuser is made for your car. It fits right in the cupholder, plugs into your car, and dispenses fresh, lovely mist into your car. It also has seven color-changing LED lights to keep you awake and excited while driving. This is one of those accessories that you should totally treat yourself to.
This Road Safety Kit
If you don’t have a road kit to do quick and essential repairs on your car while you’re on the road, you need this like, immediately. It’s the AAA branded Roadside Emergency kit, and it includes first aid stuff, jumper cables (which everyone should have), and other things like a screwdriver, duct tape, flashlight, batteries, etc. This is a super easy thing to throw in your trunk that will most certainly come in handy someday.
This Portable Air Mattress
If you are an avid camper or even an avid attender of drive-in movies, this inflatable mattress, which is specifically designed to fit in your car, is for you. It’s a great emergency bed situation to have on hand for cross-country trips, music festivals, and things like that. It comes in three colors: blue, dark blue, or gray, and reviewers say that it is surprisingly comfortable!
This Clothes Hanger Bar
Hanging up fancy clothing in your car is often the worst, most inconvenient thing. It’s never positioned correctly in a way that adequately prevents wrinkles. First world problems, I know, but it’s still a problem! This clothes hanger bar is your answer. It is adjustable and fits everything from compact cars to SUVs, and the bar hols up to 30 lbs., making it perfect for those large dry-cleaning jobs.
These Air Fresheners
These propeller-driven air fresheners look way cooler than those pine trees that you hang from the rearview mirror, and they’re probably better for you too. Each comes with 5 refill air freshener pads, which last for around a month per. Once they’re exhausted, you can either replace them, or just add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil to the pad for longer (and cheaper) air-freshened life.
These Deodorizing Bags
Thousands of reviewers tout the powers of these bags of activated charcoal, specifically highlighting their abilities to freshen truly nasty old shoes or even drink up the odorrific remnants of spoiled milk inside a minivan. These are totally natural, using bamboo charcoal to absorb and remove all that stinky stuff from the air. You can reuse these for up to two years, just place the bags outside for an hour once a month to rejuvenate.