Car enthusiasts love to personalize our vehicles. We hack things off, add things on, change form or function to turn a factory-fresh car or truck into something that works for us. This morning, we asked you all for the best accessories you’ve added to your own cars, and you delivered in spades. Here are some of our favorites.
Regardless of how reliable your car is or how good you are at roadside fixes, a AAA membership is the best car accessory.
Once in a while, no matter how careful you are, things can go wrong in a car. An unforeseen tire issue, a surprise mechanical failure, or even just a bit of debris in the road can leave you stranded. With a roadside rescue service, you’ll at least have access to jacks, batteries, or even a tow home.
Submitted by: ItsYourBoyHobbes
All joking aside an actually garbage holder is so useful. be it a small plastic bin or a bag hanging from the headrest. This is just so useful. then a phone holder that actually works and holds a phone and stays anchored in place.
Of course, none of us Shining Automotive Enthusiasts actually bring trash into our cars. We never eat in them, and our parking and toll receipts always leave the car when we do. But, on the chance occasion that one of our cars, isn’t immaculate, it’s nice to have somewhere to consolidate the trash that totally isn’t there.
Submitted by: 4jim
Good floor mats. WeatherTec are the big ones, but there are other brands. Some car companies are finally offering them as dealer options.
My family has had a tradition that dates back at least as far as my memory: Any time a family member gets a new car, they get high-quality floor mats for the following holiday. It’s one of the easiest things you can do to keep your car’s interior in nice shape, and it makes you feel a little less bad about hauling your snow-covered boots around in the winter.
Submitted by: Blockheads
A good first aid kit. You never know when you might need it, and you just might save a life.
The chances that you’ll need a first aid kit while out on the road are, admittedly, slim. But in a situation where you do need one, nothing else is a proper substitute. Even a small collection of bandages and disinfectants can go a long way towards helping someone who’s hurt. Maybe go for one slightly newer than the picture, though.
Submitted by: GTB
A 12V air compressor takes up virtually no space in the car and can get you out of a bind - I’ve used mine to add just enough air to a punctured tire to get me home, sanity-test the TPMS light that comes on when temperatures drop in the fall, and air up/down at the track of offroad.
Along the same lines - a battery backup jumpstart kit is great to have in case your battery conks out and AAA is 45 minutes away.
Driving on a leaking tire is never ideal, but it’s a situation that happens to nearly everyone. If you just need to limp your way home or to the closest tire shop, an air compressor can give you just enough range to make it. As for the battery jump start kits, I can attest to their convenience: I, for some reason, own two — both have gotten me out of a jam at least once.
Submitted by: Graham
Fuzzy dice in the mirror. Can’t drive a car without fuzzy dice.
Sometimes, accessorizing isn’t about function. It’s about form, aesthetics, what the kids would call a vibe. Have I always wondered why classic car enthusiasts settled on dice, of all things? I have, yeah, that’s never made a ton of sense. But do they look good? Absolutely.
Submitted by: neverspeakawordagain
Rooftop cross bars + roof box.
Instantly turns any vehicle into a more utilitarian vehicle. When not needed, five minutes work and they stashed in the garage so your commute gets better MPGs.
Not ever cary is graced with the cavernous cargo area of a three-row SUV. Sometimes, you need to stack things on top of your car to make them fit — bikes, Christmas trees, the occasional Baja-style spare wheel. A roof rack gives a spot to hold all of that without digging into what little space is left inside your car.
Submitted by: Wierdisgood
A good bedliner is so necessary to a pickup truck that they should come standard.
I’ll go one step further on this one. Not only is a bed liner a necessity, but a good spray-in bed liner should be mandatory. I’ve seen those plastic drop-in units rip straight through, leaving the fragile metal underneath exposed to scrapes and rust. If you’re planning to keep your truck for any amount of time, get the good one.
Submitted by: V10omous
Fuel Shark. I get 1,000,000 miles per gallon and all my hopes and dreams have come true.
Getting this kind of incredible, unassailable, entirely fact based fuel economy is a double edged sword. Sure, you save at the pump, but most of that money goes right back into fuel stabilizer since a full tank now lasts you months if not years. Maybe only plug in your light-up box of magic every other drive — 500,000 miles per gallon sounds far more reasonable.
Submitted by: Midlife Miata Driver
Lower your pitchforks and torches, but I’ll say tinted windows. I don’t mean those ultra-dark windows which seem to use trash bags instead of good films, but medium tinted windows provide much thermal comfort in hot and sunny regions. Plus, some cars look dope with tasteful window tinting.
Back in my mid-college days, I used to drive a station wagon. It was glass all around, with a huge sunroof that I never remembered to close the shade over. After a day at work, with the car baking in the summer sun, its interior would be approximately ten million degrees when I went to drive home. Window tint could have solved everything.
Submitted by: edu-petrolhead