40 Car Hacks That Help Keep Drivers Motoring Along
Are you a proud car owner? If so, you probably realize that they come with their benefits and disadvantages. While it is a convenient transport medium, possible inconveniences include maintenance costs, cracked windshields, spilled food or drinks, or breakdowns. Fortunately, thanks to innovative and creative car owners, you can easily maintain your car and experience a satisfactory relationship with your vehicle. If you are a consistent driver or have just bought your first car, these straightforward hacks and tips will come in handy to save you time, energy, and money. Whether you aspire to be a car owner or not, it is crucial to have certain knowledge that can save you some money in the long run. Learning to maintain your car on your own is the best way to cut unnecessary costs. We’ll stop rambling now because you get the point. Let’s take a ride in the fast lane with these incredible car hacks!
Fresh Smell That Lasts
Even though we adore those floating air fresheners and vehicle sprays, there is a much better technique to keep your car smelling fresh for longer. All you’ll need are a few decent dryer sheets, which you may already have in your laundry room.
Drop a few of these underneath your car’s seats, and the perfume will permeate every corner, eliminating any foul odors and maintaining a fresh car scent for at least a week. You could even put them in your AC vent and, with a little bit of airing out now and then, your vehicle will smell fantastic.
Tidy Trunks
Our rooms in our houses may become extremely untidy very quickly for many of us. So does the trunk in our cars. We seem to enjoy cramming so many random objects in there for some reason. When we need something, it’s easy to become upset when searching through the clutter.
A couple of laundry baskets is the solution to this dilemma. They’ll keep everything in order and provide you with more storage capacity. At the very least, you can keep dumping whatever you want in there and still have an orderly mess, right?
The Hidden Lock
Electric locks are now standard on all new autos. Nevertheless, as we all realize, anything that runs on electricity has a decent possibility of malfunctioning once or twice. So, what should you do if your car’s electric lock breaks? It’s actually quite simple.
Many cars have a manual lock, irrespective of whether they have electric features. Look for a tiny plastic piece beneath the door handle. When you take it off, you’ll discover an excellent old manual lock beneath, which can come in handy during times like this.
Faster Car Hunt
Let’s be honest. If you’ve ever driven or owned a car, there’s a good possibility you’ve parked in a large, congested parking lot or multilevel parking, only to find yourself lost and confused when you return to it later. It’s humiliating, irritating, and highly inconvenient.
Taking a quick photo of where you left your car is one approach to prevent such a problem. To be sure, you can even photograph some markers in the style of a treasure map. The only issue is if all of the surrounding automobiles leave, leaving you with a photo that doesn’t match what you see a few hours later.
Telekinesis For Your Key Fob
Key fobs are fantastic for assisting you in locating your vehicle until you’re standing too far to the left, anxiously pressing the button as your frustration builds. However, it appears that placing the critical fob under your chin and using some of your telekinesis powers is the remedy.
It’s odd, and we’re curious about how this was discovered in the first place. On the other hand, your brain waves appear to have an excellent range, and they extend the scope of your key. If this works reasonably well for you, you may be shocked!
Plunger Comes to The Rescue
Who wants to spend hundreds of dollars to repair a small dent? No one. Who expects to pay anything when all you need to fix a little ding on your car is probably sitting in your bathroom? Yes, that is correct. The plunger in your bathroom isn’t just for unblocking toilets.
Pour a cup of boiling water over the dented area to start. Then, with the plunger, make sure it has a solid hold and pull until the dent is nicely evened out. You can do this a few times more until you’re happy with the results.
Takeout Warmer
If there is anything more annoying than being caught in traffic, it’s seeing your takeout meal go cold while you are stuck there. You may have this fantastic meal planned, complete with a movie, but reheating chicken or pizza is not in your plans. We have a hack for you!
Fortunately, you can avoid this inconvenience by using the seat warmers in your vehicle. Place your takeaway on the seat warmer, and you’ll have a delicious warm meal when you arrive home. Wouldn’t it be nice if the cup holders did the same with our coffees?
DIY Phone Stand
Rubber bands can be utilized in various settings and have helped us hold on to various objects throughout our lives. Elastic bands have come to our rescue on several occasions, from hair to papers. But here is another idea: they are a less expensive alternative to those pricey car phone holders.
Rather than spending money on those embellishments, take a couple of elastic bands, put them through your AC vent, and use them to attach your phone. There will be no more wrong turns or getting lost due to a lack of understanding of the map.
Take The Penny Test
If we are being realistic, only a handful of us knows when it’s the perfect time to change a car’s tires before they flatten and leave us stuck. However, it appears that the treads on your car are what you should be concerned about—the greater their depth, the better.
Get a coin and hold it upside down, with the top of Lincoln’s head pointing to the bottom, to see if your car’s treads still are deep enough. Your tires are still safe if the tread extends past Lincoln’s brow. It’s time to replace your tires if you can still see Lincoln’s brow.
For Cereal And Trash
We all recognize that we don’t have enough space in our automobiles, and we also know how likely it is for your vehicle to become messy quickly. Rather than turning your automobile into your private garbage truck, why not make a tiny trash can out of a cereal container?
Find an empty cereal container or empty one you already have and place a plastic bag in it. Place it in any suitable corner of your car, and you’ll be able to enjoy a clean and tidy vehicle as long as you utilize it properly.
A Shoe For Your Coffee
We don’t mean to come across as greedy or whiny, but there are instances when the car does not have enough cup holders. Some folks might require over two cups of coffee at a time. However, in all sincerity, there are situations where having an extra cup holder would be beneficial.
Gaze down at your feet if you ever require an extra one. Your shoe may not smell fantastic, but it can double up as a cup holder. Insert it between the chairs and fill it with your beverage. To keep your cup in place if it’s still loose, add extra tissues or even a sock.
Car Manicure
If you’re low on cash or aren’t ready to give your car an external makeover in the unfortunate event that it gets scratched or is keyed, all you can do is pick up a bottle of nail polish. Carefully apply the nail polish on the surface of your car and witness the fantastic outcome of a simple procedure.
Of course, make sure that it is the same color as your automobile before you paint over the scratches. This will not altogether remove them, but it will make them less evident until you’re able to get your car redone.
Wiper And Mirror Socks
To gain a clear view of the road in terrible weather, we usually turn our windshield wipers on full blast. Regrettably, this might result in scratches on the windshield, especially when dirt is trapped beneath them. Wrap your wipers securely in women’s stockings to prevent this from happening and to protect them.
In addition to safeguarding your dashboard and wipers, this technique can also help prevent your wipers from ice buildup. It also works on your mirrors, and if you don’t have stockings, socks can do the job. You not only maintain your car’s authenticity, but you will avoid spending unnecessary money buying new parts.
Cool Car And Cool Summer
Sitting in traffic is complicated enough on its own, but picture doing it in the middle of a sweltering summer day with a broken air conditioner. Doesn’t it just suck? While you may believe that sliding down all four windows will suffice, this may not be the most excellent strategy to cool down your car.
The right approach to get the most out of all that fresh air is to merely slide down your two front windows rather than all of them. This forces the air to circulate, forcing the hot air out and allowing the cool air in, making you feel much cooler.
Rice Vs. Moisture
Remember that trick where you placed your phone in a bag of rice to get rid of moisture to save your phone? The same logic applies to removing humidity from your car. It is both efficient and straightforward. By absorbing the moisture, your windscreen remains dry, offering excellent vision while on the road.
It’s inconvenient when moisture obstructs your windshield when driving. Sure, you can still see a little bit, but who wants that? To avoid this, fill a cloth bag with rice and set it on top of your dashboard. This will absorb all of the excess moisture and leave your windshield clear. Remember to microwave the rice bag often to dry it out.
Gas Tank Treasure Hunt
Whether it’s a new automobile, a borrowed car, or a rented car, locating the gas tank might be like discovering Indiana Jones’ treasure. It’s even more irritating when you pull up on the wrong side of the car to fill it up. Here is a little-known trick that we guarantee will work for you to avoid such embarrassments.
If you look closely at your gas meter gauge, you’ll find a small arrow next to the gas pump icon. That arrow indicates the location of the gas tank on your automobile. You won’t be as bewildered every time you need to fill up your tank.
The Tennis Ball Trick
How many times has your car collided with your back wall, or how often have you collided with strange stuff strewn about your garage? It may seem insignificant, but minor collisions can cause scratches over time. To avoid unnecessary complications, you can use the tennis ball trick.
A tennis ball is one modest remedy for this. After you’ve parked your car correctly, note the location and placement by hanging a tennis ball where your windshield should be. In this manner, you’ll have a marker to indicate when you’ve appropriately parked.
The Wonders Of Hand Sanitizer
As if freezing your backside off and possibly tripping and breaking a hip aren’t terrible enough, chilly winter days can also leave your car wholly encrusted in ice, causing your keyhole to become jammed. Reserve some of that hand sanitizer that we’re pretty sure you have on hand right now to remedy this problem.
Squeeze a significant amount inside your lock. Make sure it goes all the way in there, and then sit back and watch the ice melt. You’ll not only be left with an open keyhole but will also get one that has been sterilized. Isn’t it cool?
Gas Hack
We always want to get our money’s worth when it comes to gasoline. However, it appears we will not be able to do so if we continue to rush through the process like we’re in the middle of a Fast and Furious car chase.
Try going a little slower the next time you go to the gas station. Hold the pump at 50% and maybe even unwind a little as you slowly fill your tank. You’ll be putting less air and more fuel in your tank this way.
The Garage Noodle
Pool noodles may appear entirely useless in real life to many of us. Nonetheless, they have a variety of practical applications outside of the pool, one of which is protecting your car door from dings by lining your garage walls with them.
If you have a small garage, it’s easy to get door dents. Cut your pool noodle in half and attach it to the wall on the sides of your garage, and you’ll have a soft bumper to buffer your door.
All That Extra Ceiling Space
Extra storage isn’t ideal in a car. We’re always in need of more once we’ve filled all of the nooks and crannies in our automobiles, which isn’t much. Why not create your own with some bungee cords and simple mesh netting?
Tie some bungee cords to a mesh net, and then attach these cords to all four hand holders of your car. With that, you’ll have a whole lot of space in the form of ceiling storage. Don’t put too many things in it, though, unless you don’t mind banging your head on something every time you get in your car.
Skipping The Speeding
Speeding may have the word “speed” in it, but it is not the greatest or quickest way to arrive at your destination. You’ll merely wear down your brakes because you’ll have to stop at nearly every stoplight on your trip. Rather than driving fast, you should strive to maintain a safe speed.
Following speed limits is a better method to get where you’re going faster. See, traffic lights and speed restrictions were created to aid you since traffic lights were programmed so that you can cruise through most green lights if you keep to the speed limit.
Stockings To The Rescue Again
It could be a good idea to stock up on additional pairs of stockings. These are useful for your automobile. You can use stockings as a temporary remedy if your fan belt snaps, in addition to preventing frost from accumulating on your wipers.
Break and stop your automobile as soon as possible if your fan belt snaps. Then, switch it off, detach the damaged belt, and securely wrap the stockings around the engine pulley. This may be sufficient to get you home or to a workshop where you can have it repaired properly.
Olive Oil Cleaner
Olive oil has long progressed from a simple culinary component to an all-purpose product. It has long been used to keep people’s skin and hair looking great. You may now use it to give your automobile dashboard a gleaming, glossy look.
Simply dab a few drops of olive oil on a coffee filter and wipe off your dash. It won’t help you fry eggs in there in the summer, and it may have a slight odor for a few minutes until it has thoroughly soaked in, but it will make your dash appear like new.
Bye Bye Stickers
Don’t you just hate it when stickers don’t come off properly, and you are left with a disgusting mess that collects dust and destroys everything? It makes updating car stickers and emblems a lot more complicated than it should be. Knowing how to get them off can help a great deal.
Fortunately, there is a technique to make this activity less stressful and orderly. Apply a little heat to those stickers using your hairdryer before attempting to pull them off. This will assist in removing them much quicker, leaving no stickiness behind. The sticker location remains as good as new.
Shoe Organizers Don’t Just Belong In The House
Apart from your car ceiling, you may also use the back of your front seats for additional storage, but not with the single-pocket items they sell for automobiles. Instead, invest in good-quality shoe organizers. You can secure additional storage room in your vehicle.
Shoe organizers contain many pockets, making them ideal for storage and management. Not only can you store so much more items right at your fingertips, but you won’t have to dig through a mess to get to what you need.
Toothpaste Vs. Foggy Headlights
Foggy headlights are never fun to deal with, and you should not have to wait or even travel to a car shop to get them cleaned when you can do it yourself. All you need are toothpaste and a different toothbrush from the one you are currently using, obviously.
Take a few drops of toothpaste and rub it all over your headlights until the entire surface is covered. Do not wash it off right away after that. Allow for some drying time. Then wash it with warm water to get bright, clear headlights.
Keep Cup Holders Clean
We can’t tell you how crumbs and other disgusting things often find their way into our cup holders. It’s as if they’re there to collect all types of nastiness in addition to holding on to our drinks. However, there is a simple way to keep things clean.
Put a few cupcake holders in there instead of cleaning them every day. They’ll catch anything that falls into them, and all you have to do is pick them up, chuck the contents out, and put them back. It’s simple to clean and won’t take you more than a minute.
Slime Clean Out
Aren’t we all familiar with those delightful slime videos? If you haven’t heard, there was a guy who went viral on TikTok after posting a video in which he used slime to clean up his car, and we are entirely on board.
Simply run the slime or goo about the interior of your automobile, and it will gather up any debris or dust that it comes into contact with. It works exactly like any store-bought cleaning cloth and is much less expensive.
Car Paper Towel Holder
Paper towels always seem to be useful wherever you travel, but they’re incredibly beneficial in your automobile, where spills, dust marks, and filth can occur at any time. On the other hand, where can you keep some without taking up more room than necessary?
Your trunk holds the solution to that question. No, we’re not suggesting you throw your paper towels there. Take a piece of bungee cord and thread it through your paper towel before tying it to the bottom of your trunk lid. This saves space while preventing your paper towels from rolling about.
Fresh Wipers
Nothing is more vital than adequate visibility when you’re driving. You won’t get far if you can’t see the road clearly, even if you have a great engine and a full tank of gas. That’s why it’s crucial to maintain your wipers.
Your wipers sweep all kinds of debris across your windshield, and if you don’t clean them, you’ll end up with smear marks. So, take a few minutes to wipe down your wipers with a damp washcloth and some glass cleaner. You’ll be thankful for this tip the next time you use your wipers on the road.
DIY Tints
We enjoy the feeling of the sun now and then, particularly on those early morning rides when everything is still cold and gray. Once those impair our vision, though, we don’t enjoy it. They’re not only unpleasant but also painful.
Thankfully, pilots devised a brilliant strategy to combat this: colored plastic sheets. You don’t have to cover your entire windshield with them; all you have to do is pick out a few locations where the sun usually shines and bothers you. Furthermore, believe it or not, you can use the static from your windshield to aid the plastic’s adhesion.
Easy to Find Garage Opener
You set out to unlock the garage door with your remote as soon as you get home from a long day. Sadly, you discover that it has been lost in the crevices of your car, only to be found after minutes of exhausting searching. It’s inconvenient, and it happens to everyone, but only for a short while.
Your garage opener can be installed in your car. Of course, you will need professional assistance, but you can do it yourself if you’re adept with a car. All you’ll need is a little patience, and you’ll be able to make your life as a vehicle owner a little easier.
Vinegar Ice Melter
When you’re in a hurry on a frigid winter morning, icy windshields are one of the most inconvenient things to deal with. You’re already worried about being late for work, and now you have no alternative but to cope with all that ice.
Rather than waiting for your heater to finish the job slowly and painstakingly, you can use a solution of water and vinegar to get the work done faster. Mix the two in a spray bottle, spray the ice on your windshield a few times, and wait for it to melt.
Pool Noodle Part Two
Pool noodles, it appears, are more useful outside the pool than inside it, particularly when it comes to automobiles. They can also help you avoid losing anything in your vehicle, in addition to serving as door bumpers.
It’s far too easy for something to get lost between the sides of your car seats. Rather than wasting so much time bending down and searching, wedging pool noodle pieces into the holes between the vehicle seats will keep you from losing stuff down there.
Carabiners Makes Groceries A Lot Easier To Handle
We understand you have a trunk to store all of your groceries. Nevertheless, we all know that sometimes we buy too much stuff and wind up with a trunk that isn’t big enough. Things can be kept in the backseat, but there’s no assurance they won’t pour out.
All you’ll need is a couple of carabiners to address this minor issue. Mount them on your front seats, and you’ve got yourself hooks to pin your groceries on, where they’ll be safe and sound. Broken eggs and spilling condiments are no longer a problem.
Winter Driving Survival
Aside from the weather, traveling during the winter months can be particularly difficult due to slippery roadways. It will be challenging to maintain control of your vehicle and drive safely if there is not enough contact between the road and the tires.
You can help by putting a couple of water softener salt bags inside of your trunk, which will add more pressure to the back tires. This will increase your grip but bear in mind that this may not be as effective with front-wheel-drive automobiles.
Making Keyrings Less Painful
Keyrings can cause a lot of pain, even if you didn’t realize it before. Because, well, keyrings aren’t designed to be easy to open. Every time you have to insert a key, you have to use your fingers or fingernails with a great deal of discomfort.
There is, however, a solution to quit tormenting yourself every moment you have to add a new key. To hold the keyring apart, simply use a staple remover. Not only will you be able to add keys in a matter of seconds, but your fingers and nails will thank you.
East Is The Way To Go
Even in the dead of winter, there are occasions when we simply must hurry out of the house and into morning traffic. Nobody has time to wait for all of the ice to thaw or get something to melt it. Nature, luckily, may be able to assist.
If you don’t have access to a garage, park your automobile with the windshield towards the East. Your car with have a complete view of the sunrise this way, and you can let the early morning sun do all the melting for you. You can now go about your business as usual.