Nothing feels better than tricking out your car with some new gadgets.
Adding some new car accessories can take your driving experience to the next level. But while these special additions can make a huge difference, customizing your vehicle doesn’t necessarily need to be expensive.
Here are 10 cheap car accessories to make your drives safe, comfortable, and more fun.
USB Car Charger
With all the advancements in smartphone technology, you’d think manufacturers would have come up with a battery that could last us a whole day.
Luckily, all modern cars have a 12V power socket that lets you charge your phone while you’re on the go. All you need is an adaptor for your USB charging cables.
Luckily, they’re cheap. You can pick up a two-port car charger on Amazon for less than $10.
Phone Mount
Sticking with the phone theme, you’ll also want to pick up a mount to keep your precious device in place.
Phone mounts hold your phone upright and easily usable and visible. You can keep your eyes on the road while following your GPS or switching your music. But remember, don’t text and drive.
Most phone mounts clamp into an air vent or use suction on your dashboard or windshield. There are plenty of options available for less than $15.
Seat Gap Filler
If you’ve never dropped your phone, spare change, or a french fry down the gap between your seat and the center console, you probably haven’t actually driven a car before.
Losing things down the crevice is not only annoying, it’s also dangerous. Digging around for dropped items distracts you and endangers yourself and other drivers.
Fortunately, preventing this is as easy as purchasing some cheap car accessories.
Seat gap fillers wrap around your seatbelt and seamlessly occupy the open space. You can get a two-pack (one for driver’s side and passenger’s side) of the Drop Stop seat gap filler for $19.99.
Neck Pillow
Your standard chair headrests are okay, but they don’t do much to support your neck and base of your skull.
Those headrests do serve as a nice mounting post for our next featured accessory: Neck pillows.
Straps wrap around the supports of your seat’s headrest, positioning the pillow perfectly along the curve of your neck.
A neck pillow makes trips in the car much more comfortable while promoting better posture. You can find pillows like this for around $10.
Rubber Floor Mats
Food and drink spills are no stranger to car interiors. Neither is water from a thunderstorm or sand tracked in from the beach.
With standard cloth flooring, these intrusions can cause a lot of hassle. Cleanup isn’t easy. And in the case of liquids, prolonged exposure can cause rot and mold to form, causing a whole mess of other problems.
These problems can be avoided with rubber floor mats.
The waterproof material prevents damage, while the recessed texture lets unwanted substances to fall into the grooves and keep your feet dry and clean.
When you arrive home, cleanup is a breeze. Just take out the mats, shake them out, and give them a quick rinse if needed.
They may be cheap car accessories, but rubber mats are a great investment for the long-term health and appearance of your vehicle.
Fancier sets might get a bit pricey, but a basic three-piece rubber mat collection can be had for less than $20.
Interior Trash Bag
Water bottles and fast food bags and wrappers shouldn’t litter your floor.
Trash containers for the interior of your car are the perfect solution. They’re flexible, waterproof, and easy to empty and clean.
They can hang around the back of a seat, the gear stick, the door handle, or squeeze in between the seat and center console (in case you didn’t get a seat gap filler).
You can get a car trash bag for around $8.
Blind Spot Mirrors
Cheap car accessories aren’t limited to comfort and convenience. A few inexpensive purchases for your car can go a long way to ensuring your personal wellbeing and safety.
One of those purchases should be blind spot mirrors.
If a neighboring car is in your blind spot and you can’t see them, you might make a move on the road that could cause a serious accident.
Blind spot mirrors are small additional mirrors that attach to your current side mirrors. Their shape and angle let you see where your normal mirrors cannot.
It’s amazing that mirrors like this aren’t a standard feature, but a small bit of vehicle customization is all it takes to add them in.
Mirrors can make a big impact on car safety, but they won’t make a big impact on your wallet. Pick up a pair of blind spot mirrors for less than $10.
Escape Tool
Nobody wants to get into a serious accident, but it helps to be prepared if that situation arises.
A car escape tool has two functions. The first is to cut your seatbelt to free yourself in the case of it getting jammed or mangled in the collision. The second is to break the glass of your window, allowing you to crawl out if you can’t open your door.
Hopefully, you will never have to use an escape tool, but it’s good to have one handy. $20 is a small price to pay for a gadget that could save lives after an accident.
Emergency Kit
An emergency kit should be a staple in the trunk of every car.
Emergency kits include a number of different essential supplies for any roadside emergency. Jumper cables, a flashlight, duct tape, and first aid supplies are among the items included.
You can get a cheap emergency kit for around $25 or $30, or you could choose to spend a little more and get a bigger kit with even more tools and supplies.
Dashboard Grip Pad
Many drivers like to toss sunglasses, headphones, and wallets up on the dashboard to free up space in their pockets while driving.
But through the twists and turns of the road, the items like to slide around and fall off.
A dashboard grip pad adheres right to your dashboard. The surface material is tacky, so the stuff you put on it won’t slide.
As far as cheap car accessories go, you can’t get much cheaper than this. You can get a grip pad two-pack for $5.99.
Cheap Car Accessories and Other Car Upgrades
Your car is one of your most prized possessions. For more ideas on how to upgrade and maintain your car, follow our automotive blog.