Captaining a vehicle is thrilling at the start, but the novelty quickly fades into the mundane, and you’re left with boredom mixed with mild terror about the inherent danger. Cars come with risk, but there’s often no faster way to get from point A to point B, and road trips are the best ways to access certain, more remote parts of the country. Cars are inevitable, but watching the seconds tick by stuck in traffic doesn’t have to suck, not with the right car accessories.
Think of car accessories like adding polished place settings to a beat-up, weathered dining room table. It doesn’t change the age of the table, but it makes using it much more enjoyable. Car accessories don’t have to be expensive to help, we have everything from a $10 iPhone mount to an off-road camera kit from Stinger built to enhance video capturing on adventures.
Take a look at the selection below and enhance the next excursion up the interstate or half hour drive to work with a few clicks.
iOttie Wireless Car Charger Dashboard Phone Mount
Perhaps the single most useful car accessory you can buy is a car phone mount, but we’ll do you one better with the iOttie Wireless Car Charger Dashboard Phone Mount. It conveniently suctions to the dashboard, plugs into the DC port for power, holds phones big and small and can be easily maneuvered for the best viewing angle.
Stinger Universal Off-Roading Monitoring Kit
Rear-view cameras are ubiquitous, and dashcams are well on their way there, the next frontier is showing beyond what’s behind and ahead. This off-road monitoring system from Stinger Off-Road, a brand that specializes in car accessories for adventure vehicles, does just that. With a quartet of IP67-rated cameras that are dirt and waterproof and come equipped with wide-angle lenses and night vision, this kit sets you up for capturing adventure memories from every angle. It’s compatible with any vehicle and is the embodiment of what Stinger Off-Road does best: high-tech, high-quality innovations that elevate what the person behind the wheel can do with their vehicle.
Nekteck USB Car Charger
If a phone mount isn’t essential, the Nekteck USB Car Charger is. It has a USB-A port for most devices and a USB-C port for rapid charging of compatible devices. It’ll charge phones, tablets and even a small computer in a pinch through your car’s DC port.
BMK BLUEMICKEY Car Power Inverter
For heavier-duty items that need charging, you want the BMK BLUEMICKEY Car Power Inverter. It converts DC to AC, so you can plug in laptop chargers or anything else with an AC plug. It also has four USB-A ports, so you’ll always have a viable charging option for pretty much any electronic device, big or small.
Anker Roav Bluetooth Car Adapter and Charger
Though auxiliary ports are now all but omnipresent in most vehicles thanks to phones nixing their audio jacks, Bluetooth car adapters are still useful. The Anker Roav Bluetooth Car Adapter and Charger boasts automatic tuning so your music will always go over unused airwaves, and Bluetooth 5.0 ensures your phone stays connected while a USB-A and a USB-C port can charge small devices.
Rove R2-4K Dash Cam
Though not strictly necessary, a dashcam is one of those things you’re going to want before you need it — like when you’re in a car accident and not at fault.
The Rove R2-4K Dash Cam offers a lot of features for its comparatively low price. The camera sees 150 degrees, the recorded video comes through clearly day or night, built-in WiFi makes sharing videos to your phone a breeze and GPS tracks your speed and location — which can be useful if you want to prove you weren’t speeding. It supports micro SD cards up to 512 GB, though you’ll have to provide your own.
Govee Interior LED Car Strip Lights
The Govee Interior LED Car Strip Lights will immediately add a touch of coolness and practicality to your car. The lights are highly adjustable via physical buttons or an app for deeper tweaking and can even sync up to music thanks to a built-in microphone. But beyond that, they’re just really helpful for adding light in those places where the car’s overhead lights don’t reach. If you’ve ever dropped your phone when driving at night, you know exactly what we’re talking about.
Magnelex Microfiber Leather Steering Wheel Cover
A steering wheel cover like the Magnelex Microfiber Leather Steering Wheel Cover is one car accessory that seems increasingly useful the more you think about it. If it’s cold out, it’ll keep your fingers off the ice-cold steering wheel. If it’s hot out, the anti-slip quality of the cover will keep sweaty fingers from slipping. For those two reasons, a steering wheel cover can seriously improve your driving experience.
Though this wrap will fit most steering wheels, be sure to double-check the size of your steering wheel before buying.
EPAuto Waterproof Car Trash Can
Every car needs a dedicated trash bin because everybody produces garbage on the road at some point. The EPAuto Waterproof Car Trash Can has a vinyl interior to prevent leaks and an elastic opening so you can easily shove trash in without worrying about spills or too much trashcan stink. Straps make securing the can super simple, whether you want to hang it from a seat back, the console, the gear shift or even the glove box.
BMZX Anti-Slip Cell Phone Pad
There aren’t nearly enough high-friction surfaces in cars to set things without them slipping around. The BMZX Anti-Slip Cell Phone Pad rests on the dashboard and a silicone gel bottom stops it from sliding around. A notch down the middle creates useful separation for phones, sunglasses, pocket change, keys, and other small items and helps prop a phone up so you can see it while driving. The only complaint from users is that the tray doesn’t stay in place as well on curved dashboards, so keep that in mind before buying.
DMoose Car Front Seat Organizer
Whether to store useful items for work, emergency car supplies, stuff for kids or just the items you need for the day, it’s hard to argue against a seat organizer. The DMoose Car Front Seat Organizer can hold a laptop, tablet, water bottles, magazines and whatever else you think you can cram into the pockets.