Yes, you may be familiar with your vehicle’s controls. You may not have read your car’s manual, but you know how to operate the wipers, air conditioning, radio, and hazard lights! Hopefully, you also know how to change the tires on your car. What you don’t seem to realize, however, is that all you need are these simple but life-changing car hacks, which we’re confident you won’t find in any car manual. We’ve covered everything from minor irritations to major annoyances, and you can rest assured that these pointers will make your life easier. Check to see if you’ve already completed any of the tasks on this list.
Amazing Car Hacks Everyone Needs To Start Doing Now
Fixing A Dent With Hot Water & A Plunge
Do you have a ding on the side of your car? Don’t be concerned! We’ve got your back! Dents are fairly common, and contrary to popular belief, they are relatively simple to repair. All you have to do is boil some water in a teapot or saucepan, pour it over the dent, and pull the plunger. If the car’s body isn’t badly damaged, the dent should pop right out; it won’t look as good as it did before, but it will be less noticeable.
Fixing A Dent With Hot Water & A Plunge
Dirty Headlights And Toothpaste
Don’t rush to the nearest auto store for a special solution if your headlights are foggy! You might already have a solution to your problem at home. Because toothpaste contains mild abrasives that clean enamel, it turns out that it works just as well on headlights as it does on teeth. With a little toothpaste and elbow grease, your headlights can be as clear as day again! (As a side note, this might not always work. If the inside is yellowing, you may want to consider replacing it.)
Dirty Headlights And Toothpaste
Opening Your Keyring With A Staple Remover
You don’t have to break your fingers trying to get a new set of keys onto your clumsy metal keyring. Simply separate the end pieces with a staple remover and slide them in! It’s so straightforward that we’re sure you’re wondering why you’ve never thought of it before.
Opening Your Keyring With A Staple Remover
Put A Shower Caddy In The Trunk
If you’re the type to plan ahead, you probably have oil, a funnel, a rag, a flashlight, and other emergency car supplies in your trunk. Consider investing in a shower caddy to keep all of your important items organized and out of the way when you need them — and to keep everything else in the trunk clean.
Put A Shower Caddy In The Trunk
Use Pool Noodles To Prevent Car Dings
When you get out of your garage, do you frequently hit the door on the side of your garage? Cutting a pool noodle in half and taping it to the wall where the door swings open is a simple solution (the scuff marks should make it easy enough to tell). Bolts or simple command strips can be used to secure it, but either way, your car and the wall will be safe!
Use Pool Noodles To Prevent Car Dings
Need A Trash Bin? Use Cereal Bins
We throw trash in our cars without thinking about it, but did you know that the smells from that trash can linger inside your car for a long time if you’re not careful? If you get a trash can, you won’t have that problem. One of those small cereal-holding plastic containers is all you’ll need. To make a compact and easily sealed trash can that keeps your car clean and odor-free, simply line it with a plastic bag.
Need A Trash Bin? Use Cereal Bins
Reduce Glare With A Tinted Plastic Sheet
We’ve all been there: you’ve forgotten your sunglasses, the sun is setting, and you’re driving west. Your visor won’t be able to protect you at this angle, but there is something that can! A simple tinted plastic sheet will stick to your car window with static and can be moved around as needed, ensuring that you never have to deal with the sun again!
Reduce Glare With A Tinted Plastic Sheet
Lessen Frost By Parking Your Car Facing East
This may appear to be a strange witchy trick, but it’s actually quite straightforward and logical. The sun’s rays will defrost your front windshield first if you park your car facing the sun in the morning. If you leave for work after the sun rises, you’ll never have to wait for the defroster to warm up again!
Lessen Frost By Parking Your Car Facing East
Extend Your Key’s Range By Holding Them To Your Head
We know it sounds crazy, but it really works! Place your keys under your chin and press the button again if your keys don’t have much range; the fluids in your head will change the signal’s range slightly. Try it out for yourself if you don’t believe us!
Extend Your Key’s Range By Holding Them To Your Head
Long Ride With A Messy Kid? MagnaDoodle Got You Covered
There are two obvious issues when taking a long car ride with a young child: they are messy and easily bored. Thankfully, having a MagnaDoodle in your toy collection can help with both of these problems. For starters, they’re one of the most entertaining toys because kids can draw and redraw without running out of (or dropping) materials. You may not realize it, but they can also be used as a tray table for kids to eat meals from without crumbs and spills all over the place.
Long Ride With A Messy Kid? MagnaDoodle Got You Covered
Clean Your Wheels With Coke
You’ve probably heard the phrase “use Coke to clean this” a million times, but a mixture of cola and dish detergent will clean your rims and leave them gleaming. Some people worry that baking soda will just make things stickier, but the detergent you use prevents this.
Clean Your Wheels With Coke
You Can Use Pantyhose As A Fan Belt
First and foremost, if you have any other options when your fan belt breaks (such as calling for a tow), you should take advantage of them. Saving money isn’t worth risking your engine catching fire. A pair of pantyhose can be used as a fan belt to get you to a gas station or an area with cell service where you can get help if you’re really stuck.
You Can Use Pantyhose As A Fan Belt
Use Nail Polish On Small Scratches
It’s usually not worth the money to have your car’s paint professionally repaired when it gets a small scratch or chip. Of course, the disadvantage is that your vehicle will be covered in unsightly scratches. We’re sure you had no idea you could do it yourself! It only takes a smidgeon of nail polish. If the paint on your car is close enough to match, a little nail polish will hide the scratches well enough that no one will notice them unless they are looking for them.
Use Nail Polish On Small Scratches
De-Ice Your Keyholes With Hand Sanitizers
If you’ve ever had frozen car door locks, you know how difficult it can be to unfreeze them. The answer is hand sanitizer, which you may not have guessed. Although pouring something into a broken lock may seem counterintuitive, the alcohol in the solution will melt the ice, allowing you to turn the lock. On your car, it’ll dissolve in the same way it does on your hands.
De-Ice Your Keyholes With Hand Sanitizers
Keep Your Seats Buckled During Hot Weather
Trying to buckle your seatbelt in the summer is dangerous. Your hands will be irritated by any metal part of your car that has been exposed to sunlight and heat, but you can at least avoid the seatbelt issue by buckling it in after exiting the vehicle and leaving it there until the next time you enter. If the sun can’t reach it, it can’t get hot enough to burn!
Keep Your Seats Buckled During Hot Weather
Use Over-The-Door Shoe Racks As Backseat Organizers
If you have kids, this one is especially useful: All of the backseat essentials, such as sippy cups, toys, chargers, and snacks, can be stored on a simple over-the-door shoe rack. All of the pouches are easily accessible, and they’re much easier to spot than the pouches that come standard with some minivan seats.
Use Over-The-Door Shoe Racks As Backseat Organizers
Window Chips? Clear Nail Polish Could Help
Once more, the magic of nail polish has struck! If a crack or chip appears in your windshield, it will almost certainly spread and crack further, making driving dangerous. If you can’t afford to replace your windshield right now, a few drops of clear nail polish, applied like a run in a pair of stockings, should keep the crack from spreading until you can.
Window Chips? Clear Nail Polish Could Help
You Can Use Rubber Bands As Phone Holders
It’s extremely inconvenient when you need to look at your GPS but don’t have a co-pilot to hold it up for you or one of those windows or air vent holders to hold your phone (and potentially dangerous). Using a rubber band to achieve the same result is actually quite simple. If you loop it through a couple of vents in your center console and around the top and bottom of your phone, the tension will keep it in place.
You Can Use Rubber Bands As Phone Holders
Easy Way To Cool Down A Hot Car
Have you ever had to stand outside in the summer to allow your suffocatingly hot car to cool down just enough for you to BREATHE once inside? To expedite the process, roll down the passenger side window and open and close the driver’s side door quickly for a few seconds. This creates a fanning effect, allowing fresh air to enter while removing all of the hot, stale air from your vehicle.
Easy Way To Cool Down A Hot Car
Dryer Sheets As Air Freshener
Air fresheners that last only a few days, such as clip-on or over-the-mirror air fresheners, are a waste of money. A box of dryer sheets lasts much longer, is less noticeable, and absorbs odors effectively. They’re available in scented or unscented versions, and they’ll keep your car smelling fresh for months.
Dryer Sheets As Air Freshener
The Nanotech Car Scratch Remover Cloth
This isn’t so much a hack as it is a fantastic product that can save the day when it comes to the appearance of your vehicle. Advanced nanotechnology is used in these Multipurpose Scratch Remover Clothes to remove car scratches and stains, restore vehicle color, and protect paint surfaces. Each cloth, according to the company, can be used 10 to 15 times. If you’re not sure about their effectiveness, they also come with a one-year limited warranty. So you can try them out and get in touch with the company if you don’t like them.
The Nanotech Car Scratch Remover Cloth
Use Scented Wax Cubes As Air Fresheners
Aside from dryer sheets, there’s another DIY air freshener hack for your nose’s pleasure. Simply place a few scented wax cubes in a mason jar with some holes drilled in the lead. Place the jar in your car, and as the vehicle warms up, the wax will melt, filling the car with a pleasant aroma.
Use Scented Wax Cubes As Air Fresheners
Check Your Tire’s State With A Penny
This next piece of advice may just save your life. Invert a penny and insert it into the treads of your tires. If President Lincoln’s head sinks halfway into the hole, you’re in good shape. If the tread on your tires doesn’t cover the president’s head, you’ll need new tires.
Check Your Tire’s State With A Penny
Keep Your Cup Holder Clean By Doing This
Pick up some silicone cupcake wrappers and stash them in your car’s cupholders. They’ll organize all of your loose change, and they’re easy to remove and clean, so your cup holders stay spotless. You’d be surprised at how effective this simple trick is at keeping things clean.
Keep Your Cup Holder Clean By Doing This
Save Space Using Carabiner Hooks
If you need to free up some space in your backseat, get some carabiner hooks and attach them to your headrests. They can be used to store bags, groceries, umbrellas, and other items. This will help you free up a lot more space than you think.
Save Space Using Carabiner Hooks
Use Muffin Pans As A Cupholder
Make sure you have a muffin pan and a basket on hand if you’re picking up a large fast-food order. What is the rationale behind this? Because it creates a much larger and more durable soft drink holder. Make a mental note of this tip the next time you place a large order.
Use Muffin Pans As A Cupholder
Make Grocery Shopping Easier With Laundry Baskets
When you go grocery shopping, put an empty laundry basket in the trunk. When you get home, you can fill the basket with bags, reduce the number of trips back and forth to the car, and make your grocery trips much more convenient!
Make Grocery Shopping Easier With Laundry Baskets
Keep Some Kitty Litter In Your Trunk
Even if you don’t have a cat, you should keep kitty litter in your trunk. You’ll need extra traction to get out of a deep snowbank or a slick patch of road, which kitty litter can provide. Pour some around your tires and go for a drive. It is advised that you buy the non-clumping variety.
Keep Some Kitty Litter In Your Trunk
Another Kitty Litter Hack
Another fantastic kitty litter hack is to put it in a sock and keep it on your dashboard. This may appear absurd, but it will prevent your windshield from fogging up. Yes, this is a serious suggestion.
Another Kitty Litter Hack
Need To Keep Things In Place? Use Command Hooks
If you need a place to keep your purse, bag, or mask from flying all over the place, hang a command hook at floor level. As a result, everything you need is easily accessible, neat, and tidy. Keep this tip in mind at all times, and you’ll never run out of space in your car.
Need To Keep Things In Place Use Command Hooks
Gauge Your Garage Parking With A Tennis Ball
Are you having trouble finding a parking spot in your garage? It’s a good thing we’re here to help. For some, determining how far forward you’ve pulled into your may be a challenge. All you have to do is hang a tennis ball from the ceiling of your garage with a string. When you’ve driven far enough in, it should rest on your windshield. You won’t have to guess any longer. The pinnacle of precision!
Gauge Your Garage Parking With A Tennis Ball
Download a Parking App to Find Your Car
Are you one of those people who can’t seem to recall where they parked their car? Don’t worry; you’re not the only one who feels this way. Finally, those forgetful days are over; there are now many helpful apps that can instantly assist you in locating your vehicle. There’s no need to waste time walking around the mall parking lot looking for your car. You can choose from several applications, all of which will assist you in keeping track of where you parked.
Download a Parking App to Find Your Car
Warm Up Your Windshield Wipers
Another hack to get you ready for the upcoming winter months. You’ll never have to waste time trying to thaw out your windshield wipers in the morning. All you need is an old pair of socks and an evening to put them over each wiper. As a result, by the time morning arrives and you’re ready to start the day, your windshield wipers will be free of ice and stuck to your windshield.
Warm Up Your Windshield Wipers
Handy Towel Holder
If you ask us, we think this is one of the best tricks out there, especially for parents with small children. All you have to do is use a short bungee cord to secure a roll of paper towel to your car. This allows you to quickly grab the towels instead of searching the entire car for the roll. Isn’t it true that at least one of our passengers in the car always spills something or has a runny nose?
Handy Towel Holder
Vinegar To Defrost Your Windows
This hack will come in handy for people who live in areas where it gets extremely cold in the winter. It’s no laughing matter if you’ve had to defrost your car in the morning. Why not give this a shot? It works, believe us! Rather than pouring water on your windshield, combine it with vinegar. Then combine everything in a spray bottle and squirt it on your windows. The vinegar helps burn through the ice faster, and you can apply the mixture evenly with a spray bottle to avoid icy patches blocking your view.
Vinegar To Defrost Your Windows
Get More Gas From The Pump
Although it may appear to be a simple task, there is a better way to pump gas than simply going full throttle. If you just press the gas pump all the way down, bubbles will form in your tank, fooling the nozzle into thinking it’s full. In reality, there is still room for more gas; you just need to go slower. You will have to wait a little longer for the gas to come out if you only press the pump halfway, but more will actually go into your tank.
Get More Gas From The Pump
Blow Away Bumper Stickers
The majority of you reading this have at least one type of bumper sticker on your car. It turns out that getting rid of them is a lot easier than you might think. For this trick, all you’ll need is a well-functioning hairdryer. Heat the sides of the sticker with the hairdryer, and the glue should start to lift within a few minutes, making it easier to peel. It’s time to put all those bumper stickers from 2006 to rest.
Blow Away Bumper Stickers
Slime Is Your Savior
Who’d have guessed a child’s toy could be used for one of the most ingenious car hacks? The truth is that slime and automobile interiors are a match made in heaven. If your children’s playroom is out of slime, you can easily purchase some at the supermarket. Use the slime to clean all of the hard-to-reach areas of your car, such as the air vents and the sides of your chair. The slime easily picks up any dirt or dust that you’ve been unable to remove.
Slime Is Your Savior
If Your Tires Blows, DON’T Brake
This isn’t so much a hack as it is a great piece of advice. If your tire blows out while driving at least 65 km/h on a straight road, do not stop. Even though it may be instinctive, try to resist the urge. Why, exactly, do you inquire? If you hit the brakes, you’ll fishtail and possibly lose control of your vehicle, which could result in a collision with anything. You should instead keep your foot on the gas pedal. Isn’t that strange? We understand, but this will assist you in regaining control of your vehicle and maintaining a straight line on the road. It should only take a few seconds.
If Your Tires Blows, DON’T Brake
Don’t Weigh Down Your Key
This is more of a cautionary tale than a hack. The ignition switch can be damaged by having too many keys or cute keychains. That is, your car will not start as easily as it should over time. Experts recommend having no more than three keys or keychains in your bunch. If you notice a tightness or your key locking while in the ignition, you should take it to a dealer as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will cost you a lot of money before you realize it.
Don’t Weigh Down Your Key
Prevent Car Sickness
This next suggestion is fantastic! Simply keep some fresh bay leaves in your car to help prevent car sickness. Bay leaf is an excellent way to avoid car sickness, especially on long journeys. Simply place the leaf under your tongue, and you will feel much better almost immediately. This is suitable for both children and adults. It can also save you from having to pull over or buying medicine at the pharmacy, and it’s all-natural.
Prevent Car Sickness
Lowering Your Insurance Costs
We’re always looking for ways to save money on our monthly bills, especially when it comes to our cars. You can now! All you have to do now is learn how to drive defensively. It is extremely beneficial and also aids in the improvement of your driving abilities. Defensive driving can significantly reduce the cost of car insurance in many countries around the world. So, if you’re still on the fence about whether learning defensive driving is worth your time and money, think about the car insurance discounts.
Lowering Your Insurance Costs
What Side Is The Tank On?
People frequently pull up to fill up their gas tank and “forget” which side their tank is on. They don’t realize that the solution has been right in front of their faces the entire time. Take a quick look at the fuel gauge on your dashboard…do you see it now? You’ll see an arrow next to a picture of a gas pump. The side of the car with the filler cap is whichever way the arrow points. Isn’t it incredible?
What Side Is The Tank On?
Diagnose Your Own Car troubles
Gone are the days when you wished you could figure out what was wrong with your car without having to go to a mechanic. All you have to do now is purchase an auto-code reader. When you connect it to your car’s computer system via the OBD port, it will immediately assist you in reading your engine’s fault codes. You’ll learn what’s causing the check engine light to illuminate, where a bad oxygen sensor is located, how to read enhanced data, and even how to retrieve your car’s VIN in no time.
Diagnose Your own Car troubles
Always Keep An Emergency Kit
Every driver should, without a doubt, have an emergency kit in their vehicle. Jumper cables, a flashlight, extra batteries, a first-aid kit, and sometimes even a compass should be included. A basic tool kit should be included in this kit as one of the most important items. Warm clothing, a shovel, and a spare cellphone charger are also recommended. You never know when something you’ve learned will come in handy!
Always Keep An Emergency Kit
Clean Your AC Vents
On a sweltering hot summer day as well as on a bitterly cold winter day, your car’s air conditioning is a godsend. Most people, on the other hand, overlook the importance of cleaning the car’s air vents. A foam brush, which you can usually find in your local hardware store, is one of the best ways to clean them (from the inside). After that, clean each panel gently. This will not only keep your air conditioning clean and fresh, but it will also make everyone in the car healthier.
Clean Your AC Vents
Vaseline Tip
Vaseline has been one of the best lifesavers for generations. Not only for colds and flu but for pretty much anything and everything. Have you considered using it for the interior of your vehicle? If you have a vinyl or leather interior, smear Vaseline on a cloth or cotton wool and rub it all over the car to keep the leather from cracking. Vaseline can also be rubbed on rubber door seals to keep them from freezing in the winter.
Vaseline Tip
Avoid Crumbs
Parents with young children are well aware of how filthy cars can become. It’s as if your car has become its own garbage can. Or, even worse, they throw all kinds of things in between the car seats, making cleanup a complete nightmare. To avoid a disaster, place a sheet beneath the booster seat so that the sheet will catch it all! Any future accidents, such as melted candy, juice spills, or even dog drool will no longer be a problem for your car.
Avoid Crumbs
Use A Newspaper To Clean Windows
Although we’ve already mentioned a window-cleaning hack, it’s always good to have a few options. This method has been tried and true, and nothing cleans windows better than an old newspaper, believe it or not. Simply spray your windows with window cleaner, then scrub the newspaper with a stiff brush. This will give you sparkling clean results right away. Make sure the windows aren’t tinted, though!
Use A Newspaper To Clean Windows