Car ownership can be both rewarding and frustrating. While driving gets you where you need to be and can even be enjoyable, owning a vehicle comes with its own set of challenges–spilled drinks, door dings and disruptive children all add up over time.
Car hacks can help mitigate these difficulties with ease, offering inexpensive yet creative DIY solutions that any driver can utilize at home.
1. Cover the Cup Holders
Owning a car can be both advantageous and disadvantageous. While it is convenient for transporting items around, its dirty cup holders and door dings may prove bothersome.
Make your car look more presentable by covering cup holders with cupcake liners; this makes cleaning much simpler. If your locks ice over in winter, use hand sanitizer as it contains alcohol which kills germs as well as melting ice.
2. Lock or Unlock Your Car From a Distance
Owning a car can be both expensive and inconvenient, from spilled drinks to door dings – but also rewarding! Unfortunately, nothing stands still with our vehicles, as things often go wrong and become costly fixes.
There are a few simple techniques you can use to remotely unlock your car from a distance, including using a shoestring knotted with slip knot or modified wire coat hanger (sometimes referred to as slim jims ). Both these options should help unlock manual locks on car doors without having to physically break in.
3. Keep Your Gas Cap Out of the Way
An aggravating problem every driver eventually experiences is discovering their gas cap has gone missing from their fuel tank door. Luckily, finding a replacement cap shouldn’t be difficult!
For finding your spare fuel cap, locate it by looking in the door that protects your fuel tank for a leash hole. Most car parts stores sell aftermarket replacement caps that can be locked – plus, most car dealerships also stock aftermarket caps that can be locked.
4. Turn Your Push-to-Start Button into a Key
Push-to-start buttons are an efficient and modern convenience; however, they can become hazardous if left in “park” without being activated first before exiting the vehicle.
Tech-savvy thieves can use sophisticated techniques to access and hack push-to-start key fobs more easily, but there’s an easy solution. Cutting wires may pose risks; however, when done properly this hack significantly decreases your chance of theft.
5. Keep Your Groceries in the Back Seat
Storing groceries for too long in your back seat may cause them to spoil, so to protect them, store your groceries in an insulated cooler in the trunk of your vehicle.
If your car locks freeze up this winter, squirting some waterless hand sanitizer on the key and inserting it into the lock will de-ice it quickly – this hack is particularly handy for parents transporting children in the backseat.
6. Clean Dirty Cup Holders
Drink spills and food debris left sitting in your cup holders can quickly turn them into magnets for dirt and grime. To protect plastic inserts from becoming discolored and bacteria-ridden, spray a quality interior cleaner or disinfectant into them prior to cleaning with a toothbrush and scrub, before rinsing thoroughly afterwards.
If you don’t have access to commercial products, mild soap mixed with warm water or vinegar and water may work just as effectively in dislodging any stubborn gunk. Heat and the cleaning action should help loosen most stubborn deposits.
7. Keep Your Car Clean
Owning a car is both exciting and frustrating – from scratches, spilled drinks and trashed food wrappers to loose wheels or any number of other issues, owning one can become quite the hassle.
Nail polish can easily fill in small scratches, and is far cheaper than getting new paint applied. Dryer sheets also work great at eliminating bug splatters from surfaces.
8. Keep Your Keys in Your Mouth
Every driver should keep an extra key handy just in case their original gets misplaced; however, finding a hiding place for it might not be as straightforward.
Parking lots can be dauntingly expansive spaces to navigate, making it easy to lose track of where you parked your car. This hack uses your body as an extension of your key fob’s wireless signal and helps ensure you can find where you parked.
If your lock ices up during winter months, use hand sanitizer on the key and insert it. Its alcohol content kills germs while melting away any stubborn ice formation.
9. Keep Your Bags in the Back Seat
Keep your car organized and avoid the temptation of tossing stuff around on the seat or floor by attaching purse holders to each front car seat headrest and hanging your purse, diaper bag or shopping bags out of sight but easily within reach.
Keep in mind, loose items will roll around your vehicle at high speeds during an accident, leading to potentially harmful injuries. Only use safe, secure accessories!
10. Make a Shoe Organizer
Modern cars contain numerous computerized systems that make them attractive targets for hackers. In a 2015 experiment conducted by security professionals Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, remote hacking of a Jeep by them demonstrated vehicle vulnerabilities.
Are you searching for stylish car storage that also proves practical? Check out this tutorial on building a pull-out shoe cabinet from wall.