[captain.torque]

Ever since I got my Brezza back in 2016, I have been making additions/modifications to its interiors and exteriors in a never-ending quest to enhance the convenience and comfort of its occupants while travelling.

Fortunately, most of the implemented ideas achieved success.

Below is the list of the add-ons/alterations made over the years:

1. Mobile phone holder

Once upon a time, people (especially my wife) riding shotgun in my car would keep their phone in the cubbyhole right in front of the gear lever (pic attached)



And each time the person received a notification, he/she would reach out for the phone, which just starting bothering me as my car is a manual and in city traffic, you need to change gears frequently.

So, I thought of moving the phone away from that spot and came up with this.



I ordered both the hook and holder from AliExpress (back when it was not banned). The hook by Baseus is a quality product and very sturdy while the actual phone holder too is good and does the job.

The best part is that the holder is actually removable and does not disturb the aesthetic look of the interior. Just hand it when you need it and remove it afterwards.



2. Umbrella "holder" in boot

This is a simple hack. I got an umbrella from Decathlon and decided to keep it in the boot in a way so that it takes limited space and doesn’t roll here and there every time I take a turn.

So, I found this hook in the boot and used my wife’s scrunchie to keep it in place.




Thank you, wifey!

3. Making woofer enclosure "non-slip"

Prior to getting the 3D mat for my boot, the woofer enclosure would never slip as the material of the trunk liner and the enclosure was the same – ecofi nonwoven, solution-dyed synthetic fiber (according to Google).

But ever since I got the plastic mat, the enclosure would dance around in the boot to the beats of whatever I played. And after every trip it would never be in its original position.

Therefore, I got some double-sided tape and nails and fixed the problem. As the enclosure is made of wood, it took just two mins to hammer the nails on top of the tape bits so as to keep them in place.



4. “Reusable” air freshener

Got 'Involve One' air freshener from Amazon six months ago and contrary to the online reviews, the scent lasted for just about 15 days.

So, instead of throwing it away and getting a new one, decided to pour some “itra or ittar or attar” on the foam pads inside the box and it was sort of a eureka moment. Now I just soak the pads in all kids of perfumes and itras of my liking.





In addition, the fragrance dispenser (plugged in cigarette lighter) is for situations when I need a burst of instant scent to create the desired ambience.





5. Pouch for loose change



Gone are the days when cars came with coin holders. The last time I saw one was inside my 2005 Tata Indica V2. But the fact remains, that you do need change some times. I do, every time I get air filled in my tyres.

So, I took this canvas pouch (an air freshener in its previous avatar) and whenever I get coins I put them inside it. Hung on the wiper stock, it remains out of sight yet easily accessible as you can see below.



6. Grab handles for rear passengers



Got these from AliExpress too. These are originally designed for the Jeep Wrangler but I’ve put them to good use in my Brezza by attaching them to the rear headrests.



Trust me, these handles are a boon for my aged parents and in-laws as they do find it a bit hard to enter or exit the Brezza due to its slightly raised stance and these handles are well, quite handy.

Some honourable mentions

Santisier dispenser: In times of Covid, I bet every car has this. But it is quite annoying to pick up the sanitizer bottle from the cupholder or take it out of the glovebox, open the lid, use it and then put it back.



An easy and time saving trick is to get a small soap dispenser like this (this one had fiama shower gel and I got it for free with a bigger bottle) fill it with your choice of sanitizer and put it in the cup holder. I don’t now about other cars but in my Brezza, the cup holder is right below the armrest and when I am seated, my left palm rests just near the dispenser.

So, as soon as I am seated, I cup my palm and fingers to form a ladle, press the dispenser which drops a driblet of sanitizer followed by a quick rub of hands and I am on my way.

Phone holder for navigation



As the title says, this is a holder for navigation purpose and when you don’t have the time or intent to connect the phone to the car using a wire and use Android Auto. (This would be redundant if you have wireless Android Auto, though)

Tissue box on sunshade



This is perhaps the best thing that I got for my car. With a toddler on board and the preference to consume meals inside the vehicle instead of dining at a restaurant post Covid, this bag has been a savior on more than one occasions.

Plus, it gives you more space inside the glovebox which is usually used by many to store a packet of napkins.

Project in pipeline

For the rear passengers, I plan to install a tissue box on the rear parcel tray.



The strategy is to make 4 parallel holes on the tray, insert two strings of elastic ropes and tie them individually at the bottom so they are not visible. Fix the box on top of the tray and use the ropes as clasps on both sides of the box to keep it in place.

Excuse the crude paintbrush attempt but this is what I have in mind. The orange thing is the tissue box and the black part are the elastic cords.



Fin

[comfortablynumb]

Good ideas these! I particularly liked the grab handles, will check if they are available on Amazon/Flipkart.

Related thread: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...-your-car.html (Small, yet value-adding Accessories for your car)

[Apex1815]

Very creative ideas !

Since I am a perfume addict (Someone who has 30+ attars & Perfumes), I will use my favourite attars in my car with this kind of Re-usable Air freshener.

Just a suggestion about Umbrella Holder :
If you keep it in the boot, it would be very difficult for you during heavy downpour as you need to come out of the car and take that umbrella out.
In these 10 seconds you will be totally wet.

I suggest to keep the umbrella on the Right hand side of the driver seat so that you can easily access it during heavy rainfall.

[Salnv]

Good ideas to get our cars customized. My favorite among these is the grab handles which will definitely help old people. Only onething here to notice is if the car has curtain airbags and handles are not part of the stock , then may be manufacture is doing so on a purpose, so one may need to be careful if that is the scenario. I remember way long back I went for a test drive and grab handles were missing , when asked the SA told that it is because it will obstruct the curtain airbag deployment which made sense then.

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by Salnv

Good ideas to get our cars customized. My favorite among these is the grab handles which will definitely help old people. Only onething here to notice is if the car has curtain airbags and handles are not part of the stock , then may be manufacture is doing so on a purpose, so one may need to be careful if that is the scenario. I remember way long back I went for a test drive and grab handles were missing , when asked the SA told that it is because it will obstruct the curtain airbag deployment which made sense then.

Not sure how aftermarket handles that seem to mount on the head rest columns should be of any concern for curtain airbags.

As far as I remember only Ford has the disadvantage of not having grab handles on their products with six airbags.

[carcrazykid]

These are lovely and simple additions to your car's interior! They really do make the interior a lot more functional.
One thing I would advise is NOT to keep bottles of hand sanitizer in your car for extended periods.
The alcohol content in them is highly inflammable and when the car is kept in the sun for a long period, the interior literally bakes.
A highly inflammable liquid kept in such a hot interior might not have a pleasant outcome, so to speak

[DCharger]

5. Pouch for loose change

Doesn't it hang loose all the time and be a distraction? I am personally not comfortable about hanging anything on stalks. Any other better place to hang this?


Project in pipeline
For the rear passengers, I plan to install a tissue box on the rear parcel tray.

I suggest use a simple 2 sided tape or a velcro instead of elastic straps.

[Vivek Menon]

Lovely ideas!! Grab handle idea is indeed a very good one. Very useful for the elder ones. Reusable perfume idea is good, I will also try with different fragrances that I have

[src]

Originally Posted by captain.torque

Ever since I got my Brezza back in 2016, I have been making additions/modifications to its interiors and exteriors in a never-ending quest to enhance the convenience and comfort of its occupants while travelling.

Fortunately, most of the implemented ideas achieved success.

One quick question Captain if you allow
How do you remember to open all these things when you give the vehicle for Servicing?
Since after the regular job I am sure some things will never come back.

What annoys me is that these Honda Service Center guys are not sparing some chocolates too which are though cheap but handy to keep my daughter happy at some odd times.

[PraNeel]

Originally Posted by captain.torque

In addition, the fragrance dispenser (plugged in cigarette lighter) is for situations when I need a burst of instant scent to create the desired ambience.

Can you share the link for buying this and its consumables? Do you find it effective in creating a good smell, when car door is opened after a day or two, or the effect is temporary? Thanks

[Raghu M]

Those are very neatly done and have great value. Can you please share the link to the perfume dispenser that has been installed to the cigarette lighter? Thank you.

[captain.torque]

Originally Posted by Apex1815

I suggest to keep the umbrella on the Right hand side of the driver seat...

That was my first choice but the umbrella refused to stay in place (because of the Brezza's floor design) and I am sure its outer cover and handle will get dirty due to slush and mud on shoes in rainy season. Only if there was a way to stow it away in the front door like in the Tatas or Skodas

Originally Posted by carcrazykid

I would advise is NOT to keep bottles of hand sanitizer in your car for extended periods

Appreciate your concern, sir. Fortunately, the spot were my I park my car has tall building on three sides so it hardly gets any sunlight.

Originally Posted by DCharger

Doesn't it hang loose all the time and be a distraction?

I suggest use a simple 2 sided tape or a velcro instead of elastic straps.[/i]

Surprisingly, the pouch does not move much because of the weight of the coins. Even I was not confident about the idea when it first hit me. Having said that, you will hear some faint cling clang on a pothole-riddled road but it's certainly not a deal breaker for me. My advice: try it for yourself once.

Regarding the tissue box on tray, double tape doesn't last long as I did try to take that route after the success of the woofer enclosure experiment.

However, due to the surface of the tray and the fact that my three-year-old daughter thinks that the shiny box is a toy and loves to pull it from its place every time she enters the car means that I need to get something strong

Originally Posted by src

One quick question Captain if you allow
How do you remember to open all these things when you give the vehicle for Servicing?

Believe it or not, but I have prepared a checklist of all items in the notes folder on my phone. I also have separate bags for small and delicate stuff like the flash drive or the SD card or the perfume dispenser so that it does not get crushed.

Originally Posted by PraNeel

Can you share the link for buying this and its consumables? Do you find it effective in creating a good smell, when car door is opened after a day or two, or the effect is temporary? Thanks

I am very much pleased with this product and would recommend you wholeheartedly. Its USP is the instant burst of freshness at the touch of a button which is really very handy. And I love it so much that this is my second unit that I have bought as the first one was broken by my daughter.

Sharing a review that I posted on T-Bhp earlier: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...commend-4.html (Car Air Fresheners that BHPians recommend)

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Can you please share the link to the perfume dispenser that has been installed to the cigarette lighter? Thank you.

You can but it from Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Molecule-Aroma-V1-Combo-Twilight/dp/B01IPESA04/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=molecule+aroma&qid=16 32306273&sr=8-2

[DCharger]

Originally Posted by captain.torque

Surprisingly, the pouch does not move much because of the weight of the coins. Even I was not confident about the idea when it first hit me. Having said that, you will hear some faint cling clang on a pothole-riddled road but it's certainly not a deal breaker for me. My advice: try it for yourself once.

Regarding the tissue box on tray, double tape doesn't last long as I did try to take that route after the success of the woofer enclosure experiment.

However, due to the surface of the tray and the fact that my three-year-old daughter thinks that the shiny box is a toy and loves to pull it from its place every time she enters the car means that I need to get something strong

My daily driver is a Honda city and it has a coin/ticket compartment, where I store coins and fuel bills.


I get it now, with kids on board, you need to think out of the Box

You make one heck of a DIY guy...

[advaithraju]

Originally Posted by captain.torque

2. Umbrella "holder" in boot

This is a simple hack. I got an umbrella from Decathlon and decided to keep it in the boot in a way so that it takes limited space and doesn’t roll here and there every time I take a turn.

So, I found this hook in the boot and used my wife’s scrunchie to keep it in place.

Nice additions, liked the idea of tissue box on sunshades.
I always keep an umbrella in the under seat tray below the passenger seat. Fits in perfectly, no rattles, ain't exposed and I have found it to be the ideal place for such a thing(though rarely used by me). What I feel is, during heavy rains it is not possible to get hold of the umbrella if placed in boot without getting wet nor can be placed in one of the bottle holders in doors as it would be exposed all the time.
Also try to install an Auto dimming IRVM, you would really love the difference


Regards
advaithraju