[Aditya]

Back in 2007, we had a thread on the must-have car accessories that needed to be purchased as extras. Back then, we had recommended getting fog lamps, headlight bulb upgrades and parking sensors. These features had to be purchased as accessories from dedicated stores. Today, one would laugh at that. Today, fog lamps are a part of the standard feature list, halogen headlight bulbs have been replaced by LEDs and parking sensors are standard on many mainstream cars. As is pretty evident, over these 16 years later, a lot has changed.

Today, new cars are equipped with various features. We get sunroofs, sunshades, touchscreen head-units with fantastic sound systems, air purifiers, head-up displays, TPMS, fog lamps, alloy wheels and a lot more as standard these days. Further, fitting certain other accessories might require tampering with the wiring of the car, which might void the warranty. This has made accessory stores irrelevant. Still, certain features are not provided on most cars. These might be utilitarian or aesthetic and help us personalise certain aspects of our vehicles. Some of them are carried over from the 2007 list as they are still relevant.

Here is the 2023 edition of the list of must-have car accessories.

Exterior

Alloy wheels: Some entry-level cars still come with steel wheels. Alloy wheels not only enhance the car's look but they are lighter and stronger than steel wheels. Moreover, since the unsprung weight is less, it improves the driving experience as well.



Wider tyres: Many cars are woefully under-tyred for the power they put out (WagonR 1.2, City, etc.). This is primarily done to improve efficiency, but skinny tyres aren't very safe in emergencies. Upgrading to wider tyres improves grip levels. This enhances the steering, handling and braking of a car. It also improves the car's appearance.

Interior

Floor & boot mats: Floor & boot mats are not a part of standard equipment in most cars. But they are very necessary. They help keep the car's carpet clean. Nowadays, there are so many options with the type of floor mats like all-weather mats, fabric mats, 3D mats, and more.



Air freshener: If a car's doors have not been opened for a while, it can produce an unpleasant smell. This is particularly bad in the rainy season. An air freshener helps in such situations.


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Dustbin: A small dustbin is handy when you need a place to put all the waste such as wrappers, used tickets and more. Your cupholders and door pockets need not be used to store waste. It will also make you resist the urge to throw rubbish out of the car's window.



Car seatback organiser: While travelling, people like to carry a lot of stuff. However, inside the cabin, there is not much space to keep all the items that they have. Hence, stuff is kept loose on the seat, parcel shelf and other places. A car seatback organiser is hooked onto the seatback of the front seat. Various items such as laptops, magazines, water bottles and more can be stored in it.


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Smartphone holder: Many cars do not come with a touchscreen head-unit and navigation. In such cases, drivers use their smartphones and Google Maps. Keeping a phone loose on the instrument cluster or the centre console or seat is not advisable. A smartphone holder mounted on the dashboard will allow the driver to follow navigation instructions without taking his / her eyes off the road.


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Multi-port charger: Today, multiple gadgets are a part of our day-to-day life. These include items such as smartphones, laptops, etc. Different gadgets require different types of charging ports. Therefore, to keep these gadgets running, having a multi-port charger that draws power via a 12V outlet is essential.


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Sun shades: With sun films being banned, sun shades are a good way of keeping the harsh rays of the sun out.



Ventilated seat cushions: In a country like ours, ventilated seats are a boon, especially in a city like Mumbai where a short drive in peak summer even with the A/C running can have your back sweating. If your car isn't equipped with ventilated seats, you can get one of these ventilated seat cushions that plug into your 12V socket.


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Safety

Dashcam: A dashcam is one of the most useful car accessories you can buy today. The recordings can help you during an accident by serving as proof when you are dealing with the law or claiming insurance. BHPian ph03n!x recently had an accident and a dashcam saved him legally and financially.



Reversing camera: In modern cars, we get huge headrests, small rear windshields and thick C/D-pillars. This makes it difficult to get a clear view of the rear during reversing. This can cause an accident. A parking camera proves to be useful here as it gives a picture of what is behind the vehicle.



Fire extinguisher: Fires can break out at any time in any car. An extinguisher is very useful in such cases and using one of these might enable one to limit the damage caused by the fire.



Child seat: Nothing is more precious than the safety of our little angels. A child seat ensures that children are held in place in the safest possible manner in the car.


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Protection

Car body cover: Most of our country is hot and dusty. Besides, many other factors such as dirt, bird droppings etc. slowly damage your car's paint. A body cover offers some protection against these.


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Others

Tyre inflator: It is very important to maintain the optimum air pressure in your car's tyres. This ensures that the car performs well, handles and brakes properly and returns good fuel economy. It also ensures that the tyres last long. You might not have a trustworthy air-filling station in your neighbourhood particularly if you live in semi-urban areas. A high-quality tyre inflator is handy in such cases. It is also useful during touring.



Puncture repair kit: Punctures can happen at any time. In most places, you are not too far away from a puncture repair facility. However, there are times when there could be nothing for miles. In such times, a puncture repair kit is very useful. Again, this is an extremely important accessory to have while touring.



Jumper cables: Sometimes, a battery runs down due to a light left on through the night or if the car is not used for a long time. Apart from that, a battery also becomes weak with time. Ultimately, it may not have the required power to crank the engine. Here is where jumper cables come in handy. Using jumper cables, one can connect the weak car battery to another car's battery and jump-start it.



Vacuum cleaner: Dust, skin particles, hair, food crumbs and whatnot - all can be found in the interior of a car. Keeping the interior clean is extremely important. A car vacuum cleaner is excellent at sucking up all the rubbish inside a car.



Do share your thoughts on what car accessories you think are must-haves today.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

[yogesh498]

Alloy wheels are not stronger than steel wheels?
There are various claims otherwise too but I also feel steel wheels are stronger.

[rajesh1868]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Ventilated seat cushions: In a country like ours, ventilated seats are a boon, especially in a city like Mumbai where a short drive in peak summer even with the A/C running can have your back sweating. If your car isn't equipped with ventilated seats, you can get one of these ventilated seat cushions that plug into your 12V socket.

In case anyone here has used such a cushion, can you please post your usage experience?

[rishi.roger]

How useful are the towing cables ? I don't have a lot of experience in the car-breakdown domain fortunately but keeping one handy is recommended (since they look fairly small) ?

[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by rishi.roger

How useful are the towing cables ? I don't have a lot of experience in the car-breakdown domain fortunately but keeping one handy is recommended (since they look fairly small) ?

I keep two seatbelts salvaged from an accident car. Theyre small enough to fit in your palm yet strong enough to tow a car. Plus they were free

[saikishor]

Wireless Android auto dongles! I plan to get one in the near future as wired android auto is a hassle sometimes.

[SS-Traveller]

One of the most important safety accessories is a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS). Even if I have none of the other accessories in any car I drive, I always have a TPMS and dashcam - to the extent that I transfer these from my own car if I am driving someone else's for longer distances.

[rishi.roger]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

I keep two seatbelts salvaged from an accident car. Theyre small enough to fit in your palm yet strong enough to tow a car. Plus they were free

Wow, that's a pretty interesting hack. Have you had chance to try/test them or there is evidence that they're strong enough ?

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

One of the most important safety accessories is a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS). Even if I have none of the other accessories in any car I drive, I always have a TPMS and dashcam - to the extent that I transfer these from my own car if I am driving someone else's for longer distances.

Absolutely agreed! Co-incidence for me that I got the first puncture on my Car after a year and half (happened next day after installing the TPMS, I used Senseairy) and thanks to it, It saved me a big hassle.

[ramnaresh_2000]

My accessories list below

• Black & Decker Air Pump
• Black & Decker vacuum cleaner
• Black & Decker pressure washer
• 70mai front and rear A500 dashcam
• Campure air freshner
• Rear seat organizer
• QC3.0 12V charger (oneplus brand)
• Mini rechargeable LED torch light
• Jopasu duster
• Jeep brand (1st copy) metal tyre valves
• Blaupunkt air purifier
• Seat gap filler with Type C and Lightning cable charger
• Charcoal air purifier

Planning to get below

• Sensyair TPMS
• Air vent phone wireless charger cum holder
• Tyre cleaning brushes
• Detailing brushes

[Shreyans_Jain]

Jumper cables are an absolute must if you drive an automatic car or an EV. These cars cannot be push started, and people only realise this when it is too late.

My dad inadvertently left the Nexon EV parked overnight in accessory mode a few days back, only to find the 12v battery dead in the morning. The car wouldn’t start. It had to be jump started.

[vijaysrk]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

In case anyone here has used such a cushion, can you please post your usage experience?

I got this one:
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B09...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Not available anymore, but there many similar generic models available on Amazon for ~5k.

Works like a charm, cools both the seat and the seat back areas, no matter how hot the parked car is when you first get in.

Only downside is that it's not as comfortable to sit on as the original seat.

[arnieshwartz]

I have the following accessories for the vehicle.

1. Black & Decker Car Vacuum Cleaner

2. Michelin Tyre Inflator

3. Jopasu Car Duster

4. Amazon Basics Jumper Cable

5. Amazon Basics Car Windshield Sun Shade

6. 70mai Pro Plus+ A500S Dual Channel Car Dash Cam

7. Duracell 65W Fast Car Charger

8. Odonil Zipper Blissful Citrus Air Freshener

9. Elegant Floor Mats

10. Amazon Basics Car Cover

[Ravi Parwan]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

In case anyone here has used such a cushion, can you please post your usage experience?

I have used such cushions. The air out put is lesser than stock seats and the fans are much noisier. You also do not get the seat experience as stock seat as these add unto 1.5 cm to the seat thickness. But they are a workaround for not having stock ventilated seats.

There are 2 types of ventilation seats available. The ones with the fan on the outside, like this.
https://www.amazon.in/BROGBUS-Cooling-Seat-Cushion-Cover/dp/B0CPYLN5ZN/ref=sr_1_11?crid=F42DCVOXNJ9E&keywords=ventilated+ seat&qid=1703927256&sprefix=ventilated+seat%2Caps% 2C252&sr=8-11
Not the one I use, but similar. The single fan is noisy and only manages to provide air in the bottom of the seat and not to the back. There are models now available with additional fans in the back, which should be better.

Then there are ones with fans built into the seat cushion. something like this.
https://www.amazon.in/AZOD-Cooling-Ventilated-Comfortable-Breathable/dp/B09DT4ZGSR/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=F42DCVOXNJ9E&keywords=ventila ted+seat&qid=1703927256&sprefix=ventilated+seat%2C aps%2C252&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

these provide much better air flow and can cool both your bottom and your back. but the downside is a much thicker seat cushion that does not provide the same cushioning as the stock seats. You also have to endure slight vibrations from the fans, which is noticeable at low speeds, but not at higher speeds (>50 kmph)

All in all, the cushions are a workaround to not having stock ventilated seats. they do work, to some extent, so are not completely useless. but you have to make some compromises in all eventualities.

Disclaimer: My purchases were 2 years ago. I see newer models that might have better performance. Some people could have a better experience, some could have worse. All in all, Caveat Emptor!

[Draken]

Better headlights. This is less of an accessory and more of an upgrade. A lot of cars have bad lighting. Ive added projector fog lamps to my Ecosport (got the idea from here (DIY: HID Bi-Xenon projector foglamps in our EcoSport)) and it has been really useful. Even in conditions with enough light I use it just to flash people who drive with brights on for no reason. This had a much higher chance of getting them to dim their lights than when I only used my headlights.