12 Clever Car Hacks Everyone Needs to Know

This is a partnered post. All opinions remain my own.

Did you know April is National Car Care month? Winter is finally at an end, and many of us are assessing the damage those months of cold weather and snow have done to our cars – especially to our tires and windshield wipers. From dirty headlights to new tires, there are plenty of easy tricks to keep your car in pristine condition even after a rough winter beating.

Here are 12 of our favorite helpful car hacks that will help save you some time and frustration this spring.  

1. Use toothpaste to clean cloudy headlights.
2. A staple remover will help you remove and add keys to your keychain.
3. Hang a tennis ball at the back of your garage roof as a parking guide.
4. Stick your floor mats under your tires to gain traction in the event you get stuck.
5. Use dryer sheets strategically tucked into the nooks of your car to help freshen the interior.
6. Went a little nuts with the bumper stickers? To get stickers off your car, soak a newspaper in warm water then place it on the sticker for about 10 minutes. It will soften the sticker and make it easier to peel off.
7. Can’t remember which side your gas tank is on? This question comes out of my mouth every time I get gas. Did you know the icon for gas on your dashboard is usually on the same side as the actual gas tank or it will have an arrow indicating which side? Me either! Just glance at your dash to remember which side of the pump you need to pull up to.
8. Next time you wash your car, try adding a little hair conditioner, it can provide the same shine and rain repellency as car wax.
9. Wrap a pre-moistened cleaning cloth around a butter knife and dig deep into the cracks and crevices to clean out dirt and grime.
10. Deter would be thieves and make a secret storage compartment with directions from Wonder How To. Using a mint case and a mousepad, you can basically cut out a piece of the mousepad and glue it to the top of your mint case. Then, slide it into a cup holder to conceal its presence.
11. Use a foam paint brush to get into the slats of your vents and clean out the dust – kind of like a mini duster!
12. You can get all that pet hair off the seats easily by spraying them with a spray bottle of water and using a squeegee to scrape it off.
13. Darren from www.motofx.co.uk said: ‘If the car isn’t the color of your liking then you can consider a re-paint or a wrap to truly personalize the look of the vehicle.’

In addition to spiffing my car up using some of the cosmetic car hacks above, to round out my “spring cleaning” activities, I always like to get my car checked out by a professional to make sure there aren’t any lurking issues from the long winter.

Now is the perfect time to make much needed repairs and get ready for the rainy, slippery spring roads so I took my car to my local Goodyear Auto Service location. They are having an event now until April 13, 2017, where drivers will receive complimentary tire tread checks, an instant $15 off a set of four Goodyear, Dunlop or Kelly tires and free wiper blades when purchasing a set of tires in-store.

My current tires have almost 40,000 miles on them, and while they are still ok to drive on, after the tire tread check I learned that the rear treads were wearing much faster than the front, and that it was probably a good idea to consider changing them now due to the unusual amount of rain we have been getting this year.

Trent was very helpful in explaining my options and I didn’t feel pressured into buying additional services or products I didn’t need. I was, however, in dire need of new windshield wipers and was happy they were included in my tire purchase! They also performed a free 29 point safety check so I can feel confident that my car is in tip top shape for our upcoming road trips. Only question now is, where should we road trip to?