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We found some accessories to keep your car's interior nice and cool this summer.
It's official—the dog days of summer are upon us. Whether or not you enjoy scorching heat, your car's interior does not. We've all burned ourselves on a lava-like seatbelt buckle after our ride sat in the sun all day. Along with that, various interior components can begin to fade, and your dashboard can even slightly melt, causing it to become sticky. Nobody likes that.
The best way to prevent this is keeping the sun and heat out in the first place with some good sunshades or window tint. But even then, cars still manage to get hot in the summer. There are other accessories you can use to cool down your interior as you drive, just to give your air conditioning a little help.
We scoured Amazon to find the top products to help stay cool and comfortable in your car, and found some nice and affordable options. So enjoy those summer drives without having to worry about burning your hands on the steering wheel.
41 Cool Car Accessories You Didn’t Know You Needed
Talk about adding a bit of luxury to your ride. This cooling seat cushion runs on 12 volts right from your cigarette lighter and includes three built-in draught fans to keep your back and behind nice and cool. Constructed with polyurethane leather surrounding breathable microfiber, the cushion looks sharp and allows air to circulate. The single-pack cushion fastens to your seat like a typical seat cover using straps and hooks. And it's all operated by a single push of a button. Easy!
A good sunshade is the best defense against sunlight intruding while your car is parked. EcoNour makes them in varying sizes, so check out the sizing chart in the Amazon images to get the correct shade for your vehicle. Better yet, they're claimed to provide 98 percent UV protection, and they fold down nicely into a handy storage pouch. Sunshades help protect your dashboard, seats, and steering wheel from becoming hot to the touch.
Now that you have the windshield covered, don't forget about the other windows. This set of four shades helps block sunlight from entering the rest of your car, and they can also be used to protect the eyes of back-seat passengers. They easily cling to the windows and don't use any yucky adhesive. If you don't have tinted windows, consider these.
Fair warning: Tinting your car's windows on your own is tricky business if you've never done it before. The most effective way is to have a tint shop do it, but if you're feeling confident about using a DIY kit, more power to you. We found this affordable set with precut sections, which include tint shade options of 5, 20, 35, and 50 percent. Just remember—when it comes to tinting your windows, preparation is key. If tinting is done correctly, the results can be a huge help in keeping heat out of your vehicle.
Cold air doesn't do much if it isn't moving around, so if you need to add airflow to your vehicle's interior, these cooling fans are superhandy. Just adhere the base to your dashboard, plug it into your 12-volt socket, and let 'em work. The heads each rotate 360 degrees, so you'll be able to angle them however you need.
Don't forget about your back-seat passengers. Getting circulation back there can be difficult, so these rear-seat cooling fans can be a game changer. The only tricky thing is running the cord up to the front cigarette lighter—but thankfully, this kit comes with adhesive wire clips to keep it out of the way. The heads fully rotate to direct air where it needs to go, and a stepless speed regulator allows you to get optimal airflow, whether you just need a little or full blast.