The following car guide is kindly provided by the Jennings Motor Group UK car accessories shop. It will show you what you need to do to turn potentially complex situations into no problem with simple fixes — whether that means mechanical, ease of use, or aesthetics.
1. Use Sticky Sweets to Fix the Fuel Tank
A hole in the fuel tank is literally like watching money leak out of your car. For a temporary fix until you can get it to a mechanic, find a sticky sweet, chew it, and then smear it across the hole. Use a rag to make sure the sweet dries and it should form a crust that survives at least for a while. You can even use some thick chewing gum to accomplish the same goal.
2. Clean Your Headlights with Toothpaste
Foggy headlights are a nightmare, but you can easily keep them clean with toothpaste. Whitening toothpaste is especially adept at this. All you need to make this hack a reality is your elbow grease. Smear the toothpaste across the plastic lens cover and then rub it with a soft cloth. Rinse it off with cold water and wait for it to dry. Some alternatives to this could be furniture polish or car wax.
3. Make a Shoe into a Cup Holder
If you happen to be driving an older car, you may be in the position where you don’t have a place to put your cup. You could just buy a newer car, but that would be admitting defeat. Instead, use an old shoe to do the same thing. Fit a shoe between the gear shift or the seat and your drink will instantly have lots of stability. You might want to test drive different shoes for this — a boot will work far better than a high heel, for example.
4. Remove Your Car Registration Sticker with Wet Newspaper
Every so often, you’ll have to remove your out-of-date registration stickers. They nearly always leave a horrible mark behind, so the way around that is the morning news. Take some newspaper and wet it with some warm water. Place the warm newspaper over the sticker for approximately ten minutes. When it’s finished, the sticker will just fall off in your hand. Clear the pieces away and your windshield should be pristine.
5. Add Keys to a Keyring Using a Staple Remover
There’s nothing more annoying than trying to add a key to a keyring. They can rip up your nails and your fingers in the process. To get around this, you should try using a staple remover. Just apply the teeth of the staple remover between the two rings and press down. They will separate and then you can add the key. Go through the same process to do it in reverse.
6. Keep Your Pizza Hot Using a Seat Warmer
Is there anything more frustrating in the world than getting a hot, steaming pizza and then getting it home and realising it’s gone cold because you were stuck in traffic? The answer to that is in your seat warmer. Just switch on the seat warmer during the drive home and it will constantly warm the box from underneath. It’s a surprisingly easy hack that a lot of people forget about.
7. Stop Banging Your Doors in the Garage with a Tennis Ball
A tennis ball hanging from something in the garage can ensure that you never hit your doors or roof again. As soon as you touch the tennis ball, you know you need to stop. How you hang the tennis ball depends on your garage, but most garages already have something you can hang it from. Even a nail is good enough if that’s the only thing you can think of.
8. Never Forget Where Your Car is Parked Using an App
There’s an app for everything these days, and your car is no exception. Everyone forgets where their car is parked, and sooner or later you’re going to worry that you’re just going to have to buy a new car. Never fear because the iParkedHere app allows you to input exactly where your car is. Using GPS, you can just follow the arrows back to your car.
9. Remove Small Scratches with Nail Polish
There is nothing more frustrating than parking next to a car and realising that they’ve left a scratch on your car when they were leaving. Fixing poor judgement is hard, but you can fix the small scratches using nail polish. Try to find a colour that matches your car. It’s unlikely that you’ll find anything exact, but that’s why you’re only using it on small areas. From a distance, people aren’t going to notice — and it’s much cheaper! These hacks will stop you from wasting your time and money. What do you think are the best hacks for making cars a less complex issue? Featured photo credit: Zan Ilic via images.unsplash.com
