8 Essential Tools to Have in Your Car
Cars are awesome! But what’s not cool is that they will all encounter issues at some point. And when they do, you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared for anything! So here’s a quick list of the 8 tools to have in your car that all drivers need at all times!
1. Jump Starter
This is the best tool to keep in your car for when your battery dies. Just hook up the cables like you would when jumping with another car. Then wait a few minutes and— Vrrrmrmvrvrvm—your engine begins cranking! And best of all, you won’t need to awkwardly flag someone down from the side of the road to ask for a jump.
This tool is top of our car tool kit list for a reason, it allows you to do everything yourself! As an added bonus, jump starters often come with USB ports to top off your phone’s battery and a flashlight, which helps since working with your battery in the dark sucks. Even worse, when you cannot see the colors of the terminals and cables. So these little extras are much-welcomed touches.
2. Jumper Cables
A classic tool to have in your car but you can’t go wrong with the classics. Why would you opt for jumper cables when you already have a jump starter in your glove box? Simple—jump starters run on a battery.
They’ll need to recharge, especially after you’ve charged your phone one too many times on them. And charging them isn’t easy when your car breaks down in a Buffalo Wild parking lot. So when this happens, you’ve got good ole trustworthy jumper cables to help you out when your battery stops working.
3. Duct Tape and Zip Ties
Does this one really need any explaining? After all, duct tape is a pretty amazing tool to have in your car when it comes to keeping it running. Seriously, it’s one of the best tools for any temporary fix. Just think off all the ways duct tape will help your car: it fixes injuries, repairs trim, picks up shards of glass should your window ever break, holds together hoses, etc.
Really, your creativity and resourcefulness are the limits here. Zip ties more or less act as great companions to duct tape. Again, they can keep hoses sealed, hold a license plate in a bracket after it’s fallen off because you hit a curb too hard, etc. Again, zip ties are simply awesome and limited to your own pragmatism.
4. Spare Tire, Tire Jack, and Tire Iron
Yeah, we’re cheating here by listing 3 for 1 tools to have in your car. But really, these all accomplish an important goal—temporarily replacing a flat/ destroyed tire. Maybe you hit a nail on the road, maybe you forgot to fill up your tire, or maybe you hit a semi wheel lying in the middle of the highway. Whatever the reason, tires go flat frequently. So make sure you have all the tools in this car tool list for tire emergencies and if you ever need to get a spare temporarily put on your car
But what if you don’t know how to change a tire? Then open a new tab right now and start watching some how-to YouTube videos! This is an essential life skill every person should know.
5. Emergency Kit
This is one of the best tools to keep in the car at all times. It is useful for quite a few occasions ranging from getting stranded in the middle of nowhere to getting stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the night. So make sure you build a quick emergency kit for your car. Some essentials include first aid kits, a flashlight, energy bars/ MREs, and some water bottles. That’ll be enough to prepare you for anything that goes wrong at an inconvenient time.
6. Window Breaker/ Seat belt Cutter
If seat belts were easy to rip, they’d be pretty pointless, right. As such, in the case of an emergency, this is the best tool to keep in a car as you will be able to rip them open.
It goes for your car’s windows as well! Hopefully, this is a multi-tool you’ll never need to use. But it’s definitely critical should the right emergency arise.
7. IMODIUM, IBUPROFEN, DRAMAMINE, ETC
Sometimes during long trips, your head hurts. Other times your stomach starts making the sounds of a beluga whale that’s washed ashore. What is worse; imagine feeling nauseous for a 7-hour road trip! So for those instances, painkillers make the car tool kit list. They can help you when you ate something at a gas station you know you shouldn’t have, be sure to carry these cheap over the counter meds with you!
8. TIRE CHAINS AND FOLDING SHOVEL
You might live somewhere like Los Angeles or Miami and think: I’ll never be in snow, so I’ll never need these tools for the car, right? WRONG!!
Unexpected snow is all apart of the road trip experience. And this is especially true if you ever need to drive through mountain passes! So make sure you and your convertible BMW 330Ci are prepared for any unexpected snowstorm during your adventures!
Okay, so that’s a couple more than 8 essential tools to have in your car, but we hope you get these tools to keep yourself safe on the road.