Two tips to follow when shopping for accessories for your new car

Here are two tips to keep in mind when shopping for accessories for your new car.

Get several car floor mats

Many drivers make the error of only buying one floor mat for their car. If you can afford the expense, it's best to buy a few. You'll probably notice that your mat becomes the car accessory that gets dirty the fastest, as your footwear, which you'll have worn on the street and perhaps in parks or gardens before getting into your vehicle, will leave some dirt on it every time you go for a drive.

Fortunately, many car mats are washable so you can easily get them clean again. However, if you only have one mat, you'll have to drive without one whilst yours is being washed and dried (which might result in any dirt on your soles making the car floor dirty), place a towel on the floor instead (which might not be as stable as a car mat and might make your feet slip) or use your clean-but-damp mat, which could give your car floor a musty odour. By getting several car floor mats, you'll always have at least one available, even when you're washing some of them.

Consider how robust specific accessories need to be

When deciding how much to spend on each car accessory, it's important to think about how robust certain ones need to be. For example, your car mat will be put through a lot, particularly if you are going to use your car almost every day. As such, if you get a thin, inexpensive car mat that's made for light use (i.e. for those who only drive occasionally), it will have dozens of holes in months. As such, it's probably better to get a sturdier, thicker car mat that will stay intact even if it's in contact with your footwear for hours every day.

Conversely, if you won't be driving with passengers very often, then you can get away with putting inexpensive covers on the passenger seats, as if people only sit in them once in a blue moon, they'll last for ages, despite being cheaper. Likewise, if you want a roof rack but only plan to put a couple of lightweight things, like a small rucksack or a surfboard on it, then you should not encounter issues if you buy one that's quite inexpensive and basic.

Contact a local auto accessories shop to learn more about car floor mats.