Car Accessory Bonanza

With the multitudes of accessories available for cars, choosing the ones that will actually be helpful in your own car can be more of a hassle than the accessories are eventually worth. American cars are well known to be the most heavily accessorized cars on Earth; Bill Bryson once wrote a column entirely about cup holders and about how most American cars have more cup holders than passengers!

However, it’s true that Americans actually USE the cup holders, as compared to, say, Europeans, who find drinking coffee while driving absolutely sacrilegious. In Europe, the coffee break is sacred. Coffee is not drunk on the way to work; it’s drunk at the coffee machine in the hall, during the first coffee break of the morning, which can happen between 30 to 45 minutes into the day.

Americans are pros at multi-tasking, especially in the car. Accessories are a very necessary thing for all the things that we do in our cars. When we finish talking on our cell phone, we have to have a place to put it. Since we’re in the car for such long periods of time, there must be at least 10 CD’s readily available to the person in the driver’s seat. Toll money has to be readily available and the rear-view mirrors must be adjustable from the driver’s seat. Car accessories are becoming more and more standard on every vehicle.

Where’s the Limit?

More and more cars in America have locking and remote keyless entry and alarms that only go off when a shopping cart bumps into them, but not when someone mangles the antenna until it’s useless. Where’s the limit for useful car accessories? Have we reached it? Or have we flown right past it? Some would suggest that only the most useful of car accessories will continue to be standard on American vehicles.

The most useful features, according to Americans, are cup holders, remote keyless entry with automatic locks and, in some states where talking on a cell phone is not allowed hands-free cell phone equipment. Many car owners refer to these car accessories as helpful, whereas a remote starter is considered, by most, to be more of a nuisance than it’s worth.

In any case, if you’ve got a car with the bare essentials and nothing more, consider yourself lucky. However, if you want to add some gadgets to your car there are more than enough accessories for any car on the market.