Price: £15.99 | VIEW OFFER
Price: £15.99 | VIEW OFFER
Sometimes gifts can be a right nightmare to find for people, especially people who have an unhealthy obsession with cars. Avoid buying them something generic, and instead, buy a great car gift that’ll be sure to get you a heartfelt thank you and won’t end up buried in a drawer, or at the back of the garage.
You’ll be wanting to get a gift that will be genuinely useful and appreciated by the special car-loving recipient. We’ve put together a list of the best gifts to buy for car lovers that are not only useful and thoughtful, but they’re sure to appreciate.
Car care
The go-to for car gifts. Quality cleaning products will always be appreciated by a petrolhead. These also work as a subtle reminder if their cleaning isn’t up to scratch.
Meguiar’s Deluxe Car Care Kit V2
Best car cleaning kit
Price: £63.00 | VIEW OFFER
If you’re going all out on the car cleaning gift idea, get this one. Meguiar’s has put together a stellar line-up in this kit, featuring its wash and wax, glass cleaner, wheel cleaner, tyre shine, standout ceramic spray wax, plus a tyre applicator and three microfibre cloths. Chef’s kiss.
Amazon Basics Deluxe Microfiber Car Wash Mitt
Make car cleaning easier
Price: £12.25 | VIEW OFFER
Sponges and brushes are good for cleaning your car’s bodywork but for unrivalled cleaning, microfibre wash mitts are the way to go. This fiery wash mitt from detailing masters Gtechniq will ensure you don’t inadvertently drag grit across your car’s paintwork. Once you’re done all you need to do is place them in the washing machine. Excellent.
Meguiar’s Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner
Best car shampoo
Price: £15.90 | VIEW OFFER
Car shampoo is one of those fool-proof gift options. If you’re considering that avenue, and fair enough, go for this stuff from Meguiar’s. It’s an effective, biodegradable car shampoo and the recipient will know it. It can also be used as a snow foam. We wish to refrain from using the word ‘premium’, but it is just that.
Bilt Hamber Double Speed-Wax 250ml
Best car wax
Price: £19.00 | VIEW OFFER
This is a bona fide car wax that is popular amongst enthusiasts but doesn’t demand an enthusiast’s price. It’s a paste that will simply provide a durable, no-nonsense carnauba wax coating to protect your paint. It has hydrophobic polymers, too, to help with water beading. Superb to add over a polish.
Tools
A garage can never have too many tools in it. We’ve selected some of our favourite tools that would make excellent car-related gifts.
Victorinox Hiker Swiss Army Pocket Knife
Handy pocket tool
Price: £28.00 | VIEW OFFER
The humble multitool is not strictly car-related but because it’s widely applicable, it’s the ultimate gift for any adventurer type and a great thoughtful gift idea. This model features 12 functions ranging from a large blade to a set of tweezers and that all-important bottle opener. If this one doesn’t have the right attachments there are loads of other versions available. From those massive ones with 21 functions down to one designed solely for cheese.
WORX WG630E.1 Cordless Brushless Hydroshot Portable Pressure Cleaner
Best cordless pressure washer
Price: £229.99 | VIEW OFFER
A cordless pressure washer makes so much sense and it’s surprising to know that this idea is only just becoming popular now. This battery-powered pressure washer from Worx thoroughly impressed us when we tested it. It was great for cleaning a car, had a decent battery life and would make an ideal gift for any fan of power cleaning.
Black + Decker 77 Piece Tool Accessories Roll Bag
Best portable tool kit
Price: £45.66 | VIEW OFFER
A good tool kit is always going to be welcomed by a car fan, especially a portable tool roll they can keep in their car at all times. This 77-piece kit from Black & Decker comes with a space-saving design, and quality tools and is sure to be appreciated as a gift.
For the best full socket set for casual DIYers, we recommend the 215-piece kit from Von Haus. However, for the more serious home mechanics, we recommend the more heavy-duty 149-piece kit from Draper.
Vax SpotWash
A deep interior clean
Price: £99.00 | VIEW OFFER
If they’re forever vacuuming their car’s interior, treat them to a nice upgrade with this Vax spot cleaner. It might appear to be quite expensive but we found this spot cleaner to be the ultimate car interior cleaner when we tested one. Perfect for lifting embedded dirt in fabrics and also great throughout the house it’s the ultimate cleaning gift.
Ring RAC635 Tyre Inflator
Parkers’ top-rated tyre inflator
Price: £31.99 | VIEW OFFER
For the optimum blend of price, ease of use and portability, look no further than the Ring RAC635 digital tyre inflator. This multi-award-winning compressor features a 3.5m cable and a 70cm hose, with power supplied by the car’s 12v socket. The digital display makes it easy to check the progress of the inflation, while an automatic cut-off stops the machine when the desired pressure is reached. You also get a carry case, an LED light, plus valves for bicycle tyres and footballs.
CTEK MXS 5.0 Fully Automatic Battery Charger
Best smart battery charger
Price: £68.09 | VIEW OFFER
The MXS 5.0 is simply everything you want from a battery charger. It’s well-made, affordable, fully automatic, and works on all battery types, including AGM. You can choose between a regular charge mode that skips reconditioning or one that includes it.
Tech
Techy stuff cannot be substituted for some, and the car fan you’re buying may be struck with this condition. Give them their fix with some useful tech recommended below.
Echo Auto
Add Alexa to the car
Price: £49.99 | VIEW OFFER
Voice-activated controls are useful features that allow us to safely choose music, call people and even check the news while driving. The Echo Auto is voice-activated and designed specifically for use in a car. It will also help minimise distractions and make the recipient’s life easier. A nice gift for a more tech-savvy recipient.
TomTom GO Classic (5-inch)
The gift of direction
Price: £99.99 | VIEW OFFER
Maps are a thing of the past and it may be time to treat someone to a fancy satellite navigation system to keep them heading in the right direction. This sat nav offers excellent navigation on a large five-inch screen (large six-inch available) with full EU mapping and a constantly updating traffic warning function. It also has Wi-Fi for easy updates.
UGREEN Aluminium 24W PD Fast Car Charger
Safe and reliable USB port
Price: £15.99 | VIEW OFFER
New cars have USB plugs but those more than a few years old will not. A plug-in USB charger solves the problem in a heartbeat and very quickly brings a vehicle into the 21st century. With USB A and C, you’re sorted with charging almost any device.
ORSKEY S680 Dash Cam
The best budget dash cam
Price: £39.99 | VIEW OFFER
The challenge with budget dash cams is knowing which ones are good and which aren’t. This one is good – in fact, it’s one of Parkers’ favourite budget dash cams. It has the features you want in a budget dash cam without overreaching itself: a big 170-degree wide-angle lens; 1080p recording at 30fps; HDR software for clearer images; G-sensor; loop recording; and an easy-to-use three-inch screen.
Toys
Children and adult children alike love decent motoring toys. The trick is avoiding the nasty tat and buying the gems. We can help you here.
Ride On Pedal Car
Best ride on car
Price: £119.99 | VIEW OFFER
When it comes to ride-on cars, pedal power remains vastly superior to electric both in performance and reliability. This particular model is our recommendation because it bears all the features you want and nothing more: an adjustable seat, handbrake, and a simple two-position gear lever that allows the car to be put in ‘neutral’ to stop the pedals from moving when pushing the car backwards. The maximum user weight is 30kg.
Red Letter Days Ultimate Driving Gift Voucher
Best driving experience package
Price: £99.99 | VIEW OFFER
The pedal car is the ultimate driving experience for kids, while this is the ultimate driving experience gift for adults. What makes it the perfect gift is that it allows the recipient to choose what driving experience they’d like from the list of 450 available. It takes all the pressure off you and lets them indulge in whatever type of driving experience they’d most prefer.
FTX Ravine RC Rock Crawler
Best RC vehicle
Price: £103.44 | VIEW OFFER
This one is for kids and adults. It’s often hard to know what remote control cars and trucks are good and which aren’t. We’ve tested this rock crawler ourselves and it really is worth every penny. It’s designed to tackle off-road terrain and is extremely good at it. This is due to its impressive micro-scale engineering and build quality. It comes ready to go too, with a battery and charger.
LEGO Speed Champions Lamborghini Countach
Best LEGO car set
Price: £17.99 | VIEW OFFER
This will keep your can fan quiet for a while, even after construction they’ll just look at it. LEGO has created an impressively accurate Countach, and is a fantastic LEGO kit for all motoring enthusiasts. There are some larger, more challenging kits available too, the best of which we’ve collected together in another guide.
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