You’d love to give those on your gift list new cars, but that’s a bit unrealistic. Instead, pep up their rides with some extra gadgets that reflect their personalities.
Extras for cars are popular these days. Consider that retail sales of performance parts and accessories topped $38 billion in 2007, according to the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association.
Fears not; although some accessories are big-ticket items, there are stocking stuffer items too. Consider these holiday gifts:
Spoilers
($700 and up; various retailers including www.customautotrim.com)
Originally developed for racers to improve control and streamline airflow, spoilers are now used to give standard cars a dose of hotrod flash. Style is apparently more than an afterthought for buyers, though: Ernie Pepe, service manager at O’Donnell Honda in Catonsville says they’re a top seller.
Molded Mudguards
(From $80 per set; various retailers including www.autotrucktoys.com)
Mike Mazak, general sales manager, Saturn of Ellicott City, noted that not only are these inexpensive upgrades more stylish than the hanging flaps usually seen on dump trucks, but their contoured shape tends to catch more dirt, helping keep the undercarriage clean.
DVD System
($1000 and up; various retailers)
Kiddie backseat arguments and endless games of highway alphabet might be headed the way of the dodo with the rising popularity of auto theater systems. High-end installations feature headrest monitors and dual-feed players to satisfy the tastes of different children, said Saturn’s Mazak.
Sidestep Rails
($600 and up; www.sidestep.com)
Unlike regular running boards which fully attach to the auto body, these stylish tubular rails just use brackets to make it easier to climb in and out of your gas guzzling tank.
GPS Navigation
($200 and up; various retailers including www.wal-mart.com)
Portable Navigation devices are the hottest gift, said Chris Gaston, sales manager at Sheehy Nissan in Glen Burnie. With preprogrammed maps of the lower 48, dropping prices, and programmed voices to guide (and annoy) you, you’ll never get lost again.
Spray-On Bedliner
($400 and up; various retailers including Four Sons Automotive, Dundalk)
Drop-in pickup truck bedliners can allow debris and the elements in (encouraging rust and corrosion), but a spray-on lining bonds to the metal surface, creating an impenetrable armor against wear and the elements. Rhino Linings makes a polyurethane-based coating so tough the U.S. military is a contractor.
All-Weather Floor mats
($25 and up at various retailers including www.target.com)
For added interior protection as we head into winter, these high strength neoprene upgrades won’t deform under the weight of a heel like regular floor mats. “They bounce right back,” said O’Donnell’s Pepe.
Visor-View
($400; www.visorview.com)
For larger vehicles that don’t come equipped with a rearview backup camera to prevent blind spot accidents, install a rear camera system such as the Visor-View. The camera is placed by the rear bumper as usual, while the slimline monitor is cleverly embedded atop the driver’s visor. Flip the visor up, and it’s unnoticeable.
Juke Box Musical Horn
($53; www.wolo-mfg.com)
Set fun to music with a novelty horn. The Juke Box Musical Horn is a 34-song novelty horn can supplement your real horn. The control panel functions as a keyboard so you can program your own songs, if “Hello Dolly,” “Macarena” and 32 others aren’t enough for you.
