Gear that earns its trunk space.

We sell car accessories and nothing else, so this is the short version of what we have learned: which of these things earn their place in a trunk, how to match one to your car, and what the numbers on the box actually mean.

Jump starters: match the amps to the engine

A jump starter is rated in peak amps, and peak amps is a marketing number. What matters is whether the pack will turn over YOUR engine when the battery is flat and the morning is cold. A small gas four cylinder is an easy ask; a large diesel is not. If you drive a diesel, or a pickup with a big engine, buy more capacity than the sticker suggests you need, and charge the pack twice a year whether you use it or not. A jump starter that has sat in a trunk for eighteen months is a paperweight.

Electric jacks: know your curb weight and your jacking points

An electric jack lifts off the car's own 12 volt socket, which takes the effort out of a roadside wheel change. Two things decide whether it suits your car: the lifting capacity against the vehicle's curb weight, and the closed height against the clearance under your sill. Look the jacking points up in the handbook before you need them, not on the shoulder in the rain. Chock the diagonally opposite wheel, and never put any part of yourself under a car held up by a jack alone.

Tire inflators: the placard, not the sidewall

The pressure your tires should run at is on the placard in the door jamb or the fuel flap, not the number molded into the tire sidewall, which is a maximum rather than a recommendation. Check them cold, before you have driven far. A portable compressor makes that a two minute job on the driveway instead of a line at the gas station, and the preset shut-off on ours means you can walk around the car rather than watch a gauge.

OBD2 scanners: what a code does and does not tell you

Every car and light truck sold new in the United States since the 1996 model year has an OBD2 port, usually under the dash on the driver's side. A scanner reads the fault codes behind a check engine light and can clear them. A code names the circuit or the system that reported a problem: it is a starting point, not a diagnosis. Clearing a code without fixing the cause simply turns the light off until the fault reports itself again, and it also erases the readiness monitors, which matters if you have a state emissions inspection coming.

Keeping the inside of the car liveable

Most of the mess in a car is small and constant: crumbs in the seat rails, receipts in the console, coffee cups with nowhere to go. A handheld vacuum with a crevice tool gets the rails and the trunk lip; a seat gap filler stops the phone and the keys disappearing between seat and console; a lidded bin means the rubbish leaves the car when you do. None of it is complicated, which is rather the point.

Questions before you order

If you are not sure which jump starter suits your engine, whether a carrier fits your roof bars, or which scanner reads your car, ask before you buy. It is a short email and a great deal easier than sending a box back. You can reach us at theteam@myautostore.online.