Not all of us can afford (or can warrant buying) expensive vehicles or 2-seater sports car like a Mazda MX-5. Unfortunately, we often end up buying family vehicles for the sake of ferrying around our children and other family members. This isn’t all bad, however. At least you’ll have a nice big vehicle to carry all the shopping and have enough space to buy some flat-pack Ikea furniture to go with it.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t customize and accessorize our vehicles to suit our needs and tastes. Here are three family-friendly car modifications and accessories that’ll make your vehicle feel like your own again—even if it’s a humble Citroën Grand C4 Picasso MPV.
Seat Covers
You can keep your interior looking stylish without splashing out on custom upholstery by investing in seat covers. Not only will it protect your seats from the typical wear and tear of a family vehicle, but they can also make them look stylish and give them a more comforting material. One of the most common things that can affect seats is actually the sun. The UV rays from the sun will easily be absorbed into the car seats, and materials like leather will soak up the rays and start to crack and fade over time. If you’ve ever left your car out in the sun for a while and tried to jump back in, you’ll know the feeling of scalding hot seats burning your buttocks.
Entertainment
Many modern family vehicles come with entertainment systems built-in. However, some vehicles aren’t very well equipped with tools and devices to keep your children entertained in the back. To remedy this, you can get custom entertainment systems installed into your car. From beefing up the car speakers to installing a monitor into the headrests of the front seats, there are plenty of ways to make long car journeys fun and entertaining for the people in the back. If installing custom gear is a bit too expensive, then the alternative is to install a tablet holder and equip it with a cheap tablet.
Seating Arrangements
Car seats aren’t designed to fit every shape and sized. As a result, you might not feel safe with your children in the back when their seat belts are barely covering their bodies. You can install custom seating that can be raised to make it suit children better. You can also pull down the middle seat in the back rows of your vehicle, turning it into a seat suitable for a baby or an even smaller child. Alternatively, you can turn it into a table or surface to place things on, or even treat it like an arm rest. It’s a great way to enhance your car.
It’s also a good idea to look into folding seats that can give you extra needed storage space when you don’t have many passengers in the back. You can also turn your people carrier into a fully-featured camping vehicle if you wanted to utilize all the space you have—you just need an air bed to lay on top of the seating when it’s flat!