Seven easy ways to give an older car a new car feel

So you've bought a car that is a little older, a little wiser and potentially a little cosmetically worse for wear. It may be your first car that is older than you or a hand-me-down passed from generation to generation.

You don't have that Ferrari money so the 1987 Corolla will do the job for now. We're not judging. So while you start saving for that dream ride, we've put together a list of easy ways to jazz up your older car that will give it a new car feel.

One easy and sure-fire way to give the interior of your car that new car feel is to put fresh, new fitted car seats front and rear. As well as covering up years of wear and tear, dust and miscellaneous stains, some covers even have a small amount of padding which will be a welcome addition to any old driver's seat. Ideally, we'd recommend a neutral black upholstered style but if hot pink or leopard print appeals to you, go for it!

Years of smells from beach days, moving house, picking up pizzas, having messy passengers and adventures with pets build up. Get yourself some New Car Smell air-freshener and freshen the life out of your car. Yes we know, nothing can compare to the actual smell sensation of new car smell but unless you are planning to rip out all of the interior and replace it with brand new materials, this is the cheap and cheerful alternative. You can use any air-freshener smell really but we would avoid overly floral and musk fragrances which could be mistaken for a bathroom.

Prone to hitting gutters and scratching the heck out of your hubcaps? Well let's hope they are hubcaps and not alloy wheels first of all! Changing the hubcaps (wheel covers) are a really easy way of adding a little style to the outside of your car. Depending on the era, hubcap styles have evolved over the years, from the dinner plate style of the 80s, whacky shapes of the 90s, the massive spokes of the millennium. We are now in the era where the plastic wheel covers share more of a consistent design of the much, much more expensive alloy wheel counterpart. Choose a style (sporty or lux) and keep it simple.

Nothing more uncomfortable than driving on a hot day and having only hot air blowing out of the vents. A/C can be tricky and sometimes costly to fix and replace so an easy alternative is an oscillating car fan that plugs straight into your cigarette lighter/12v socket. affix it to the A/C vents in the centre stack and feel that cool breeze flowing through your hair in no time.

Remember to look after the paint as much as you can, we have some tips here. One great way to bring the sparkle back to your car's paint as much as possible is to take it to a car detailer for a cut and polish. Especially if your car is a vibrant colour like red but looks more brown these days, you'll be surprised by what a good polish can do. Sparking and new in no time at all. It's like a spa treatment for your car.

There are more cup holders in cars these days than actual seats for the passengers who would be using them. For older cars pre-2000 these are a scarce to non-existent feature, thankfully you can easily add an A/C vent mounted cup holder to your ride. Probably not ideal for those of you who enjoy a supersized slushy (maybe use the shoe technique) but for a nice sized coffee or bottle of water these are a perfect addition to any ride.

You don't have bluetooth streaming in this car but you do have a cassette player. Not really helpful when you've never actually owned a cassette in your life but have millions of albums at your fingertips on your smartphone. There are many options for connecting to the car's stereo but the simplest and most functional if you have a working radio is a FM transmitter that connects via Bluetooth to your phone.

When it does come time to say goodbye to old faithful, you can find your next car here on carsales.

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