The gross things people leave in their cars revealed

We’ve all been through the rigid discipline that comes with the new car honeymoon phase – no eating, drinking, feet on seats and so on. But inevitably those rules fall by the wayside and our cars become an extension of our lives, the good the bad and the downright ugly.

A survey by EOT Cleaning Services puts a spotlight on the things people leave in their cars. As with most things in life there’s a scale where many of us will find a relatable level of tolerance for shall we say unique habits – or not, as the case may be. We’re not judging but, ewww.

Where on the scale do you sit in this grubby top five?

A whopping 39.1 per cent of people have old tissues in their vehicle. To be honest, I can never decide whether it’s more disgusting to: a) hear someone sniffing, or b) listen to them unload a full nostril (or two) into a tissue. What I am resolute about however is that used tissues belong in the bin – not as dash ornaments. And definitely do not leave them in the pocket of your soon to be washed clothes.

In second place, 38.6 per cent of respondents admit to having take-away food remnants in their vehicles. First, who has leftovers? I digress. 

I blame drive-thru culture and the burning need to multi-task for this one – although I’m not sure which one came first. One of the many joys of drive-thru food is that it comes in a bag, right? Use that bag to dispose of your scraps and find a bin.

In a mind-boggling but totally relatable turn of events, a seemingly weak-bladdered 32.2 per cent of people surveyed admit to leaving a pee bottle in the car! This makes perfect sense but is a practice that would ordinarily exceed the skill levels of even the most dexterous adult. The research did not disclose whether the bottles were full or empty. It also does not bode well for parched, late night carpoolers tempted by the leftovers from the abovementioned 38.6 per centers.

In the weeks leading up to the end of the financial year, many a motorist will embark on a CSI-style raid on their car, aided by a phone torch of course. We start with the glove box, move to the centre console, door pockets and the hunt gets more obscure in nature as the need for paper-based evidence escalates. Receipts ranked fourth with 29.5 per cent of respondents admitting to leaving a paper trail in their vehicle.

Also: finding a completely faded receipt is the worst.

We can only applaud the 27.4 per cent of people surveyed who said you’d find chocolate wrappers in their vehicle. However, while the car can be a great place to hide your favourite treats from the kids, even on an overcast day your in-car chocolate stash will melt and the car should really only be used as a temporary secure storage cell. Also: these are our people because chocolate leftovers are unacceptable.

The research went on to reveal a not-safe-for-work list of offending finds such as used nappies (18.3 per cent), used condoms (10.3 per cent) and sex toys (1.8 per cent).

As accepting as we are, a more disturbing fact that emerged is that 41.7 per cent of people surveyed admit that they clean their vehicle just once every six months and 11.7 per cent disclosed they never clean their car! That’s one hell of a ghastly cocktail brewing in a rather confined space. Short story. Regularly clean your car. Here, we’ll help get you started…

Related: Turns out your steering wheel is 4 times dirtier than a toilet seat

Related: Car etiquette: The dos and just don’ts of back-seat burgers

Related: What are the best car cleaning hacks and tips?