Essential accessories for car owners?

Extendable wheel brace. This will allow you open the nuts that were tightened in a garage.
 
rmelly said:
disposable camera for pictures of scene of accident & damage
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Pen/pencil and paper to take down details - you never seem to have one when you need it most. You don't actually need the paper as you can use the box the disposable camera comes in
 
Wow, do people really have all this stuff in their cars???

I have:

- first aid kit (supplied with a car)
- emergency triangle (also supplied with a car)
- always a bottle of water
- wet wipes (some petrol stations are way too filthy but an emergency is an emergency )
- RunFlat tyres (this removes the need for a spare tyre, jack, nail clippers, wheel brace, high-viz jacket, tyre foam or any of that other wheelie stuff.
- mobile phone with a camera
- user'smanual (if a warning pops up, I often have to check the book to see what it means and what I should do)
 
Yachtie said:
- always a bottle of water
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Fully agree - have a two litre plastic bottle in the back - if you're driving during our lovely spring, all that road muck coupled to low-sun and dry windscreen washers is potentially lethal because you just can't see out.

Also have been carrying around a spare set of tail light bulbs - once happened that both tail lights failed at the same time while driving in the dark far from home - not funny.

others have suggested rope - I think far more useful is twine or bungee-cords. It's happened fairly frequently that I was carrying things bigger than the boot could take, and the twine was good to hold the bootlid shut and hold inside whatever was being carried. (be careful carrying bikes like this as you can easily buckle the wheels with the weight of a heavy bootlid and going over bumps or speed ramps).

pens are also great - even for something as simple as writing on your parking ticket which zone you're parked in when you do long-term at the airport.
 
Most of what you need should come with the car in terms of replacing a tyre. Some of the posters would have laden down with stuff. Maybe jump leads and a mobile phone with the number of someone you can contact in an emergency in the event of a breakdown.
 
Store your ICE number on your mobile. The idea is that you store the word ICE in your mobile phone address book, and with it enter the number of the person you want to be contacted 'In Case of Emergency'. It's such a simple idea, but it could save ambulance crews and hospital staff time in the event of an unfortunate accident.
 
I think i read somewhere recently that jump leads could possible damage the modern car with all its electronics so maybe a little care here would be advisable
 
dewdrop said:
I think i read somewhere recently that jump leads could possible damage the modern car with all its electronics so maybe a little care here would be advisable
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A guy from AA told me that in an absolute emergency where you have to use jump leads, you should switch on every possible device in the jumpee car - radio, lights, wipers, heater, etc etc, to prevent a voltage spike.
 
Dustpan and handbrush for all the ladies, to sweep up the headhight/taillight glass in the carpark.........
 
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