10 Items To Never Leave In Your Car
Posted on February 5, 2021
With today’s fast-paced lifestyle involving many hours spent in the car commuting, it’s easy enough to forget your essentials in your trunk or backseat. Whether you use your trusty ride to drive to work, escape on weekend road trips, haul the kids around or run errands, our cars have become our second homes. At CarHub Auto Group, we care about safety and well-being, which is why we have curated a list of some common items that you should never leave in your vehicle. While we all know that pets and children should not be left alone inside a locked, parked car, there’s also an assortment of inanimate objects that shouldn’t be left in the car for extended periods of time. Here’s a roundup of 10 items that are better left at home, rather than inside your home on the road.
Liquor: That bottle of bubbly belongs next to a charcuterie plate on your dining table, not inside your ride overnight. If temperatures are particularly warm or cold, your corked bottle of wine could even explode, creating an unnecessary and unwanted mess all over your seats or trunk. Transport your alcoholic beverages carefully, unless you want an expensive car detailing bill (along with a lot of sadly wasted vino).
Perishable foods: Needless to say, many of us take the car to the supermarket, the butcher shop or the local farmer’s market. When you go on your grocery shopping run, make sure to drive home immediately after. Also, be careful about leaving your lunch or breakfast items in your car on the days when you are driving to work. Dairy, meat, poultry and seafood and other refrigerated or cooked items are better left in a fridge, either at the office or back at home. You wouldn’t want to risk a food poisoning episode, and even in cooler temps, the car can heat up after it is parked, especially if it’s in the sun.
Batteries: Batteries may not seem like an obvious choice, as they are different from food and drink items and are not ingestible. However, leaving your spare alkaline batteries inside a parked car is not the wisest choice. Exposure to the sun and heat as well as below freezing temperatures during the Canadian winters can negatively impact your batteries.
Cosmetics and Lotions: From an extra sunscreen to a backup of a favourite lip colour, which makeup lover does not have a few extra beauty goodies (or even a travel makeup case) stored in the car? However, unless you want to be greeted with a potentially melted lipstick, a dripping tube of lotion or a glass bottle of fragrance which has exploded, cosmetics are a no-go for storage inside the car.
Plastic bottles: While we are all trying to become more environmentally friendly and use less plastic, recyclable or reusable plastic bottles are a mainstay when it comes to the daily commute. However, the sun’s rays can unfortunately lead to chemicals from the plastic making their way into your H2O, and threatening your health and safety as a result.
Wallet: From official government ID to credit cards, wallets essentially contain our entire lives and accompany us out into the world every day of our lives. However, we strongly recommend carrying your wallet, and never leaving it in the car. Sadly, car theft is still a reality, even during today’s era of advanced safety features. You wouldn’t want to lose any important documents or banking cards, so we suggest never leaving wallets or handbags behind. Don’t forget about those points cards too, leaving those in the car would be a happy find for a burglar.
Laptops and smartphones: Electronic items like laptops and smartphones are a cause of worry for a couple of different reasons. First of all, these items can easily overheat in the car, leading to the very real possibility of damage or even combustion. You definitely don’t want to leave anything valuable like this visible through the windows since that’s a big factor that can lead to car theft. We recommend bringing your work laptop into the house, no matter how eager you are to avoid emails over the weekend!
Aerosol products: You could be heading to a (socially distanced) meeting which requires a last-minute hairspray touch-up, or maybe you have stocked up on cleaning sprays as we continue to battle the second wave of COVID-19. Whatever the situation, aerosol cans are highly combustible, and shouldn’t be stored in the car for this reason.
Plants and greenery: Sure, that bouquet of red roses or that new houseplant may not make as much noise as your chatty toddler or spoiled puppy, but they are still living. Unless you want to deal with the disappointment of dead flowers or wilted greenery, it’s important to get your plant babies indoors and into a vase or pot with water as soon as possible. Your car should only be the means to transport your plants home, not their new permanent residence!
Medicine: Just like water bottles, food or alcohol, medication should not be left inside the vehicle. Some prescriptions may need to be refrigerated, while others might need to be stored in a cool, dry area like your cupboard. To avoid another trip to the doctor and pharmacist, always store your medicine safely, and don’t leave it behind in the car after your trip home.