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Old 08-18-2025, 09:42 AM   #7309
DoubleF
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mccree View Post
What 3rd party tech do people have in their cars?

I have an older Mazda 3 that runs great and very reliable but my brother just got a new car and it is fully loaded (yes I am jealous) and I am try to avoid buying a new car.

Thinking some new tech may make it feel "new" to me.
I assume you have a good phone holder in a good position?

Smart screen is the easy answer. If not hard wired, make sure to get a cigarette lighter USB slot that has two slots. One for powering the smart screen, the other to power a 3-1 cable to charge basically 90% of any device that enters your vehicle. I also recommend getting the wider flatter one vs as large of a screen/tall ish screen. It'll block your view and be annoying. Even better if you can replace your rear mirror with it without disrupting other features of your vehicle.

USB jump starter. Just make sure to top up the charge before any cold snap and check basically every 4-6 months that the charge is topped up. I keep it in my car emergency kit and take it inside to check it out as needed. I rarely use this on myself. I've jump started strangers using this thing probably more times in 5-10 years than I've anticipated I may ever jump start my own vehicles. That's not including helping out friends/family. It's great.

Turbo fan. They're around $40-60 on Amazon. 110000 rpm is fine, more is bonus but most people may not notice the difference. Don't overly cheap out on a 3D printed thing on Temu or Aliexpress though. Use that thing to have a compact high powered fan on hand and use it to clean the dust off your dash, crumbs out of the cracks between the seats etc. to make the car cleaner, easier. Oh and FFS, open all the windows and/or doors so that the dust can fly out of the vehicle. So many people tell me it's annoying that the dust settled elsewhere in the car and I am kinda baffled I have to explain that wind send debris in a certain direction and it has to go somewhere. If you want, you can start off with a Swiffer 360 before the turbo fan. But IMO, don't use anything wet unless you have no chance because the water marks look awful and need extra effort to get rid of.

"Magnetic phone holder"... about <$20 on Amazon for a 2 pack. Basically a sticky base with a metal ball bearing and an attachment that is magnetic. I don't use this with my phone TBH, I use it as a magnetic clip. I use it to clip and hold parking passes, park passes etc. instead of sliding on the dash or clogging up my view by clipping to rear mirror.
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