Decorating your car, especially the exterior seems to be just as common as styling your own home these days. But some accessories are crimes against car fashion.
- Eyelashes for your headlights
- Car nuts
- Bumper stickers
- Family stickers
- Sticker decals
- Baby on Board signs
While the choice of adornment for car windows, doors, rear-view mirrors and headlights are usually much appreciated by the owner, for others that are subjected to them, you know like those who drive past, fellow car parkers etc, they can be cringeworthy and make us throw up a little in our mouths. Here are some of the most irk-worthy car accessories according to the public.
Eyelashes for your headlights
Eyelashes on a headlight on a pink retro car
Personally (and thankfully), I don’t see too many of these usually smaller-sized and brightly coloured cars with fake eyelashes transforming headlights into eyes, but Emily from Melbourne says, even one is too many.
“The fake eyelash trend has gone too far and on cars, come on? I mean how old are you? Your car is a mode of transport not a doll to dress up,” she says.
Car nuts
Car nuts, you know those hanging ‘balls’ that some (predominantly) guys think are hilarious to attach to tow bars? Well, Liam from regional Victoria says they aren’t funny, instead, they’re just “immature and totally bogan.” (His words, not mine, although I do tend to agree).
Bumper stickers
Now, there is a huge variety of bumper stickers and they do vary in substance, quality and even size. But there are sticker categories that do illicit the cringe way more than others says Sydneysider, Mohammed.
“Any bumper sticker with swearing or aggressive messaging I just think is inappropriate. The ones with threats for driving too close or making some threat, they are just passive aggressive and really a form of road rage.”
For Emily though it is the overtly sexual bumper stickers that as she puts it “just gross me out.”
“I hate those bumper stickers with symbols or images to represent certain body parts or sayings that allude to sexual acts. Who needs to read that when you’re dropping your kids off at school?”
Family stickers
This is mine. Ever since I saw one of these family stickers (which seems like a lifetime ago), I have been rolling my eyes at them and wondering why? Yes, why does one feel it is necessary to announce to anyone in the vicinity of your (usually SUV) who is in your family and what they like to do?
Do you want me to say congratulations that you have two sons who enjoy soccer? Or three large dogs and no kids? I just don’t think anyone and everyone who sees your car really cares.
Sticker decals
While we are on the stickers- let me tell you, Peter, from Bendigo’s biggest irk – car decals, primarily flowers.
“I always see this one Volkswagen Beetle around town with flower decals stuck all over its exterior like it is from the set of Austin Powers or something. I think it just looks tacky,” he says.
“I also think they will regret it one day and good luck getting all of those daisies off.”
Baby on Board signs
One of these was gifted to me at my own baby shower by a friend. I promptly regifted this to someone I knew who would appreciate it and so I never had to look at it again myself (well, at least not in my own car).
Now, I’m not alone in my thinking about these baby-on-board signs, there are many like Celeste from NSW, who don’t necessarily appreciate them, or their many variations.
“I’ve heard people say the signs are to alert other drivers to the fact that they have a baby on board and to encourage them to drive more safely but I am not so convinced this actually works. And I am pretty sure that people just do it to show off, like an announcement that says, hey I am a Mum, I have a baby in this car,” she says.
“Maybe I should create my own version. That says, ‘Adult on Board’, I mean why am I not just as important?” She asks.
So, there you have it, the cringiest of the cringe-worthy car accessories according to the public. But my question – where were the fluffy dice??
Keyword: The most irk-worthy car accessories according to the public