Best Car Organizers: Everything In Its Place

Top 8 Best Car Organizers

Hey, you. Yeah, you with the landfill masquerading as a car. It’s time to clean it up and get organized. Having a spot in which to store all the detritus of daily life is important. It’s even more important to keep it in reach of the ankle biters unless you really like stopping every five minutes to find the juice boxes. Heck, even those of us who travel solo can use a bit of help keeping things in the car at bay.

We’ve assembled an octet of car organizers, all found on Amazon and all intended to help you get your life back together. Or at least help clean up your act.

With a 4.8 out of 5-star rating based on nearly 4000 reviews, this simple cargo organizer is surely one of the most highly regarded items – let alone organizers – on Amazon. Promoted as a firm and sturdy unit constructed of 5mm density board and waterproof cloth, there’s a good chance this thing will survive whatever lifestyle (or family) activities are thrown at it.

A pair of reinforced aluminum handles sprout from the sides, making the thing easy to carry. There are three compartments to sort out your items, with a couple of subdividers plus flap and mesh pockets to keep detritus at bay. A stout cover means your unmentionables won’t be seen by prying eyes – unless you want them on display, of course. We won’t judge. Much.

Tired of one-percenters tooling around in their Bentley motor cars, flashing their decadent seatback trays in your face? With this organizer, you can not only eat the rich but also your lunch, as it incorporates a fold-down tray.

That tray can only bear about 5 pounds in weight, so don’t place an entire order of Kentucky Fried on it, okay? Its surface is anti-kick, meaning back-seat minions can fire their filthy Vans at them without marring the surface. Waterproof and easy to clean, this seatback organizer should last for ages – or at least until you upgrade to a Rolls-Royce.

Famously featured on Shark Tank, Drop Stop is a highly recognized automotive accessory designed to eliminate the “black hole” gap between your car seat and center console. Constructed with a high-grade neoprene casing and engineered to contract or expand to fit almost any vehicle, it provides a universal solution.

Unlike traditional organizers, it attaches directly to the seat belt catch through a built-in slot, intended to move seamlessly with the seat.

Each set includes two gap fillers and two bonus gifts, a Slide Free Pad and an LED Credit Card Light, offering a comprehensive approach to cabin organization and safety.

Pros: Universal gap coverage.

Cons: Shifts during adjustment.

Bottom Line: Clever, simple protection.

This particular car organizer rises to the top of our list because one very similar to it resided in the back of your author’s dilapidated Ford Escort many moons ago. This organizer’s suspended design hangs off the back seat, freeing up trunk real estate for important shipments of family groceries and moonshine.

A trio of adjustment straps keeps the works of it lashed to headrests or seatbacks – your choice – while a quartet of pockets keeps your expensive vintages from rolling around in the boot and becoming destroyed. Handy flaps hide your valuables from prying eyes. A bottle holder stands ready for beverages and a removable pouch is great for a bug-out situation

Priced at just 10 bucks, this organizer is primarily a trash can with a mesh pocket around its perimeter. It does have a collapsible shape and adjustable straps, allowing the thing to be suspended aloft from the car’s headrests or tossed on the floor like a sack of potatoes. A leakproof lining keeps spills at bay.

This lining means that one doesn’t have to use it as a trash can, with the seller showing multiple pictures of cold drinks or snacks being stored in the rectangular space. Reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with many customers claiming the size is ideal and not invasive to the car’s cabin. Lyft and Uber drivers, in particular, seem to be big fans.

A professional-grade storage solution, the TRUNKCRATEPRO Trunk Organizer is designed for cars, SUVs, and trucks. Hand-crafted from premium Oxford Polyester, it features a unique multi-faceted design with adjustable sub-dividers that allow for up to four distinct compartments.

Fully collapsible for easy storage, the unit includes an exclusive non-skid bottom to prevent sliding during travel. Built to handle up to 75 lbs, it includes reinforced stitching in high-wear areas and rigid base plates for structural integrity.

Furthermore, numerous pockets and securing straps help eliminate vehicle clutter, while offering the flexibility to be used as a front-seat or backseat carrier.

Pros: Versatile adjustable compartments.

Con: Internal walls warp.

Bottom Line: Keeps items organized.

The Homeve Car Trunk Organizer is a high-utility storage solution crafted from 600D Oxford polyester for superior durability.

Designed to fit vehicles ranging from sedans to SUVs, it features a flexible layout with three compartments and a removable divider, accommodating various cargo sizes. The organizer is also equipped with 12 external pockets for quick-access items and a three-layer waterproof reinforced base to contain spills.

Furthermore, it includes reinforced handles for easy transport and non-slip bottom strips to ensure the unit stays securely in place during transit.

Pros: Reinforced carry handles.

Cons: Strong chemical smell.

Bottom Line: Handy, foldable storage.

Made from heavy-duty 600D Oxford nylon, the FORTEM Trunk Organizer is a high-capacity (50L) storage system. The unit distinguishes itself with a sturdy box design reinforced by rigid base plates and a detachable lid, keeping its contents hidden and secure.

It features non-slip bottom strips and adjustable securing straps that anchor the unit to the vehicle, ensuring utmost stability.

The multifunctional design is highly adaptable, as it can collapse down to a single compartment for use in the front seat or interconnect with additional units via built-in buckles.

Pros: Sturdy, rigid plates.

Cons: Missing bottom pieces.

Bottom Line: Useful car organizer.

FAQs

What should I put in my car organizer?

Because your car may have several compartments and consoles to store the essentials, the following is a list of items that you can organize according to their usage and ease of accessibility:

Glove Compartment

Depending on your vehicle, the glove compartment could have enough space to hold mandatory and some other useful elements. That said, you can consider keeping the following few items in it:

A complete first-aid and trauma kit, just to keep you safe in case of an emergency

Disposable glasses

Necessary car documents like registration certificate, insurance proof, etc.

If you mostly travel with family members who prefer listening to their favorite music, having a headphone in the glove compartment would be a wise thing to do as well

Center Console

Most cars nowadays have a center console where you can keep things that you want to have easy access to. Such entities include:

A pen and a notepad

Hand sanitizer

Hand moisturizer

Cellphone charging/data cable

A flashlight

A USB drive

Some loose change

A couple of mouth fresheners

An umbrella (if there’s enough space)

Dashboard

If the dashboard of your car doesn’t have any space to keep items, you may want to buy a non-slippery mat to hold your cellphone, tissue paper box, a couple of business cards, etc.

Additional Tip

For the center console, you should consider getting a few smaller containers, preferably some mini baskets where you can keep the items according to their category. For instance, the sanitizer and moisturizer can go in one of them, the USB drive and phone charging cable in another, and so on.

Are trunk organizers worth it?

Yes, they are. You can use the trunk of your car to keep a bag as a backup for emergencies. This could be most helpful if you are in a touring business, and in some instances, you don’t have enough time to pack your things and need to rush without them.

Further, you can also store some carry bags that could come in handy when you’re out shopping and have too many items. Because most cars nowadays come with an underfloor compartment in the trunk, such bags can be folded and stored there and accessed when needed.

How do you secure a trunk organizer?

It is imperative to have carry bags that do not move when the car turns or stops abruptly. However, because finding such carriers could be challenging, it would be good to have some spare foam in the trunk. When you have enough stuff to fill the carry bags, you can put those blocks of foam on the sides for support. This would not only prevent the bags from rolling but will also protect the delicate items in them from damage.

How do I organize a small car console?

For a small car console, you don’t need mini baskets to categorize your things. Instead, you can have small boxes for each. For instance, you can have a plastic box for the phone charging cable and USB drive. Similarly, you can use a small jewelry box to keep moisturizer and sanitizer in it, and so on. Also, if the console is not that spacious, you can skip the large items like an umbrella, and even use a smaller flashlight.

The bottom line is, that the lesser the space is, the fewer and smaller items you should carry.

From time to time, TTAC will highlight automotive products we think may be of interest to our community. Plus, posts like this help to keep the lights on around here. Learn more about how this works.

(Editor’s note: This post is meant to both help you be an informed shopper for automotive products but also to pay for our ‘90s sedan shopping habits operating expenses. Some of you don’t find these posts fun, but they help pay for Junkyard Finds, Rare Rides, Piston Slaps, and whatever else. Thanks for reading.)

[Product images provided by the manufacturer.]