5 Clever Uses For Your Old Car

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When it comes to creative DIY projects, you can recycle and repurpose pretty much anything, as long as it's not hazardous. You can reuse your old electronics you have lying around, including some neat smart bulb projects for bulbs that don't work anymore. You can reuse old game consoles, old graphics cards that are collecting dust, old PC towers and cases, old furniture, you name it. But on that ingenious journey to repurpose, craft, and upcycle, there's one common item that you may never consider: your old car. Sure, it doesn't apply to everyone, because not everyone has an old, unused car lying around. But if you do have one hanging out somewhere on your property, you're in for a real treat.

That's because there are some truly clever and frankly downright cool ways to repurpose not just the frame of the car but its internals, various parts, and fixtures. For example, people turn the front chassis of a car into barbecue grills all the time, complete with a working hood for a lid. Others might incorporate parts of old or retro cars into home decor, like accents on a wet bar, counter, or in a game room. Ultimately, there are a few clever ways that you can use an old car, and we're going to take a closer look at some.

If your car, truck or van's seats are in good shape, you can remove them fairly easily and repurpose them in various ways. Individual seats could be turned into chairs or combined with frames to make benches. The bucket seats, like those in vans and trucks, could be turned into a medium to full-sized couch. 

They also make for great outdoor furniture on a patio, porch, or in a garage or shed, for several reasons. First, they're usually resistant to moisture, especially if they're wrapped in leather, but if they're not, you can always buy cheap covers or other fabric materials. Second, if the car or truck is old and you're not using it anyway, it's an inexpensive option for adding some seats to an area where you need them.

You have true creative freedom to make the seating your very own, too. You can leave the seats on the original frames, remove them and attach them to a custom base, reupholster them, add internal padding to make them more plush, cover them in blankets or new fabrics, and much more. Although if they've been neglected, you might want to give them a thorough cleaning first with something like the Bissell Little Green deep cleaner.

The most obvious choice when you need a planter of some kind is to reach for a pot or bucket. If you want to be more resourceful, however, there are a ton of components and items on old cars that can be used as makeshift pots. The tires and rims, the old engine frame, the trunk, the dashboard, the door and interior panels, cubbies, cup holders, and even more if you disassemble most of the vehicle.

Anything that could reasonably hold soil or that you can fill with soil is an excellent candidate. Now, it's probably not a good idea to grow anything edible in those makeshift planters, especially if you're using old tires — they can leak out toxins that aren't good for your health. The same is true of any engine components or anything in the engine block, like pistons, oil and fuel components, and so on.

If you don't have a green thumb, no problem, you can still use a lot of those same parts and items to decorate your backyard or property. People have used old rims as garden hose hangers, made decorative pieces out of old license plates, or placed the bed of an old truck as a landscaping element.

It goes without saying that if you're throwing a car battery out, make sure you recycle it and dispose of it properly. Also, car batteries can be dangerous if you're not careful because they contain sulfuric acid. Wear gloves and eye protection when working with or around them.

That said, if your car or truck's battery still works — you can check voltage with a multimeter or voltmeter, the same way you'd check the battery in your car's key fob — then you can actually repurpose it as a homemade power source. You need a charging source to replenish the battery, whether that's a trickle charger or a solar panel hooked up through an inverter system. You could also connect multiple batteries in a chain to boost amperage or capacity. Or, simply use the car battery to power various things around your home or yard, like outdoor lighting or smaller fixtures.

You can also take various parts and fixtures from an old vehicle, especially the frame, and turn them into usable storage, shelves or workspace. Imagine taking the bed of a truck and turning it into a desk, or flipping it upright and making it into a headboard or baseboard for a bed. You could take the tailgate and turn it into a shelf or tabletop. Take the trunk cover or hood of any car and turn it into a workbench surface. You'll earn imaginary bonus points if you take the seats and turn them into a matching desk chair or seating arrangement.

All you really need to make a desk or table is a flat, stable surface and then four legs to support it. If you're working with a heavier piece like the hood or trunk cover, then you might have to get a little more creative than just bolting four legs at each corner. If you want it to look really professional, you can sand, refinish, and polish the surface. For a counter or mounted surface, you'll need some heavy-duty hanging hardware or brackets. In the end, it's a unique and fascinating way to repurpose various parts of your vehicle. Then again, everything on this list is intriguing.

If the vehicle has been sitting for a long while, you can always get the engine running again, clean out and refurbish the inside, and use it as it was originally intended — to drive around. That may take a lot of time and money, so keep that in mind, depending on the extent of the vehicle's condition and age. Even if you don't get the engine running, you can still repurpose the inside as a sort of at-home RV or private space.

Imagine climbing inside your old car, now a reading or outdoor nook, curling up and opening a good book, watching some online videos or, heck, taking a nap and listening to nature around you. Okay, that last one might be tough if it's cold or the opposite, hot, but you get the point. The vehicle may not run at all, but that doesn't mean you cannot restore and refurbish it in some way. If you want to get really crafty, you could turn it into a small trailer or pull-along camper. Don't be afraid to get real wild with it; other people certainly have.