10 Best Car Air Fresheners

There's a reason we named these the best car air fresheners in our roundup of the best air fresheners for every room in your home. The minimalistic design looks at home on your car's dashboard, they start working instantly as your car circulates hot or cold air and they can last up to a month. One tester was particularly enthused by the design, saying, "It's nice and small, and the black color blends perfectly into my vents and leather dashboard." Some users also note the minimalistic vent clip design is preferable to a swinging or hanging air freshener, which can distract while driving.

In our testing, we noticed the scents may be a bit overbearing when first installing, but these clips are equipped with a dial on the back that lets you adjust the amount of fragrance released so you can easily tune them to your preferences. The brand claims they last for a full 40 days on low.

This innovative pick from Meguiar's works a little differently from the rest of the air fresheners on our list. While most spray bottle air fresheners simply have you spray an inconspicuous place in your car, this air freshener is a "scent bomb" that claims to eliminate odor by using the air circulation in your car. Simply close all your windows and doors, turn your air conditioner on high, and activate the canister's locking trigger. Leave the car for 15 minutes, then open all the doors and allow your vehicle to air out for an additional 10-15 minutes before hitting the road.

While it isn't as expedient as many other air fresheners, users say it's both easy to use and highly effective. One user says it cleared up smoke smells from a nearby forest fire; another said the scent lingered for months.

We love just how beautiful this car air freshener is. The wood block is soaked in essential oil and has an organic, minimalist appeal. It clips into the car's sun visor using an included clip. Drift offers a subscription model so that when your old freshener starts to fade, you'll have a new one at the ready for your use.

Our Lab pros were wowed by this air freshener's design and equally impressed with the scents offered by the brand. Many of them, like coffee and teak, skew more masculine and are scents we've never seen before for in car air fresheners. We also loved the "scent of the month" option, which features seasonally limited edition scents curated for the specific time of year.

For the individualist who wants their car scent to stand out among the masses of green pastures and ocean breezes, we present the Air Spencer CS-X3. This refillable air freshener sits atop the dashboard to eliminate foul car odors.

The name is a bit of a misnomer in that this air freshener doesn't actually smell like squash — it has a citrusy sweet scent that many reviewers have compared to Ramune, a popular Japanese soft drink. Since this is a Japanese import product, refills might not always be as available as some of our other picks, but how cool will you sound when you tell passengers that you import your air freshener?

These hanging air fresheners are a massively popular pick for keeping your car smelling nice year-round. They're simple, easy to install and do exactly what they claim — replace your less palatable car scents with more preferable ones. We are particularly impressed with the sheer number of scents available (40 on Amazon!).

While some drivers may not like the distraction of a dangling item in their view, we can't help but admire the simplicity that these offer. If you don't want to hang it from your mirror, you can get creative and tie it around a vent adjuster, door handle or even a headrest. And who said you had to keep them in the car? They're versatile enough to hang anywhere you want a fresh boost.

If you don't like the feeling of a vent clip blowing scented air toward your face as you drive, a more subtle approach may be better. Chemical Guys makes a great-smelling air freshener in a spray format that lets you have more control over your air freshening application.

Testers were pleased by the spray's uniquely sweet and leathery scent that some Amazon reviewers compared to the Air Spencer CS-X3, meaning this may well be a more accessible dupe. While we liked the spray format, we noticed that upon first using it, the nozzle can get a little clogged and deposit more of a stream of liquid than a true mist, so you may want to do a couple of test sprays before applying to avoid depositing too much at once.

If you're looking for a lot of options and a wide selection of both familiar and seasonal scents, look no further than Bath & Body Works. The shopping mall staple offers a variety of different vent clip styles so you can customize your dashboard (we love this colorful car fragrance holder), and the multitude of scents will appeal to those who like to switch it up.

One consumer tester noted they are strongly scented, and as such may not be for those who are easily overwhelmed. They also emphasized just how large the scent selection is and how they enjoyed being able to pick their favorite familiar Bath & Body Works scents for use in their vehicle. With 15 scents currently available online, even the pickiest connoisseur of scent is sure to find something agreeable.

A mini diffuser for your car, this is one of the more innovative car air fresheners we've ever tested. You can put it anywhere close to a USB outlet since it does have to be plugged in to work, and keep in mind that it only works when the car is moving. When the car stops moving, it shuts off. But our Lab pros say you don't have to keep it up front with you; if your car has a rear USB port, that works just as well to avoid distraction or clutter around the dash.

Unfortunately, the scent discs are sold separately, but there are 35 very pleasing scents to choose from from luxe brands like Nest and Capri Blue. Once we had both in hand, we found the device easy to set up and use — it's all via a compatible smartphone app. Once up and running, the app even tells you how much scent is left and lets you adjust, stop and start it.

Since deciding which car air freshener to use is so personal, we're always impressed with products that give the consumer as many options as possible. The Yankee Candle Sidekick features dispensers in vent-clip, visor-clip and hanging forms that all take the same refill.

A starter kit contains one dispenser and two refills, each of which the brand claims lasts for 30 days. Our Lab pros appreciate the novelty of using the same refills for different forms of car air fresheners. It seems so obvious, yet it's so uncommon! We also love that there are scents that mimic some of Yankee Candle's most beloved candle scents like Pink Sands and Clean Cotton. If you're already a fan of the brand's candles, you'll easily find a perfect freshener for your car. On the downside, some users say the scent doesn't linger for as long as they'd hoped.

Like other vent clips, this air freshener is very simple to use. You simply activate it and clip it onto your dashboard — or even back seat — vents. What separates this pick from the rest of the pack, though, is the scent. Our Lab pros found it to be more subtle than our best overall pick. The options are also all inspired by famous people, including Marilyn Monroe, Whitney Houston and Audrey Hepburn, which is a fun touch. We tested the vanilla and caramel (inspired by Marilyn Monroe), which was noticeable but not at all fake or overpowering.

We liked the aesthetic of this pick, too. The whole freshener is black, so it looks better on the dashboard and is less noticeable than others we've tested. Plus, it pivots to all angles, so you can direct it away from you.