The 10 Best Car Vacuums of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Best Overall

Baseus A2 Pro Car Vacuum Cleaner

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  5/5
• Effectiveness
  5/5
• Maneuverability
  5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5

The Baseus A2 Pro Car Vacuum Cleaner is our Best Overall pick because it's versatile enough to clean any size car and has powerful suction despite its compact body. We've tested many car vacuums similar to the Basesus A2 Pro, but this model by far is the most effective, especially given its smaller dust bin. We'll note that we also had the opportunity to test the newer Baseus A3 Car Vacuum Cleaner, which has a 45-minute run time and two suction gears. However, that model is almost $100, and we found during testing that the A2 Pro and A3 have comparable suction power and accessories.

Now, back to the A2 Pro: don't let the tiny size fool you. This vacuum is a debris-removing powerhouse. After allowing it to come to a full charge—which does require 3.5 hours, to our dismay—we were blown away by this vacuum's ability to clean an entire minivan on one charge. It even picked up small leaves, which is a feat given this model's small cleaning path width. We also really enjoyed the 2-in-1 nozzle, which helped to agitate debris when the car vacuum was in brush mode, and concentrated suction as an angled nozzle. As a plus, this pick is very comfortable to hold while cleaning, too, since it weighs just over one pound.

Despite having a smaller dust bin, we were able to capture plenty of debris. We emptied the dust bin a total of three times while cleaning our minivan. We found that it does help to empty the dust bin to ensure that suction power does not lessen as it fills. To empty, you simply twist the bin and it pops off the vacuum body. For a more powerful and effective clean, you can also rinse the filter between uses.

Notably, we were also pleased with this vacuum's quiet operation. In previous testing rounds, we found that the smaller, similar-shaped vacuums had shrill operating volumes, which made them unpleasant to use. However, the A2 is quiet enough that you could listen to your car's radio or hold a conversation while cleaning. We're so pleased with this vacuum's performance that the longer charge time and shorter battery life (compared to larger, and corded, models), seem worthwhile for the features that come with it.

Price at time of publish: $60

_{Dimensions: 10.55 x 2.4 x 2.4 inches | Weight: 1.197 pounds | Cord Length: Not applicable | Battery Life: 30 minutes | Bin Volume: 0.13 quarts | Included Accessories: 2-in-1 nozzle, blow nozzle}

Best Overall, Runner-Up

Black+Decker Flex Cordless Handheld Vacuum

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  5/5
• Effectiveness
  5/5
• Maneuverability
  5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5

The Black+Decker Gen 2 Flex Vacuum is the latest version of one of our previous picks for Best Overall that we tested and loved: the Black+Decker Flex Auto Vacuum. The newer version impressed us with its design, suction power, and portability, just like its older counterpart. To start, the new version is basically assembled out of the box. It took us just one minute to unpack it and have it ready for action on hard and soft surfaces. The cordless model delivers fade-free suction with the help of a 20-volt battery and has a 4-foot integrated hose. That gives you basically unlimited reach for accessing every area of your vehicle—a key factor as noted by Pomishchyk.

The Gen 2 Flex has a simple accessory package, just like the Flex Auto, that includes a combination brush and a nozzle tool, along with a long crevice attachment. However, the Gen 2 Flex has an additional tool that truly sets it apart from competing models: a pet hair brush. This brush has rubber bristles to agitate soft surfaces and to effectively pick up pet hair on carpets and upholstered seats. When combined with the reach of the hose, this vacuum covered all the bases for car cleaning.

Its clever design keeps the footprint small, and the square base means it can rest on the floor of your vehicle or the ground as you go about your vacuuming. We found that it was easy to hold the base unit in one hand while cleaning with the hose in the other. The Gen 2 Flex did a particularly outstanding job of clearing sand from hard surface areas, including a dusty dashboard and cup holders. On soft surfaces like car mats, we had to use the attachments to boost the vacuum’s effectiveness, especially for clearing sand and hair, but even then, hair was no match for this vacuum's suction.

All in all, the suction power and user-friendly design were enough for us to overlook the vacuum’s narrow hose diameter. While the noise level was louder than average, too, we were still able to have a conversation over the hum. The clear dust bin is incredibly intuitive to open and empties in a clean, simple way. This vacuum requires four hours to charge, but it comes with a docking station that makes charging a simple and fuss-free process, as well. Plus, despite the smaller dust bin, you won't need to run to the garbage to empty it too often.

Price at time of publish: $125

_{Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.8 x 7.6 inches | Weight: 5 pounds | Cord Length: Not applicable | Battery Life: Not listed | Bin Volume: 0.53 quarts | Included Accessories: Combination brush and nozzle tool, long crevice tool, pet brush}

Best Budget

THISWORX Portable Car Vacuum Cleaner

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  5/5
• Effectiveness
  4.5/5
• Maneuverability
  4/5
• Ease of Emptying
  4/5
• Portability
  4/5

Ready to go out of the box, this affordable vacuum cleaner is basic but efficient. It plugs into your car’s 12-volt outlet and gives you 16 feet of cord to work with you as you vacuum hard and soft areas—like upholstery, car carpeting, and cup holders. We were pleased with its performance on both types of surfaces. The suction was strong enough to grab pieces of cereal from underneath levers for the hood and gas tank, saving us the step of using a smaller attachment to reach this tight area. A flexible attachment hose looked flimsy but proved to be very secure when we connected the crevice tool or brush tool to it. It gives you extra reach for under car seats or into door pockets—spots that are hard to reach with the wide body of this handheld vacuum.

The frills-free ThisWorx car vacuum isn’t without its shortcomings, but they aren’t enough to discredit it for light-duty cleanup of your vehicle. We wish the nozzle tip of the vacuum detached, like some other handheld car vacuums, since a piece of cereal could become lodged at the end of the vacuum. It also only features a basic filter, which allowed some fine particles of sand to pass through. We noticed a few grains of sand escaping from the exhaust on the vacuum, but only after we had vacuumed nearly an entire ¼-cup of sand. If you plan to do a lot of fine particle cleanup (like sand or dirt), it would probably help to frequently empty the dust bin.

We found it easy to detach the dust bin and empty it into the trash. It takes just a few shakes to clear the debris, before re-inserting the filter and attaching the dust bin to the vacuum. All in all, this pick gets the job done. While it has its quirks and improvement areas, it's a good value.

Price at time of publish: $40

_{Dimensions: ‎13.4 x 4 x 4.3 inches | Weight: 2.4 pounds | Cord Length: 16 feet | Battery Life: Not applicable | Bin Volume: Not listed | Included Accessories: Brush attachment, crevice tool, attachment hose, cleaning brush, carrying bag, additional filter}

Best Splurge

Hoover ONEPWR Blade MAX AutoVac Vacuum Cleaner

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  4/5
• Effectiveness
  5/5
• Maneuverability
  4.5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  4/5

If cleaning your car is one of life’s little luxuries, then it’s worth investing in a premium car vacuum. More basic car vacuums, including our Best Budget pick, may be able to get the job done, but with less convenience and ease than what you’ll find using the Hoover ONEPWR Blade Max. This cordless car vac offers a longer runtime than most car vacuums, and it includes a slew of accessories that make quick work of large and small debris alike. It’s no surprise that it’s paired with a more expensive price tag, but it’s worth the splurge for the extra battery life, suction power, and large-capacity dust bin. Not to mention, in our experience, it wasn't too loud. 

This vacuum looked the most intimidating to assemble and took nearly four minutes to do so, but the process was far from complex or challenging for us. The components click together easily, and the vacuum is ready for use once you charge the batteries. Hoover includes two lithium-ion batteries in the box to extend the runtime of this vacuum to about 45 minutes. Each battery fully charges in three to four hours.

When tested on hard surfaces, the Hoover ONEPWR Blade Max zipped across the car dashboard, clearing sand quickly and easily in a single pass. With the use of attachments, it reached into cup holders, compartments, and door pockets. It performed well on soft surfaces, too, clearing carpeting of hair, mulch, sand, and cereal in just one to two passes. We found that the boosted suction mode works especially well for capturing fine particles that are embedded in car carpeting, and required less elbow grease when compared to some other car vacuums. The motorized brush tool is also a big help for hair, whether it's short or long. 

User-friendly features that elevate the experience of using this cordless vacuum include a long, flexible hose and an extra-large dust bin. While the manufacturer doesn’t provide the size of the dust bin, we noted that it’s significantly larger than other car vacuums we've tested. We appreciated how simple it was to release the dust bin and the wide opening made it easy to ensure that all of its contents made it into the trash can. It would be great to see a charging stand for this cordless vacuum, since it feels like something we would want to keep handy at all times, but it does include a useful hanging storage bag to house the attachments.

Price at time of publish: $200

_{Dimensions: 11.2 x 7.3 x 28.5 inches | Weight: 6.8 pounds | Cord Length: Not applicable | Battery Life: 45 minutes | Bin Volume: Not listed | Included Accessories: Extension hose, motorized pet tool, flexi-crevice tool, dusting brush, upholstery tool and tough dirt tool}

Best Compact

Auto Joe 12-Volt Corded Car Handheld Vacuum Cleaner with Interior Auto Detailing Accessory Kit

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  5/5
• Effectiveness
  4/5
• Maneuverability
  5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5

For families constantly on the go between weekend sporting events and school pick-up, it's nice to have a car vacuum that packs away and can be pulled out at a moment's notice. The Auto Joe 12-Volt Corded Car Vacuum not only comes with an impressive detailing kit, but it also can be packed into a storage bag and kept in the trunk of your car. We loved how convenient this car vacuum was to set up with just a few motions. It can even plug into your car's auxiliary outlet, so you don't have to fuss with extension cords. The 17-foot cord also offered plenty of room to easily navigate our mid-size testing car.

We enjoyed using the crevice nozzle attachment to reach under and between car seats. The extension hose is also a great tool for those areas of your car where you don't want the bulkier body of the vacuum interfering with maneuverability. The one function of this vacuum that didn't really impress us was its capability on car mats. The brush attachment didn't help suck up any of the smaller, fine debris stuck on our carpeted mats. We had to go over several spots repeatedly. Despite this minor frustration, we found it was very easy to clean our whole car, and the corded power meant that the suction never dulled due to a loss of battery power. We'll also note that this vacuum is relatively quiet. We could easily hold a conversation and listen to the car's radio without any issues.

We recommend dusting off the filter any time you empty the dust bin, as we felt this helped minimize any suction power issues as the dust bin filled up. Releasing the dust bin is as simple as pressing the button on the top of the vacuum and dumping its contents. You can rinse the filter and allow it to dry between uses, as well. Overall, we love how easy this vacuum is to use. While it may not have the exact power of the giant vacuums available at car washes, you can be sure that every type of debris, from cracker crumbs to leaves, can be cleaned up.

Price at time of publish: $30

_{Dimensions: 5.3 x 4.7 x 14.6 inches | Weight: 1.6 pounds | Cord Length: 16 feet | Battery Life: Not applicable | Bin Volume: 0.53 quarts | Included Accessories: Extension hose, crevice nozzle, brush attachment, carrying bag, replacement filter, and filter cleaning brush}

Best Cordless

Huepar 13000PA Cordless Portable Car Vacuum Cleaner

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  5/5
• Effectiveness
  5/5
• Maneuverability
  4.5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  4.5/5

Finding a cordless vacuum that's up to the task of removing stubborn pet hair and dirt can be a challenge. We enjoyed using the Huepar Car Vacuum because it has the feel and capacity of a standard handheld vacuum, with the maneuverability of a cordless vacuum. We did have to wait a while for this vacuum to charge. The charge time ranges from four to give hours, so we recommend charging up this vacuum before you plan any car cleaning. This vacuum has two modes, a lower power mode which should easily sweep up small debris, and a high power one for large debris that requires more suction.

In our experience, this vacuum easily handled a variety of debris on both leather seats and carpeted car mats. We appreciated the crevice nozzle for pulling up debris from between and under seats, but we found the extension tube was too flimsy to serve as a super effective tool. We recommend using this tool in a large trunk, where you can maneuver the tube length separately from the body of the vacuum. While we loved using the second, more powerful gear on this vacuum, it does decrease the battery life by half the time (just 15 minutes), so it may be best to use it only when needed.

Similar to our Best Compact pick, you can easily empty this vacuum by pushing a button on the top of the unit. The dust bin releases and can be dumped into a trash can. This vacuum also comes with an extra filter, so once the original one is too worn, you can easily swap it out. This vacuum may be slightly too big to keep in the trunk of your car, depending on your car size, but it's still compact enough to store in a linen closet or somewhere in your garage.

Price at time of publish: $56

_{Dimensions: 4.8 x 8.07 x 11.2 inches | Weight: 2.51 pounds | Cord Length: Not applicable | Battery Life: 20-30 minutes | Bin Volume: 0.48 quarts | Included Accessories: Long crevice nozzle, brush nozzle, extension tube, and extra filter}

Best Corded

BLACK+DECKER BDH1220AV 12V Car Vacuum

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  4.5/5
• Effectiveness
  4.5/5
• Maneuverability
  4.5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  4.5/5

Battery-powered car vacuums offer cordless maneuverability, but can experience fading power and a drained battery after as little as 20 minutes of vacuuming. If you want to deep-clean your vehicle—without worrying about your car vacuum giving up in the middle of the job—a corded model like the Black+Decker 12V Car Vacuum is our top recommendation. Out of all the corded car vacuums we tested, this option was our favorite for its dustbuster design, long nozzle, and useful attachments. 

The Black+Decker car vac looks similar to a standard household dustbuster, but is designed to operate efficiently in a vehicle. It’s equipped with a 12-volt charger and 16-foot power cable, giving you room to reach high and low spots in your car. It has a long nozzle that we found great for reaching under the seat of a sedan as we tracked down cereal, sand, and hair. For extra reach, a flexible hose is included, and you can pair it with a long crevice tool or brush. It only took a handful of passes to clear debris from soft surfaces, and a single pass or two on hard surfaces.

However, we did notice the nozzle opening of this corded car vacuum is too narrow for especially large debris. While it was powerful enough to pick up larger pieces of mulch, the nozzle was too narrow to allow for any of it to actually pass through. Despite this single shortcoming, we appreciate how well this vacuum maneuvers the crevices of your car, especially when using the included hose and attachments. The noise level was average for a car vacuum and didn’t make our ears ring. When the cleaning session was over, we appreciated being able to wrap the power cord around the base of the vacuum and put all the accessories in a storage bag. Everything packed up nicely, and it would be easy to store this vacuum in between uses.

Price at time of publish: $53

_{Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.3 x 8.2 inches | Weight: 3.8 pounds | Cord Length: 16 feet | Battery Life: Not applicable | Bin Volume: 0.64 quarts | Included Accessories: Attachment hose, storage bag, long crevice tool, brush tool} 

Best for Pet Hair

Worx Power Share Cordless Cube Vac Compact Vacuum

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  5/5
• Effectiveness
  5/5
• Maneuverability
  5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5

The Worx WX030L 20V Power Share Cordless Cube Compact Vacuum is our Best for Pet Hair vacuum because it managed to remove stubborn Great Pyrenees dog hair—a major feat—from carpeted car mats. We were so impressed by this compact vacuum's performance, and its unique shape that makes it stand out against the other models we've tested. Best of all, the attachments for this vacuum can be stored on the unit, so you don't have to worry about losing any parts or keeping track of an accessories bag.

This vacuum's battery is ready to go in just 30 minutes, and it's compatible with other tools in Worx's Power Share line. We loved how easy it was to maneuver this small vacuum through a car, plus it's pretty lightweight. It's relatively easy to hold the main body in one hand and direct the hose with the other. This vacuum has two power levels, and the higher one is great for removing stubborn dog hair on soft surfaces. However, we are disappointed that this vacuum only has a 15-minute battery life. While that was plenty of time for us to clean our car, we think it will likely require charging after each use.

When you need to empty this vacuum's dust bin, all you have to do is aim it over a trash can and press the hatch release button. All of the debris will come out of the bottom of the vacuum, making the emptying process a hands-free experience. This vacuum will also easily fit in any car trunk for convenient storage.

Price at time of publish: $99

_{Dimensions: 8.58 x 5.91 x 7.17 inches | Weight: 3 pounds | Cord Length: Not applicable | Battery Life: 15 minutes | Bin Volume: 0.22 quarts | Included Accessories: Crevice tool, wide-mouth nozzle, extension hose}

Best for Detailing

Armor All VOM205P Portable Wet/Dry Vacuum

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Our Ratings

• Setup
  4/5
• Effectiveness
  5/5
• Maneuverability
  3.5/5
• Ease of Emptying
  5/5
• Portability
  3/5

The Armor All VOM205P Portable Wet/Dry Vacuum is the best choice if you need a car vacuum to tackle any type of mess in your vehicle. It’s hard to beat the versatility of this model if you’re looking for a car vacuum for detailing since it has a strong motor that packs plenty of power, and a great selection of accessories to reach into every corner or crevice. Plus, as a wet-dry car vacuum, this vac from Armor All can pick up any liquid spills along with dry debris. We were also impressed with its large-capacity bin, which holds 2.5 gallons. It's just like emptying a bucket, but we recommend having a good aim toward the trash can to avoid extra messes.

More recently, we were able to test the Amor All AA12V10901 12V Wet/Dry Car Vac, which plugs into a 12-volt car plug and looks more similar to a standard handheld vacuum. While the handheld model can tackle smaller areas of a car, and is more convenient for storing in a car, it doesn't have the same power as the larger VOM205P vacuum. Additionally, the built-in crevice tool broke during our testing, making us question its long-term durability. Therefore, the VOM205P remains our pick for this category.

Despite its power and size, we were surprised during testing by how quiet this vacuum is. It didn’t make us cringe every time we powered it on, and you could easily talk over it. The suction was substantial, making large and small debris disappear with one or two passes. The attached, 4-foot hose isn’t the most effective vacuuming tool on its own, but when paired with one of the many included accessories, it does a great job on either hard or soft surfaces. This car vacuum was also able to easily handle bulky items like mulch, which is something that tripped up a number of other models we tested. The small detailing accessories are well-suited for cleaning air vents, cup holders, or other crevices that need regular attention during car detailing. 

Ultimately, we wish that this vacuum had wheels, making it easier for the vacuum to follow our movements. It tipped over once during our testing, but no debris spilled from the tightly sealed lid. Keep in mind that it needs to be plugged into a 110-volt outlet, too. It doesn’t have a battery source or a charger for the car outlet.

Price at time of publish: $67

_{Dimensions: 13.7 x 11.5 x 11.5 inches | Weight: 7.5 pounds | Cord Length: 10-20 feet | Battery Life: Not applicable | Bin Volume: 2.5 gallons | Included Accessories: 2-in-1 utility nozzle, crevice tool, car nozzle, 6-piece detail kit and storage pouch, reusable cloth filter, foam wet filter, wall mount bracket}