My car is 15 years old and aside from the odd nick here and there, looks to be in excellent condition. One area that was a visual let down however was the aged car mats – they looked to have been there since new and had their fair share of marks and age-related damage. A decent carpet shampoo certainly had them looking more acceptable, but they were still looking tired.
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There is an abundance of aftermarket car mats that can be slipped under your feet to revitalise the inside of your car. Many are good, some are rubbish, but few are properly designed to fit properly in a car’s footwell and can end up looking a little jarring. A brand new set of custom car mats sounds expensive, so we’re testing some custom car mats that will hopefully perform well without breaking the bank.
What is it?
Get Car Mats produces fitted car mats and boost over 7,000 fits and finishes. There’s a good range of makes and models represented and the catalogue extends back to the early 1990s. So, even if your car is nearing 30 years old there’s a fair chance there are mats available that fit. Even sporty and premium brands like Maserati and Porsche are represented here.
There’s more than just a wide selection of cars, though. There are five trim levels for each car ranging from the economy budget range right up to premium. Get Car Mats sells tailored rubber floor mats, ideal for use in winter where even minor use can have a car’s footwell looking like the remnants of a mudslide. To top this selection off, the company even offers a range of tailored rubber boot mats, perfect for tip runs.
What’s good?
The mats are also well made and have a robust feel to them, like a carpet tile. They’re not lambswool soft like you’d find in a Rolls Royce, but they feature piping and will be resistant to flattening over time. If you’re currently running a base-spec city car they’ll be a noticeable upgrade, especially with the cushioned footrest underneath the pedals.
Cleaning them was a simple affair too, thanks to the construction it’s easy to collect debris using even the most basic vacuum cleaner. It’s incredibly hard for dirt to become embedded in the fibres because they’re so short, but for anything that had become tangled in the fibres (chewing gum was used to test this), a quick blast with a steam cleaner relaxed the fibres allowing it to be lifted with ease.
Any negatives?
Fresh out of the box the mats are too rigid to properly clip into place. In time and with a little persuasion the fibres relax enough to properly clip onto the car’s floor, but it is a little annoying trying to stretch densely packed fibres to affix the carpets to the floor. The edges aren’t millimetre perfect either and some edges sit rather awkwardly against other bits of the interior as a result.
Verdict
There’s a clear visual benefit to upgrading a set of tired car mats to a set of fresh examples that are designed to fit perfectly. They look fantastic, are easy to maintain and will be robust enough to tackle whatever a muddy pair of boots can kick onto them. That being said, the slightly wonky fit and struggle to clip them in place prove they’re not perfect.
4/5
Get Car Mats
Price: Variable | VIEW OFFER
How we tested the mats:
We’re testing the ‘Premium’ trim level car mats manufactured to fit a manual Volvo C30 and they were installed in February to allow for long-term testing. Having been tested over the winter months, this article will be updated to showcase how the products deal during summer.
Other products used in this test: Beldray AIRLITE Rechargeable Lightweight Handheld Vacuum | Vax SpotWash Spot Cleaner | Beldray 10-in-1 Handheld Steam Cleaner
Read next:
The best corded vacuum cleaners for car cleaning
How to stream music in an old car
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