Cool Cars with Chris: Car Talk, Driving Tips & Auto Life Dec 22, 2025

7 Best Christmas Gifts for Car Lovers in 2025 (They’ll Actually Want) – Part 2

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I know on the very last episode, I mentioned things that you should not get your car person,

but today, we're flipping this around. We're getting the seven best gifts that any car person

really, really wants. In fact, I want some of these things. And Tint, Merry Christmas.

Here we go.

Hey, what's happening? How are you doing? Thank you so much for being here once

again. Merry Christmas to you. This is part two of the two-part series on what to buy that

cool car guy for Christmas this year, 2025. Now, in the last episode, I described things

not, and I said not to get that cool car guy because they're going to hate that stuff.

Trust me. I mean, I probably would, and you probably would too. But today, it's

all about happy thoughts. Today, we're talking about things that you want to get that

a car guy wants to get. So if you're going to give a car guy something, these are the

things that they're probably going to appreciate. And these are the things they're going to

enjoy and actually want to use and will use for sure. So I've got seven of these.

I had seven on the last one. Lucky number seven. Here we go. Christmas time 2025. Here

we go. Kicking it off with number one. Now, what guy who actually loves cleaning

their car, loves detail in their car would not appreciate high quality microfiber towels.

Now you can get these at Costco, big bag of them. They're really good quality stuff.

And I've got a bag of them somewhere around here. I got to find it, but you had a bunch

of them. You can probably buy them at other places too, but these are the really, really

good ones. Essentially, they're like good for like not scratching the vehicle. I

know if you get like thorns and rocks and pebbles and stuff in them, they're

pretty much useless. I would not recommend using on your car at that point, but a brand

new one that's clean and fresh and actually like has no imperfections. That is basically

a real microfiber, not this generic like paper towels, but like real ones that are really

good because you can use them for multiple things. You can use them to actually like

wax down your vehicle, wax off the vehicle. If you wax on, wax off that kind of

stuff, rub it down. I had my Z and I would buy a bunch of these microfiber towels

and I was using them to like actually clean and like do the quick, you know, wax on the

car because although I would wash, wash and wax the car regularly, there were times where

I would buy the quick wax, which is like a spray wax. I think McGuire's has it and

a bunch of companies have this kind of stuff, but basically you would spray it on,

spray it off. And I've used towels like these microfiber towels to, you know,

wax on, wax off, but you also use them for other things too. Like the inside,

like armor on the inside of your car, detail on the rims, the wheels, tires. I mean,

if they get really worn out or they get become like you drop them and they got thorns and dirt

embedded in them, don't use them on your car, but you can probably use them to like wipe

off your dipstick, you know, things like that. Or maybe like, I don't know,

in anything it's like really want to clean, but don't care if it scratches really kind of stuff,

things like that. So according to the actual chemical guys, the company that

makes all these chemical products, they say that they're woolly mammoth microfiber towel dryer towel,

the one that's used for drying can actually hold up to close to a gallon of water. So if you're

actually using these things to dry off your car, which I've done too, they work fairly well.

Of course, they've got other drying towels you can buy. Remember the ShamWow,

those are big. I haven't had a bunch of those for a while. I was using the ShamWow to dry

the car. And I think I got them in the fair. They were a big deal. The ShamWow, I remember those.

And I mean, the commercials, their guy was like soaking up water out of everything.

He spilled like water on the carpet and like soaked the water out and wringing it all out

and things like that. So those things work fairly well too. So, but I think a really good high

quality microfiber towel, or at least a pack of them or whatever, is a really good gift to get

or gift to give your cool car person. They would probably appreciate that because they

can use it for many different things, especially if they're really high quality stuff.

Okay. Speaking of the car cleaning arena, moving on to number two, and we're talking

about an actual foam cannon, maybe an attachment for like a water pressure gun. I have a water

pressure machine here in the house and I tell you the truth, I never use it. I've used it a

few times and it's a big pain in the butt really get out and like plug it in and get the hose attached

and all those attachments and crap. And I guess if you have time and you're really, you know,

cleaning your car, I did use it on the Z a lot. And I hook up the foam stuff. I had some foam

soap that you could put in there and becomes like a big foam cannon. And I would like spray the

foam all over the car, you know, it's kind of a cool effect because you got the foam to

spraying all over the car and you're spraying all over the place. It looks great. It looks

cool on social media. When you do that and you put on social media, it's a kind of a cool looking

thing. And it's kind of cool because, you know, it's like soap everywhere. It has a clean, soapy

feel going on with the thing. And I think that's a really cool gift to give a car person because

they're probably washing the car themselves. They're probably detailing the car themselves.

Not always, but yes, sometimes they do. And if you want to add more to your,

you know, gift other than just a foam cannon, you can buy an entire piece, a whole

tire like kit from chemical guys, not a sponsor of the show yet. They probably should be, but

they've got a full on like 16 piece arsenal builder wash kit, which includes the foam gun,

a water mitt and various other cleaners, probably all their chemical guys cleaning

stuff, probably tire wheels, you name it. They probably have it all in a package like that.

Now, if it's a really good high quality cleaning car wash kit, I think most car,

guys would probably appreciate that, especially if they wash it themselves,

which if they're a true car guy, there is without a doubt, they wash it themselves.

I know I did for the Z and there was a time when I got lazy and yeah, I started just running

through the car wash. Yeah, I did that. But most car guys probably really appreciate

really high quality cleaning stuff for their car and probably the better the better,

I should say when it comes to car cleaning stuff. And there's lots of companies out there.

There's lots of different brands of McGuire's. I actually love McGuire's myself. I'm a

McGuire's kind of guy. I had all their soaps, all their car wash stuff. And I know there's,

you know, except there's car guys, there's our chemical guys. There are a few other brands

out there. I'm sure I can think of the top of my head, but any high quality cleaning

stuff for your car is probably a safe bet for a true car guy. And if you know what kind of

car wash stuff they use, like say you go over to their house, you see their garage,

and you see they have a particular brand of car wash they use, then get them that.

Don't get them those cheap, like really cheap $2 dollar store stuff that comes in a gallon,

but it's like $2 of car wash stuff. It's mostly water anyways. Who knows what that

stuff is. Gotta give them the really good stuff if you're gonna get them something

and find out what they like to use on their car and probably get them more of that stuff.

That'll probably just fine. Okay, now moving away from the car cleaning department and car

cleaning care type stuff, moving more into the technical world of things. Moving on to number three,

and we're talking about a cool little gadget that I wish I owned. I don't have one. I know

most people have this kind of stuff. They have these tools with them everywhere they go.

And that is a OBD2 diagnostic scanner. Now, this is the thing that you plug into your

computer's diagnostic port and it reads the engine codes. So you got a check engine light that came

on your car for, I don't know, maybe running that tune on your car. You're like, why is the

check engine light on? Or maybe you did an aftermarket like air intake and it didn't,

you know, it threw a code. Now you got a check engine light on. You want to try to figure

what's going on? Having a scanner, you can plug it in and then you can like pinpoint

exactly what the problem is because the computer in the car is gonna be like,

hey, something's happening, but you know, check engine lights on. You're like, well,

what does it mean? I wish that cars had those built in. That would be so awesome.

Hey, car developers, if you could have like a check engine light that came on that automatically

like on the dashboard somewhere, you can figure out like what the problem was,

other than buying a one of these OBD2 like, you know, scanner tools, get the, you know,

figure out what it is. If it could happen like within the car, that'd be super,

super cool. But hey, let's get there. Right. So there are a few out there as a whole bunch

to choose from. Like I don't own one personally, but I can see myself getting one of these

hint, hint. If you want to give me something as a gift, I don't have one.

So you're both welcome to give me one. That'd be great. Thank you so much,

Mary, Christopher, you too. And it says here that the Innova, the 5610 is highly

recommended model, probably because it can do a bunch of different things,

a bunch of different features, probably work almost every single car.

It can probably tell you exactly what's happening. Now, how accurate are these things?

I do not know. I know that when you go to a place like AutoZone, maybe Pet Boys 2,

maybe any of those like, you know, auto shop, you know, car places,

most of those places will check your car out for free. I know I did that on my car,

I did that on my truck, took it in there for free. They'll run the codes for you for free,

they'll even print it out for you for free, giving you an idea of what's, you know,

what's causing the actual issue. You can go to dealership too. The dealership usually charges

for these kind of things, maybe a little more. It might be free. I don't know. I mean,

I haven't gone to a dealership to do a scan on a car in forever and a day ago. And last time I

checked it, I think a guy charged me like a hundred bucks or 50 bucks. He charged me

something. I forget it was. But if you have to scan yourself, you could scan it yourself.

And I don't know how accurate they are. I'm sure they're pretty accurate these

days. I would think because when I had my Z had issues with my Z had a checkings like come on.

And I took it to a place and they ran their scanner. And I took it to first, I took it

to the auto zone and their scanner. Then I took it to a shop actually did the repairs.

They ran their scanner and they basically said the same thing. They said that I was misfiring

and that the spark plugs, something with a spark plug or whatever need be replaced.

And the story added place to spark plugs. That's basically what it was.

So had I had a tool, maybe I would known, but I didn't really pay much for the scan. So

there's that, but it's a cool, you know, fun tool to have. And I can see, you know,

any car guy wanting a scanner who doesn't already have one. That'd be a cool gift to give.

Okay. Moving on to number four of the coolest gifts that any car guy would love to have.

If you're going to give them something cool, I got this gift actually last year myself.

And that is a high definition dash cam. Now the reason why I wanted the dash cam in the first

place. I mean, I never, I kind of thought about it, but I saw this video. It was in New York City,

I think a year ago where this whole scam happened where like insurance scam where this car

would like cut off a car in the freeway or hit him or do something. And then like,

as both cars pull over the car in front of the car that was recording,

put the car in reverse, slammed into the car and like crashed into the car and pulled forward.

And these people kind of got out of the car and looked like they were like all injured and trying

to like, Oh, you hit me, you reared into me, you hit me, all those stuff, whatever. And then

the whole thing was caught on camera because they had a dash cam recording every single thing.

And so because of that thing, I was like, man, I got to get myself on those cameras.

And also, I think it's kind of cool because there's a lot of crazy things

happen in the freeway, crazy stuff that happens. And I think it helps with insurance. In fact,

I should call my insurance company and tell them to have that because I have not done that

speaking of which. And in theory, it should give you a lower insurance rate if you have

one of those cameras because it gives you like the actual video evidence that if someone's

trying to scam you or there's an accident of any kind, video evidence really comes in handy

when you're trying to like solve a case. There's no disputing video evidence really.

You can't say that wasn't me. You can't say I didn't put the car in reverse and slammed into them

and they hit me. You can't say that if it's on video, it actually happened. You see it on video.

So what I have is in Chuchin 4k, it plugs into the cigarette lighter, pass out powers it,

and it runs a wire to the back. There's a back camera and a front cam, a front main camera.

And it runs on a memory card. It's basically, I got the biggest memory card I could find to put in

the thing. And it constantly goes on a loop. So in theory, far as I know, because I haven't

gone and checked the footage in a while, but the way I understand it works is that it constantly

records in like 10 minute increments and then it resets itself. If it records like so many

of these 10 minute blocks to the memory cards full, it like resets and it goes back again,

which should happen. And maybe about two or three days worth, probably I think of the memory card

because shooting everything in 4k and it's a good size memory card, but still 4k, you know,

running all the time does eat up a lot of memory. And I think it only works when I'm

driving too. So it's not like recording. I don't think it's recording right now.

It might be if the power to it, I don't know how that works, but definitely records.

When I turn the truck on, it turns on the camera goes on, then it goes out to like a

like a blank screen because it doesn't have the screen to display the whole time.

And you can see the red light flashing on the thing when you, you know, when it's using. So

this probably comes in handy for, you know, vandalism or anything like that. Of course,

theft, things like that. So and also my truck does have, I believe,

because I can check it on the app. It does tell me locations on the vehicle. So

if the vehicle were to be stolen, I could probably track it on the app where it is.

Another side note on this, if you have Apple, Apple products, you can get an Apple air tag

and mount it somewhere in the vehicle, like under the vehicle somewhere. In case the vehicle ever

gets stolen or something like that, or valet size to do like a Ferris Bueller's day off

joyride kind of deal, you probably contract the vehicle and see what was that and things like

that. So these kinds of devices are really designed for you, you to protect you and make sure that

if your vehicle does get stolen or something does happen that you've got evidence to hopefully,

you know, get some get some justice on, on what happened. So, and also too, if you really want

to use it, which haven't done yet, but if you want to grab the video since it's 4k on the

dash and grab that video and maybe make like a YouTube video or something like that,

of you going somewhere with that cool video, you could do that too. I should probably do that,

that'd be kind of fun. Anyways, moving on to number five. Now, this is kind of the same realm because

it's all about electricity, it's all about things for your car and I'm talking about a portable jump

starter. Now, these things are pretty cool because they're really compact. I don't know how

they even work, but they're so small and somehow they like start your car and they

got a battery in there, of course, and somehow they they're enough to really start your vehicle.

And especially if you don't have like jumper cables or have another vehicle around near you to jump

your car with. Now, you know, some of these probably can like be used to charge other devices off of

it, like USB ports, things like that. So, a portable jump starter would probably be a cool

thing to have in the back of your car, your trunk space somewhere that's pretty big, you

know. And this way, when your car and your vehicle finally does die, you plug the thing in and in

theory, they should jump and then jump your car. I never own one of these things. Hey,

speaking of gifts you want to give me, this is another one on there. Get me one of those

portable jump starters. I would really appreciate it. It'd be super cool to have because my car,

I'm sorry, my truck did, you know, the battery did die recently and I was driving to work

one day and it threw all kinds of codes on me. I don't know what's going on. I was like

throwing weird codes on the dash, like the whole dash, like a little bit of Christmas tree.

And they was throwing things like, you know, rear camera not working, transmission fault not

working, side detection thing not working. Like all these things thing wasn't working or whatever.

What is going on with this thing? And I did notice that I could not put the vehicle

into other drive modes. It was locked in whatever drive mode it was locked into,

and it could not change nothing. Warning lights over the dash, the hell's going on with this

thing. Turns out it was just a battery. It was just a dead battery. And once I changed the battery,

it fixed everything, but that was it. But I didn't know, you know, I just like,

if I had checked the battery, if I had a battery checker or an OBG, I don't know if the OBD2 scanner

can check battery voltage. It might, not too sure, but I don't have one of those either.

So these are two gifts you want to give me, the OBD2 scanner and the portable, you know,

charger that jumps the portable jumper. Yeah, that'd be kind of cool. Give me one of those.

That'd be kind of awesome. I really appreciate that. Okay. Moving on to number six. And now,

number six, I was gifted this a few years ago in his amazing gift, again, any car guy,

any car enthusiast would absolutely love this gift. And if you ever go to Vegas,

there are two places I know of in town that offer this kind of deal. And I'm talking about

the driving experience or racing school sessions where you get to drive an actual race car or

sports car or luxury car. Usually you're like, you know, Porsche's Corvettes, you know,

Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, things like that around an official racetrack with a actual

trainer with you. He's teach you every single thing. In fact, on my YouTube channel right now,

I put the video of me taking the Nissan GTR around the track. The entire video

is on my YouTube channel, which you can find that right through coolcarswithchrist.com.

There's a link to my YouTube right on there. On there. You can see the entire thing I did

in his entirety right there, but these are super cool gifts to give any car person

a driving experience. They would absolutely love it. And what car guy would not like to drive

their Lamborghini, their GTR, their Ferrari, their Corvette. They always wanted to drive

whatever it is on a racetrack where you can go as fast as you can go without crashing the car,

of course, but it's not like something on the streets where you're limited by the

rules of the road. It's on an actual racetrack where you can drift the car,

slide the car, spin the car around if you get too crazy. Yeah, I see that happen.

So that is a really amazing gift to get any car guy. And that is a driving experience.

And the seventh and final cool car gift to get any cool car person in your life,

this Christmas. It's another gift I got myself, actually. Some of these gifts I probably

did get myself and I think about. But if you have any custom artwork for your car or

custom collectibles that are designed specifically for the car they have, I've got lots of

Z stuff. In fact, I had this really, really cool poster of all the Z's including my Z on this poster.

It was like a anniversary poster or something like that. But I had it framed and I had it in

my master bedroom for like forever. It was so cool. It was such a good like memorabilia and I

had it custom made. And I gave it away with the car. When I sold the car to the guy about

my car, I said, Hey, I have this really cool like poster. It's all framed really nice.

It has this car, all the Z's on the poster. Would you like it? I mean, I'm giving you with the car.

Oh yeah, totally. They took it put in the back with them, that kind of stuff. But I still have

like little, you know, Z toy cars. I've got lots of matchbox Z cars and things like that.

So I think any kind of like collectibles like miniature little vehicles of the vehicle you

drive, especially if they're like so close in detail to the vehicle you actually have,

the model you have. I was at Costco not that long ago and Costco since it's Christmas.

They've got all their Christmas gifts out, all their Christmas stuff.

And now this whole section of these really well done die cast cars. And they've got a

lot of cool cars on there and almost bought the 350Z one they have for sale there.

They're only about 20 bucks for these die cast cars, which is a really good deal.

They're really high quality made. They're metal and they have all the details and

everything. And they look really well done. And if you can find one that is exactly like the car

you have, how cool is that? That would be amazing. And there you have it, the best seven top gifts

to give any car person in your life this Christmas. And I wish you a happy Merry Christmas.

Safe holidays. Drive safe. Be sober when you're behind the wheel. Obviously.

Don't drink and drive. Obviously. Don't get crazy. If you want to speed,

save that for the racetrack and just get home safe and make sure that you have a wonderful,

wonderful happy holidays with you and your family and I'll see you on the very next episode.

you

About this episode

Discover seven thoughtful Christmas gift ideas for car enthusiasts in 2025, ranging from practical car care items like high-quality microfiber towels and foam cannons to tech gadgets such as OBD2 diagnostic scanners and dash cams. The host shares personal experiences and highlights the value of gifts like portable jump starters, driving experience sessions at racetracks, and custom car memorabilia or die-cast models. This guide balances useful tools with unique experiences, perfect for anyone looking to surprise a car lover with something they'll truly appreciate and use.

Chevrolet Corvette Dodge Charger Nissan GT-R Nissan Z

Original notes

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the car enthusiast in your life? 🎄 In Part 2 of this festive two-part series, Chris shares 7 amazing gift ideas that every car guy (or girl!) would actually love to unwrap this holiday season.

From high-tech gadgets like dash cams and OBD2 scanners to detailing essentials and unforgettable driving experiences, this episode is your go-to 2025 holiday gift guide for car lovers.

Whether you’re shopping for a gearhead, auto detailer, or someone who just lives and breathes cars, these are the gifts that won’t end up in the return pile.

Car cleaning gifts that go beyond basic
The one tool every car owner should keep in their glove box
Tech toys that make driving safer and cooler
The experience gift that tops every car lover's wish list
Where to find custom collectibles for any make/model

🔗 Links & Resources:

🌐 Website: coolcarswithchris.com
📺 YouTube Channel: Linked on the website
🎧 Missed Part 1? Check out: “7 Car Gifts to Avoid This Christmas”

If you're searching for the best Christmas gifts for car lovers in 2025, this episode of Cool Cars with Chris has you covered with holiday gift ideas for car guys that are both thoughtful and useful. Whether you're buying for a car enthusiast, a car detailing fan, or someone who just loves their ride, you'll find inspiration from gifts for gearheads, automotive gift ideas, and unique car accessories for Christmas. We talk about OBD2 scanners, foam cannons, microfiber towels, and even portable jump starters—perfect for anyone building their dream garage. Want to wow someone with a driving experience gift or a racing school session? It’s all here, including dash cams for car safety, car cleaning kits, and collectible car art. From car tech gifts to performance car presents, this Christmas gift guide for drivers is packed with gifts for car lovers who have everything. Whether you're shopping for a Z car fan, a Mustang owner, or a track day warrior, you’ll find the perfect holiday car gift to make their season unforgettable.