Auto accessories are a great way to get the most out of your vehicle. When you purchase a car, truck or SUV, many times you are purchasing a very basic model. The dealer may add a few bells and whistles for you before you go home with your vehicle, but there are still many more things you can do to extend your vehicle's life or make it easier and more pleasant to use. Don't let the word “accessories” throw you. These aren't just throw-away items. Many of them are very necessary. Accessories for your vehicle come in four basic types: Exterior, interior, performance parts, and items that can be considered more family accessories than car accessories, as they aren't really part of the car. You are probably familiar with many exterior accessories that people buy, because you've seen them on the road – things like mud guards and mud flaps, side view mirrors (yes, you can change yours if you want), winches, fender flares and trim. That is just the beginning. There are plenty more items that you can use to spruce up your automobile. Most people are more likely to have purchased interior accessories like seat covers, steering wheel covers, floor mats and liners than exterior accessories. You can even purchase a rearview mirror. If you've had your car for a while and the dashboard is starting to look a bit worn, then you can actually fix that. Repairing the dashboard with a dash kit may actually be a good idea if you're thinking about selling your car. Just a little bit of beauty can help you get thousands more for your automobile. Performance parts are the most popular auto accessories of all. Perhaps it is more accurate to say they are the most “needed” accessories. These are the air filters, brakes and brake pads, oil filters, fuel systems and all those wonderful things that your car won't run without. Oil and the other fluids your car needs can be considered a part of performance parts. These are three very basic categories to help you determine accessories. You may not actually consider something that your car won't run without an accessory. At the very least, these categories are the most important ones. If your car needs an air intake system, for instance, a rearview mirror and a set of mud flaps, it is easier to put the three in order of importance of purchase if you categorize them. The fourth category is items that are actually not part of your car. They won't make the operation of your vehicle easier or more fun, like furry wheel covers, but they make the family-car interface a little smoother. These items are things like baby car seats, fuzzy dice and those Garfields and other characters that you hang in the window to entertain passing motorists.