No matter how hard you try to avoid or prevent it, keeping your car completely clean is impossible. Kids accidentally drop snacks on the floor while pets shed or leave mud prints on the upholstery. Luckily, a vacuum designed for cleaning your car's interior can help make your automobile feel like it's dealership-new once again. These vacuums tend to be very portable and lightweight. They also favor better performance on low-pile carpets over other surface types, and they come with several tools to help you reach more difficult areas like crevices.
We've tested over 105 vacuum cleaners, and below are our recommendations for the best vacuums for cars. They were chosen based on their performance on different types of surfaces, their feature set, and finally, their battery life. For more recommendations, look at our lists of the best vacuums, the best cordless vacuums, and the best vacuums for pet hair.
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Best Car Vacuum
Cars8.1Low-Pile Carpet Pickup7.5Pet Hair Furniture Performance8.0Range10Storing9.0Vacuum TypeStick/HandheldCordlessYesBaglessYesSee all our test resultsVolume0.12 gal (0.45 L)The best car vacuum cleaner we've tested is the Dyson V15 Detect. It's light yet powerful, and it's easy to move around in your car in its handheld configuration. It comes with a wide variety of tools that'll help clean your car, such as a conical turbo brush, a soft-bristle brush, a stiff-bristle brush, an upholstery tool, and a crevice tool. Using its turbo brush, it does an impressive job of removing debris from automotive fabric, including pet hair. Outside of the car, it'll work well in a house or small apartment, with great pickup performance on bare floors and carpets.
Its runtime should be long enough to handle most messes, but if you want to clean your entire car, you'll have to restrain it by setting it to a lower suction power, or the battery will run out before you finish. And while it's lightweight, the thin plastic can feel flimsy, flexing and creaking as you move it around.
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Best Upper Mid-Range Car Vacuum
Cars8.4Low-Pile Carpet Pickup7.0Pet Hair Furniture Performance8.5Range10Storing8.2Vacuum TypeStick/HandheldCordlessYesBaglessYesSee all our test resultsVolume0.04 gal (0.16 L)If you want to save a little over our top recommendation without giving up too much performance, consider the Dyson V12 Detect Slim. It's lighter and smaller than the Dyson V15 Detect, making it even easier to maneuver in handheld mode in tight car spaces. While it doesn't have all the V15's accessories, it does come with the most useful ones for cleaning a car: a turbo brush for cleaning fabric or mats, a soft-bristle brush for dusting instrument panels, and a crevice tool for cleaning seams between seats. The turbo brush is excellent for removing debris from automotive fabric, especially pet hair. In the house, the V12 makes a good primary vacuum, although its performance on carpets can't quite match the V15.
Unfortunately, its smaller dirt compartment can't hold as much debris as other models, so it'll need to be emptied more frequently. The battery has a lower capacity than the V15, resulting in an even lower runtime and requiring you to keep a close eye on the remaining battery level as you clean. Like all Dysons, the lightweight plastic feels fragile, and the flexing and creaking it makes as you move it doesn't convey a feeling of good build quality.
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Best Mid-Range Car Vacuum
Cars7.8Low-Pile Carpet Pickup6.5Pet Hair Furniture Performance7.5Range10Storing8.5Vacuum TypeStick/HandheldCordlessYesBaglessYesSee all our test resultsVolume0.09 gal (0.35 L)In the mid-range price bracket, the best car vacuum we've tested is the Dyson V8. The handheld-only Car+Boat variant includes everything you need to clean a car, like a turbo brush, a combination soft-bristle brush and upholstery tool, and a crevice tool. It's less powerful than the newer Dysons, but it still offers good performance picking up debris from automotive fabric using its turbo brush. To keep costs down, the Car+Boat variant doesn't include an extension wand or floorhead. If you manage to find another model with these household accessories, it'll be pretty helpful around the home as well.
However, its vertically oriented dustbin makes it taller than most stick vacuums, where the handheld configuration is shorter and longer, so it'll be harder to get into tight spaces. The battery technology it uses is quite old, so you won't be able to clean much of your car at full power, and it takes a very long time to recharge if you misjudge and the battery runs out. Finally, like other Dysons, it doesn't feel like the most solid build, with thin, fragile-feeling plastic that creaks and flexes.
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Best Budget Car Vacuum
Cars8.1Low-Pile Carpet Pickup7.5Pet Hair Furniture Performance4.0Range10Storing8.8Vacuum TypeHandheldCordlessYesBaglessYesSee all our test resultsVolume0.11 gal (0.40 L)The best budget car vacuum cleaner we've tested is the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+. It does an excellent job of handling debris on flat, hard surfaces and is impressively effective in dealing with messes on carpeting and floor mats. While this isn't the smallest handheld vacuum, it's still compact enough to stow away easily on a garage shelf or even in the trunk of your vehicle. It's also very lightweight yet still feels solidly built. Its dirt compartment is quite large for a handheld model, so you won't need to empty it after every cleaning session. The CH951 variant comes with a crevice tool for dealing with debris in tight corners and a miniature turbo brush.
Unfortunately, the brush is bulky and has difficulty picking up pet hair on fabric surfaces. Another downside is its meager 10-minute battery life, which is pretty poor, even by the standards of other handheld vacuums. The battery isn't replaceable, so you can't swap in a new pack if performance degrades over time. Finally, this vacuum is terrible at sealing in fine particles, which can easily escape from its exhaust.
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Best Cheap Car Vacuum
Cars8.2Low-Pile Carpet Pickup7.0Pet Hair Furniture Performance5.0Range10Storing9.1Vacuum TypeHandheldCordlessYesBaglessYesSee all our test resultsVolume0.16 gal (0.60 L)The Black+Decker 16V MAX dustbuster Cordless Hand Vacuum is the best cordless car vacuum we've tested if you're looking for the cheapest vacuum that'll do the job. Its integrated extension wand/crevice tool makes it easier to clean tight spots, like between car seats, your center console, or the depths of cup holders. It also has a built-in hard-bristle brush for scrubbing away stuck-on dirt from seats or any plastic surfaces, and the brush stows away when not in use, so you don't have to worry about misplacing the attachment. It's cheaper than the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+, uses a less expensive filter, and has an even higher-capacity dustbin that you won't need to empty as often. Despite its bulkier size, it still doesn't weigh much, so you can easily carry it wherever you need it.
Unlike the Shark, it doesn't come with a turbo brush attachment, making it a little annoying to clean larger carpeted or upholstered areas, like seats or carpet mats. It also takes much longer to recharge than the Shark and has a similarly short battery life of around 10 minutes. Another common downside it shares with the Shark is that its battery pack isn't replaceable; you can't swap it out without disassembling the vacuum first.
Recent Updates
Feb 05, 2026:
We shortened all sections for better readability. We added the Dyson V15 Detect as the 'Best Car Vacuum,' the Dyson V12 Detect Slim as the 'Best Upper Mid-Range,' and the Dyson V8 as the 'Best Mid-Range.' We reorganized the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ as the budget recommendation, and the Black+Decker 16V MAX dustbuster Cordless Hand Vacuum as the cheap recommendation. We removed all other recommendations and Notable Mentions.
Nov 14, 2025:
We made slight text adjustments to further clarify product details.
May 02, 2025:
We've verified that our recommendations are available and represent the best choices. We also made small edits for clarity.
Mar 20, 2025:
We replaced the mention of the Wyze Cordless Vacuum with the eufy HomeVac H11 due to availability. We also made some minor text adjustments.
Jan 23, 2025:
Removed the Hoover ONEPWR Cordless Hand Vacuum from the Notable Mentions because it isn't available. Added the Black+Decker dustbuster AdvancedClean+ Pet as a Notable Mention. Small text changes for conciseness and clarity.
All Reviews
Our recommendations are based on what we think are currently the best full-sized and the best handheld car vacuums that we've tested. We don't just base our results on overall performance but also on factors like availability, price, and reader feedback.
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our vacuum reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no vacuum is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.