When it comes to car care, our product award winners won’t let you down

We’re a nation of car lovers unlike pretty much any other. New and used, we buy a disproportionate number of hot hatches, and a ridiculous number of convertibles, given our temperamental climate. We’re agnostic and illogical in our love of all types of car.

In general, albeit with exceptions, we also love to take care of our pride and joy, whether it’s a Fiat or Ferrari. Which is why I enjoy reading our product reviews and picking up tips – no-one else goes to the lengths we do.

The annual Auto Express Product Awards bring together 20 categories to pick out the products that will help you keep your car in the best possible shape, looking at value for money as well as overall quality. Several of our winners cost less than £10 – the cheapest isn’t even £5 – and the majority aren’t the most expensive in their segment. But we think they’re the best.

So shop smart, and see which products we’re happy to recommend across all kinds of car care, having given them a thorough going-over. Our long-standing testing legend Kim Adams recently handed over everything from a garage full of old car doors and bonnets (for comparing polishes) through to a stock of dead flies (for assessing car shampoos) to new testing guru Tom Barnard.

And that’s without mentioning things like the freezer space required to see how well screenwash resists icing, or the hours our tyre expert John Barker spends out in the elements at test tracks comparing all sorts of rubber.

I won’t spoil the surprise, but the overall winner is simple, clever, cost-effective and fundamentally great at its job. Hopefully the excellent products we recommend will spur you on to a bit of car care. Or at least some well intentioned shopping, so the right kit is on your shelf for when you do find the time and motivation.   

Because (ignoring the inevitable rain storm or bird attack coming from nowhere in the seconds following a car wash) it’s a simple and wholesome pleasure in life to sit back on a sunny weekend afternoon and look at your freshly gleaming car. There’s just something therapeutic about hard work and shiny reward. And we’ve gone the extra mile to name the best products to get you there.

Click here for our list of the best car cleaning tips...