The Odd, Gross, Suspicious, and Sentimental...

Cars can get ... messy. Sometimes, embarrassingly so! I'm not proud to admit that I've let breakfast drinks pile up in my car before. The items left in cars can get a lot crazier than that, though. Let's take a look at some of the strangest things people have found in cars.

(This should make you feel a bit better about the state of your vehicle! But seriously, keep your ride clean—we recommend Waterworks Car Wash! And I'm working on taking my own advice, I promise.)

Laundry Detergent

According to a submission on Car Throttle, a new owner of a used Mitsubishi Gallant found a large quantity of suspicious loose white powdery substance in the vehicle. The owner reached out to the police, who discovered after conducting tests that it was, in fact, only laundry detergent. While it luckily wasn't anything illicit, it's definitely odd the previous owner had so much loose laundry detergent hanging out in their car.

A Cat

I couldn't even imagine how or why someone left their cat in the car. This information also comes from Car Throttle. Maybe the cat snuck into the car without the owner knowing? Or maybe it was a stray that somehow got in? Regardless of how this happened, it's definitely pretty crazy.

A Handgun

And yet another submission to Car Throttle shows what bizarre items have been left behind in cars. According to the submission, they found a rusty handgun with a couple of rounds! They definitely weren't practicing safe gun ownership guidelines. 

A Moldy Watermelon

This one is just gross. Reader's Digest shares the story of a woman who accidentally left behind half a watermelon when taking her car to the repair shop, that she had intended to eat over the weekend. Unfortunately, when she picked up her car the melon emitted a horrific smell and produced a brown liquid that was ready to burst out of the plastic wrap. Ugh! We've all been forgetful before, but maybe this will at least be a cautionary tale when it comes to avoiding moldy fruit.

An Ultrasound

WGN9 told the story of a long-lost ultrasound that was found in a used car. A woman named Elyse Peterson was surprised when she found a letter from a used car dealership, containing the first ultrasound image of her daughter, from two years prior. The General Manager at the dealership could read the name on the images and discovered that they belonged to the Petersons, who had previously leased the vehicle. The Petersons were incredibly grateful that he took the time to do this for them!

Fish Heads

Let's round things up with another icky one from Reader's Digest. A mechanic who was working on a transmission repair in Dallas was unsettled when he noticed an unfortunate odor. After looking around the vehicle, he discovered that the smell was coming from the backseat, where there was a pile of oozing fish heads with bulging eyes. To make things worse, because it was summertime, it was 100 degrees. Nope, nope, nope.

So there you have it! These are a few of the oddest, grossest, and most suspicious items people have left behind in their vehicles. As 2022 comes to a close, take the time to clean out your own ride. While you may not have cats or fish heads hiding in there (or maybe you do), there's probably some junk that's taking up too much space.

Cleaning your car can be quite a task, so definitely stop by Waterworks Car Wash! Their meticulous detailers will leave your car uncluttered and disinfected, looking like it just left the lot! 

Let's keep our cars clean! That might just be my New Year's Resolution.