Preserve Your Carpet and Protect Your Investment: The Best Floor Mats of 2024, Tested

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Try as you may, you can't stop the onslaught of dirt and water onto your vehicle's floorboard. That debris settles into your carpets, causing stains, mildew, and possibly permanent damage. Now more than ever, as new materials and sizing options offer precise, model-specific fits, floor mats can be pivotal in protecting your car's carpet from a slow death—and preserving your vehicle's resale value. But even the best armor has its pros and cons.

The Gear Team installed five different floor mats into various vehicles in Car and Driver's long-term test fleet. We'll be monitoring all of these over the coming weeks and months, comparing fit, wear and tear, cleanability, and more in an attempt to determine the best of the best. If you're thinking about new floor mats for your car or truck, stay tuned to find out which ones we recommend. In the meantime, here's what we know now.

NOTE: As of January 2024, this article summarizes our initial impressions of the five floor mats we are currently testing. These are not our test results. This article will be updated with our findings when the Gear Team's long-term test is complete.

Do I Need Floor Mats?

The main objective of a floor mat is to protect your vehicle's factory-installed carpet and, therefore, preserve the value of your vehicle. (We've all seen that WeatherTech commercial with the annoying salesman who changes his tune when he notices the floor mats n a potential trade-in.) Using floor mats not only prevents damaging substances from getting onto your carpet in the first place, but it also saves you time on cleanup.

Carpet is the floor covering of choice for most car and truck manufacturers because it improves insulation, deadens sound, and comes in various colors. However, carpet is a fibrous material that soils easily and is vulnerable to wear.

Dirt can get in from anywhere, but the real culprit in car-carpet wear is moisture. Moisture does more than just stain carpet; left to soak in, it can cause mildew and mold growth. Floor mats create a barrier between moisture and your vehicle's carpet, preventing the premature aging of your carpet and possibly protecting your health. (According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "molds produce allergens, or substances that can cause allergic reactions, irritants, and in some cases, potentially toxic substances, a.k.a. Mycotoxins.")

Another common compound responsible for grime is the road salt and ice melt used to clear snowy and icy roads, parking lots, and driveways. These products contain chemicals that damage carpet, such as calcium and magnesium carbonate, that can leave white stains. This alkaline residue not only attracts more dirt and grime but is also destructive to the fibers of your carpet if not cleaned immediately.

Lastly, if you're not the type to clean and vacuum your carpets routinely, you're leaving them vulnerable to premature wear. If car carpets aren't frequently vacuumed, dirt, sand, and grit will nestle into the small fibers, causing them to tear slowly and wear out faster. Additionally, this ground-in grit is the perfect breeding ground for mold and bacteria.

Things to Consider When Buying Floor Mats

Fit

All of the floor mats featured in our test are make- and model-specific. When you order yours, enter the correct year, make, and model of your vehicle to ensure the correct fit. You'll also want to consider if the mats have a feature that keep them locked in. For example, do they have cleats to hold them in place? Or perhaps clips that connect the mat to the trim? Either way, you'll want to ensure they are as secure as possible.

Cleanability

With fitted mats, cleaning your car's footwells is easy. How easy mats are to clean will depend on their groove depth and pattern, the cleaning products used, and good-ol' elbow grease.

Cost

While the cost of decent floor mats such as the ones we tested is an upfront investment, we don't recommend skimping on price. Rubberized mats protect your vehicle from carpet wear, tearing, and mold, which can be costly to repair.

Protecting the Resale Value

The visual condition of your vehicle is one of the most important factors when considering resale value. The better shape the floors are in, the higher the resale value.

Here's a preview of our Best Floor Mats test and review, coming soon.

Custom Fit FloorLiners

Test vehicle: Hyundai Ioniq 5

WeatherTech has several lines of floor covers, but for our purposes, we decided to test their best-selling line, the FloorLiner. According to WeatherTech, the FloorLiner uses a patented High-Density Tri-Extruded (HDTE) material. We're not exactly sure what that means, but "really hefty material" is probably a good working translation. Not only does WeatherTech research, design, manufacture, and test on their own products, but it's all done in the U.S. It is a remarkable achievement, considering it can be hard to trace the production and origin of a product nowadays.

During installation, getting the mats anchored with the OEM footings was rather tricky. But once they were on... *chef's kiss* perfect fit.

Weatherbeater Floor Liners

Test vehicle: Honda Accord

The Husky Liner WeatherBeater floor mats hit all the marks of what you would expect to see in a carpet protection solution. The walls of the floor liner cover the front, sides, and rear of the footwell, and cleats on the underside of the mat keep it from slipping and sliding. Husky Liners are affordable and laser-measured; installation only took about five minutes, and the mat settled perfectly into the footwell contours. We noticed a few gaps along the door side, but we're hoping that settles over time.

With Husky Liners, you get an extensive make/model selection, but most notably, Husky Liners are guaranteed to last the life of the vehicle. This is a significant perk since it is a guaranteed one-time investment.

Custom Fit Floor Liners

Test vehicle: Rivian R1T

We love SmartLiners floor mats and their extensive range of liner products. Upon unboxing, it was clear that the rubber-plastic and polythene blend used in their mats created a sturdier, more rigid feel compared to the other products. All the mats in this article form a "tub" for water retention and protection, and SmartLiners stood out as the "tubbiest" of all.

Installation in our long-term Rivian truck was simple and a definite upgrade from the OEM mats, especially regarding water protection. Given that the Rivian is exposed to a lot of dirt and water, the SmartLiner has its work cut out for it. However, with its robust material, we believe it will do just fine.