The Ultimate Subaru Crosstrek Accessory Guide For 2023 (10 DIY Options For Every Budget)
Here’s ten essential items for your Crosstrek that you can install without even visiting a shop.
By Ben Boxer
Last updated on February 16th, 2024
One of the first things most of us begin planning when a new car shows up in our driveway is how we want to modify it. Some people may want to install strictly cosmetic modifications while others want accessories that help with off-road capability. Both are great and we’ve got a decent list to help anyone trying to upgrade their Crosstrek.
After polling our readers, browsing through Reddit threads, poring over sales reports, and trying countless products for ourselves, we’ve found some of the best possible accessories for Crosstrek owners. Whether you’re looking for gift ideas or trying to add some finishing touches to your Subaru, this list should point you to some of the coolest ideas. The best part is that none of these items require visiting a mechanic to install. They can be done at home and with basic hand tools.
Our Top 10 Picks For Best Crosstrek Accessories:
For anyone who’s planning to take their Crosstrek offroad, a skid plate is one of the first modifications recommended by most seasoned enthusiasts. I personally run Primitive Racing skid plates and they have saved my engine and transmission from countless rocks and stumps. They are very lightweight, protect your undercarriage, and take about 5 minutes to install. I’ve even noticed that they make driving through the snow a little bit easier as they help prevent snow from gathering up under the oil pan and below the other engine components. It’s almost as if you “float” through things a bit easier with them on.
We run transmission skid plates, engine skid plates, and rear diff guards. If you had to choose one, a front skid is a good place to start. A CVT guard should be next, and then a rear diff guard.
This cool little storage container takes about 30 seconds to install and replaces the empty factory plastic cover. Most people use it to store coins for parking meters. But it can be used to hold any small items you may need to hide or keep handy.
I keep my Teraflex tire deflators in my coin holder. I split them in half and they fit perfect!
Our readers have said that these handy dog barriers are one of the most useful items they’ve purchased. They’re a direct fit for our cars and can help keep your best friends safe in the rear of the vehicle. This not only helps keep your car clean, but can protect both you and your pets in the unlikely event of a collision.
A good set of crossbars will allow you to install a wide variety of roof-top accessories on your Crosstrek. From light bars to roof baskets, these OEM style bars will help you get started! They’re very easy to install and look completely factory.
If you plan to take your Crosstrek off-road, a winch bumper is a great investment. Even though it is one of the more expensive items on this list, we think it’s a great way to add front recovery points and offering a place to mount a small winch. This is a must-have for off-road and outdoor enthusiasts!
Since the Crosstrek doesn’t have strong recovery points from the factory, this makes driving offroad much safer. Installation does require trimming the front bumper, so it’s not for the faint of heart but it can be done at home.
We run these battery kits in all of our Subarus. They allow you to run some of the most reliable, powerful batteries in your car. Once we installed winches, lights, and other accessories on our cars, we wanted to make sure we had reliable power no matter what. They used to require drilling, but now MeLe has created a direct fit Group 35 option specifically for Crosstrek owners!
They make kits for a wide range of batteries such as Antigravity, Full Throttle, Odyssey, and Braille. They’re sure to have something for your Subie!
A trunk area cargo net is essential for keeping your items safe and your car clean. We’ve used these to keep our muddy hiking boots from sliding all over the trunk. It’s also handy for collecting any junk that you may find out on the trails. Sometimes we try to pack out any old soda cans and other litter that we find. It stays put in the net and doesn’t slide into our other gear.
Roof baskets are one of the best ways to free up some interior space. You can safely carry shovels, jacks, extra fuel, or recovery boards in a roof basket. There are a ton of good options, but the Yakima roof basket is a great entry option that has industry leading fit and finish. They are much less likely to rust or crack at the welds. Yakima products are what I prefer to use for my Subarus.
The Yakima products also have a wide range of accessories available. Things like spare tire mounts, extension sections, and tower locks make Yakima baskets great for the long term.
A word of caution from personal experience: try to avoid putting a lot of items up here unless you need them. Large bulky items will reduce your aerodynamics severely and hurt your gas mileage.
This is one of the most popular accessories among our readers. These little dust covers can keep your interior looking almost new. Once dirt and dust get into those little cracks, it’s nearly impossible to get it out! They’re really inexpensive and take about 3 minutes to put throughout the car.
The door cups on most cars experience the most scratching of any part of the vehicle. These door cup guards are easy to install and don’t cost a lot. This can help maintain the value of your Crosstrek should you ever want to sell it.
While there are a lot of good all-weather floor mats available for the Subaru Crosstrek, the Husky Liners and the Weather Tech mats are two brands that give so much more coverage than the majority of options. They’re super affordable compared to paying for expensive interior detailing and are made specifically to fit the Crosstrek. If you ever use your car for anything besides in-town driving, you need all-weather floor mats.
We have a set of the Husky Liners on our Outback and love them. The only downside to them is that when you reach down to open the fuel door, the mats can be poky. We just shaved off a couple of the spikes around the fuel door release and that fixed that issue.
Hopefully this list will help you as you begin customizing your Crosstrek. There’s a huge number of options available for modifying Subarus. But these are some of the ones we found to be most helpful and popular with people. If you’ve found a really helpful accessory, let us know! We’d love to hear what you think.
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