Car Parts in Spanish: All the Spanish car vocab you need

Whether you’re planning a road trip in a Spanish-speaking country, or you’re simply a car enthusiast, this post on car parts in Spanish is designed for you.

Today we’ll cover all there is to know about car parts in Spanish, from the inside out. Of course we’ll also go through many Spanish words for parts of the motor and body. Finally, we’ll add some verbs we normally use when talking about cars or driving cars. As always, we’ll include lots of examples for you to see this Spanish car vocab in action.

So buckle up, because we’re about to start our vocabulary engines!

Car in Spanish in Different Regions

Before we even get into specific car vocab in Spanish, let’s just make sure we know how to say car in Spanish. In fact, native speakers use different words for car according to their country of origin. As a bonus, click through for full slang lessons on each of the countries we mention here.

In Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile, people normally use auto when talking about a car. Auto is an abbreviation for automóvil.

Coche is another option for car in Spanish. Coche is the common word in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico.

Finally, carro is another common word for car in Spanish, mainly used in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

Interior Car Parts in Spanish

Now that you’re familiar with the various Spanish words for cars in different countries, let’s dive into the most important terms for interior car parts in Spanish.

Interior car components: English	Interior car components: Spanish
Accelerator	El acelerador
Air bag	La bolsa de aire
Air conditioning	El aire acondicionado
Backseat	El asiento trasero
Brake	El freno
Clutch	El embrague
Dashboard	El tablero, El panel
Door ajar warning light	La luz de advertencia de puerta abierta
Floor mat	La alfombra, El tapete
Gas gauge	El medidor de la gasolina
Gearshift, Shifter	La palanca de cambios, Las velocidades
Glove compartment	La guantera
Hand brake, Emergency brake	El freno de mano
Horn	El claxon, La bocina
Ignition switch	El encendido
Keys	Las llaves
Odometer	El cuentakilómetros, El velocímetro
Rearview mirror	El espejo retrovisor
Seats	Los asientos
Seatbelt	El cinturón de seguridad
Speedometer	El velocímetro
Steering wheel	El volante
Vent	La ventila, El ventilador
Warning lights	Las luces de advertencia
Windshield	El parabrisas

• When Juan saw the warning lights, he braked immediately. – Cuando Juan vio las luces de advertencia frenó de inmediato.

• We honked the horn so that the donkeys would move. – Tocamos la bocina para que los burros se movieran.

• I’m sorry, but the gearshift doesn’t work. – Lo siento pero no funciona la palanca de cambios.

Exterior Car Parts in Spanish

Knowing how to mention the internal elements of a car is as important as knowing the vocabulary related to the external car parts. Let’s see what we’ve got from the outside of cars in Spanish.

Exterior Car Parts: English	Exterior Car Parts: Spanish
Antenna	La antena
Front bumper	La defensa delantera
Back bumper	La defensa trasera
Car grille	La parrilla
Car window	La ventanilla
Doors	Las puertas
Door handles	Las manijas de las puertas
Exhaust pipe	El tubo de escape
Fenders	Los guardabarros
Fog lights	Las luces antiniebla
Headlights	Los faros
Hood	El capó
License plate	La placa, La patente
Roof	El techo
Side mirrors	Los espejos retrovisores laterales
Spare tire	El neumático de repuesto
Sun roof	El techo solar
Taillights	Las luces traseras
Tire	El neumático, La llanta
Turn signal lights	Las luces de giro
Trunk	La cajuela, El baúl
Windshield wiper	El limpia parabrisas

• This model comes with a sun roof. – Este modelo viene con techo solar.

• The things we need for work are in the trunk of the car. – Las elementos de trabajo están en el baúl del auto.

• It was raining a lot, so we had to turn on the windshield wipers. – Estaba lloviendo mucho y tuvimos que encender el limpia parabrisas.

If you want some additional vocab that may come in handy when talking about cars and car parts in Spanish, here are some links to a few of our other detailed posts on other specific topics. We also include several that are specific to travel.

Spanish travel phrases

Airport Spanish

I miss you in Spanish

Spanish-speaking countries

All the countries in Spanish

Spanish weather vocab

It is what it is

Adjectives in Spanish

Colors in Spanish

Physical descriptions in Spanish

Units of measurement in Spanish

Numbers in Spanish

Spanish money vocab

Stop in Spanish

Emergencies in Spanish

Parts of the Motor in Spanish

Now let’s get into more specific technical vocabulary for car parts in Spanish. The following terms may come in handy if you encounter any issues with your car. Our focus here is on the most relevant and significant components of a car engine that you may need to talk about.

Motor parts: English	Motor parts: Spanish
Air compressor	El compresor de aire
Air filter	El filtro de aire
Alternator	El alternador
Battery	La batería
Camshaft	El árbol de levas
Carburetor	El carburador
Coil	La bobina
Crash sensor	El sensor de colisión
Dipstick	La varilla del aceite
Distributor	El distribuidor
Filter	El filtro
Gas pump	La bomba de gasolina
Hose	La manguera
Oil filter	El filtro de aceite
Radiator	El radiador
Spark plug	La bujía
Springs	Los resortes
Thermostat	El termostato
Valve	La válvula
Water pump	La bomba de agua

• The battery is not working any more. – La batería no funciona más.

• The air filter has a hole. – El filtro de aire tiene un agujero.

• You need to change the water pump. – Necesitas cambiar la bomba de agua.

Spanish Verbs related to Cars

In this list, we present the verbs for many of the actions we normally talk about with cars in Spanish.

English car verbs	Spanish car verbs
To accelerate	Acelerar
To back up, To go in reverse	Retroceder, Ir marcha atrás
To brake	Frenar
To change lanes	Cambiar de carril
To check the oil	Revisar el aceite
To drive	Conducir, Manejar
To fasten the seatbelt	Ajustar el cinturón de seguridad
To fill up the tank	Llenar el tanque
To fix the car	Arreglar el carro
To honk the horn	Tocar la bocina
To overtake	Adelantarse
To park	Estacionar
To run out of gas	Quedarse sin gasolina
To shift gears	Pasar los cambios
To slow down	Bajar la velocidad
To speed up	Aumentar la velocidad
To start the car	Encender, Arrancar el auto
To stop	Detenerse, Parar
To stop the car	Apagar, Detener el coche
To turn	Girar, Doblar
To work, To function	Funcionar

• Accelerating in curves is dangerous. – Acelerar en la curvas es peligroso.

• Turning left is prohibited. – Prohibido girar a la izquierda.

• My car is not working. I have to fix it. – Mi auto no funciona, tengo que arreglarlo.

Conclusion: Car parts in Spanish

What a great Spanish car tour! We’re confident that the vocab for car parts in Spanish that we’ve just presented will fully equip you to discuss any situations around a car with adequate detail.

Whether describing a car’s interior or exterior, or even talking about the internal car parts in Spanish, we’ve got you covered with the right vocab! In addition, we listed the most important verbs related to cars and driving.

So whether you’re planning to drive a car in Latin America or simply interested in Spanish car talk, you’re now equipped to discuss cars and car parts in Spanish!