68 car parts: Essential vocabulary in Spanish

If you’re a car geek, then car parts in Spanish will be a snap. If you’re like everyone else, car parts are just something you have to know because you drive a car. You might even have to learn the names of some things in English before you can memorize the word in Spanish. Whether you’re renting a car to drive one of GQ’s coastal road trips in Mexico or trying to repair your vehicle in a Spanish-speaking country, vocabulary about car parts in Spanish is a useful word set to have ready.

Not all countries use the same words for car parts in Spanish. A car in Spain is called coche, but in Chile, it’s called auto, and in Mexico the word is carro. In Colombia, a windshield wiper is a plumilla but in Mexico, it’s a limpiaparabrisas. Our list of car parts in Spanish will give you a strong foundation in general words for car parts in English and Spanish.

• External parts of a car in Spanish
• Internal parts of a car in Spanish
• Verbs to talk about car parts in Spanish

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External car parts in Spanish

Let’s start with the outside parts of the car. 

	Spanish	English
1	parabrisas	windshield
2	espejos laterales/retrovisores	side mirrors
3	limpiaparabrisas/plumillas	windshield wipers
4	rejilla delantera	grill
5	parachoques/paragolpes delantero	front bumper
6	parachoques/paragolpes trasero	rear bumper
7	llanta/cubierta	tire
8	rueda	wheel
9	rines/llanta	rims
10	carrocería	car body
11	manija exterior	door handle
12	puerta delantera lado conductor	driver door
13	puerta delantera lado pasajero	passenger door
14	puerta trasera lado conductor	rear driver-side door
15	puerta trasera lado pasajero	rear passenger-side door
16	luz trasera	tail light
17	luz delantera	headlight
18	luz direccional/señalero	turn signal
19	faros/luces niebla	fog lights
20	cajuela/baúl/valija	trunk
21	cofre/capó	hood
22	techo solar/techo panorámico	sun roof
23	techo descapotable/convertible/cabriolé	convertible top
24	techo	roof
25	portaequipaje	rack
26	antena	antenna
27	placa/matrícula/chapa	license plate
28	pintura automotriz	auto paint

Internal car parts in Spanish

Let’s move on to the internal car parts in Spanish.

	Spanish	English
29	asiento delantero	front seat
30	asiento trasero	rear seat
31	volante	steering wheel
32	velocímetro	speedometer
33	cuentakilómetros	odometer
34	filtro de aire	air filter
35	filtro de aceite	oil filter
36	batería	battery
37	distribuidor	distributor
38	radiador	radiator
39	alternador	alternator
40	frenos de disco	disk brake
41	transmisión	transmission
42	mofle/rumble silenciador	muffler
43	aceite	oil
44	gasolina	gas
45	bujía	spark plug
46	cinturón	seatbelt
47	palanca de cambios	gear shifter
48	acelerador	gas pedal
49	pedal de freno	brake pedal
50	pedal de clutch/embrague	clutch pedal
51	guantera	glove compartment
52	soporte de taza	cup holder

Verbs to talk about car parts in Spanish

Buying/fixing car parts

	Spanish	English
53	Busco…	I’m looking for…
54	Me puede arreglar…	Can you fix…
55	Se falló/rompió [algo]…	[Something] broke… (how to use “se” in Spanish)

Driving or riding in the car

	Spanish	English
56	¡alto!/¡para!	stop!
57	avance	go
58	tenga cuidado	be careful
59	modere su velocidad	slow down
60	acelerar	to accelerate
61	abroche su cinturón	fasten your seatbelt
62	gire a la derecha/izquierda	turn right/left
63	no invada la ciclovía por favor	don’t invade the bike lane please (imperative tense for a command)
64	subir al coche	to get in the car
65	bajar del coche	to get out of the car
66	apagar el coche	turn off the engine
67	encender el coche	start the car
68	Me atropelló el coche	The car ran me over/hit me (past tense in Spanish)

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Final tip to find car parts in Spanish online

This list of car parts in Spanish is a good starting place for anything automotive-related. As with other vocabulary, the words may change depending on the country. Not to worry. My best tip to check for local vocabulary of car parts in Spanish is this: go to the website of a local online retailer and search one of these terms above. When I need to talk about car parts in Spanish in Mexico, I use the local mercadolibre.com.mx website. Mercado Libre is also the most popular site in Chile, but it uses the mercadolibre.cl domain; Argentina uses .ar, Colombia .co and the list keeps going. This is important to keep in mind because adjusting the domain for each Latin American country is what will get you the right terms for the items you’re looking for, even if the website has the same name. Find your national online retailer using the domain of the country you’re in!

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