Dyson Car+Boat Review: Small But Powerful Dust and Dirt Remover

When we talk about vacuuming, we tend to think of carpets and/or hardwood flooring. But the grime-busters among us will know it’s not just large surface areas that harbour dust and dirt. 

What about the boot of your car? How about the nooks and crevices in your caravan? Or the crumbs that lurk at the back of your sofa?

Well, that’s where the newly launched Dyson Car+Boat steps up to the task. 

To compare the Car+Boat against our top recommendations, see our round-ups of the best vacuum cleaners and the best Dyson cordless models.

While I don’t have a boat (unsurprisingly), I do have a car that collects dust, seemingly just because it can. I also have stairs that often get overlooked during a deep clean, and a sofa with plenty of spaces to conceal crumbs.

While the jury is still out on whether this portable vacuum is best for boats – after all, it can’t be used to pick up water or other liquids – after putting this heavy-duty device to the test in my car and other long-forgotten spots, I can confirm that the Dyson Car+Boat V8 gets rid of dirt, debris and even microscopic particles of dust you didn’t even know existed. 

Rebecca Shepherd / Foundry

But before you dash out to buy this dust buster, just know if you’ve already got a Dyson V8 vacuum cleaner, the Car+Boat is almost identical.  

Design & Build

• Looks smart: heavy-duty and aesthetically pleasing 
• Weighs 1.9kg
• Dimensions: 20.6 (H) x 13.1 (W)x 33.1cm (L)
• Doesn’t have an ‘on/off’ switch, just the dreaded trigger 

Dyson has its branding on lock. I say this because you could put the Car+Boat in a lineup and without seeing the logo you’d still be able to tell it was a Dyson. As you might expect, the Car+Boat comes in the brand’s classic grey, purple and red colour scheme and it feels really sturdy. 

The Car+Boat is part of the V8 Dyson family. The eagle-eyed will have spotted the Car+Boat’s build looks pretty similar to the Dyson V8 vacuum. At first glance, it’s pretty much identical, with the same two suction power modes and ‘point and shoot’ bin emptying mechanism. 

Rebecca Shepherd / Foundry

The key differences I’ve spotted are that the Car+Boat has an extra 10 minutes of run time, it’s 64g lighter and it doesn’t come with a long stick wand, floor heads or a docking station. The Dyson V8 also costs £80 more than the Car+Boat. 

Instead, the Car+Boat comes with three separate attachments. These include the crevice tool (to use in tight spots, like between your car seats), a mini motorhead (best used for your mattress, stairs or sofa) and a combination tool (which is a great all-rounder). 

Rebecca Shepherd / Foundry

The Car+Boat has an easy-to-remove filter at the top, which ‘lifts off’, and a second at the back of the machine which ‘twists off’. At 1.9kg, the smart-looking vacuum isn’t too heavy, especially if you’re only using it for quick tasks. It’s also relatively small, so you can fit into most gaps. 

Rebecca Shepherd / Foundry

I only have two gripes about the Car+Boat’s design. First, it doesn’t have an on/off switch. Instead, you use the dreaded Dyson trigger to power it. This can be a little uncomfortable to hold down, especially if you’re vacuuming for longer than 10 minutes. 

Second, while the 0.54L transparent bin is generous for a handheld vacuum, emptying it is a different story. To release the trapped dirt inside, you’ll need to pull the red tab at the top of the machine up until it ‘clicks’.

But before you do so, place your handheld vacuum over a bin because it automatically pops open the compartment, freeing all the mess inside. You’ll need to give the red ‘release’ tab a harder pull than you might expect. That said, after a few tries it becomes less clunky. 

Performance & Features

• Effortless to set up 
• Powerful 115 AW suction, which captures 99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns (which is tiny!)
• Long, five-hour charge time 

Before using your vacuum, you’ll need to charge it. There’s a blue battery indicator light on the side of the machine. Leave it plugged in until the indicator fills up and and it’s good to go. 

I ended up using the crevice tool and then the mini motorised head to tackle my car. The crevice tool was ideal for weaving down the side of seats, in the footwell, underneath the chairs, collecting stones, mud and dirt as it went. The mini motorhead was best for the boot.

Rebecca Shepherd / Foundry

I used the ‘Max’ mode for the sofa cushions and stairs and it shocked (and slightly horrified) me at how much dirt and dust I could see mounting up in the bin before my eyes. And this is all down to Dyson’s powerful performance, which packs a punch.

The motor spins at 110,000 revolutions per minute, which in layman’s terms means high speed. The hefty 115 AW (air watts) of suction power and filtration levels are top-class. Its filter can capture 99.99% of airborne particles that are 0.3 microns or larger and the sheer amount of dirt and dust collected in the bin is a testament to the Car+Boat’s effectiveness. 

But what’s great about the Dyson Car+Boat is that it won’t just tackle the dirt you can see, it will also tackle fine dust invisible to the naked eye. The kind that’s embedded in sofa cushions after years of use, mattresses, stairs and car seats. So performance-wise, it does the job. 

But all this power does come at a cost. The real performance issue I had with the Dyson Car+Boat is that it takes up to five hours to fully charge. This sort of goes against the ‘quick’ clear-up nature of a handheld – and I know I’d find this even more frustrating if the battery gave up the ghost halfway through a cleaning session. 

But that said, this didn’t happen when I used it. You get a solid 50 minutes of run time but much less if you use ‘max’ suction mode. This should hopefully be more than enough time to vacuum the smaller surface areas that it’s intended for. And if you really needed to clean for longer, you’d use your main vacuum, right?

Price & Availability

The Car+Boat is priced at £249.99 in the UK and costs $279.99 in the US.

Buy it from the Dyson UK website and Dyson demo stores now. In the US, you can get it from Dyson online.

For a handheld, this is pricey and you’ll know whether or not you really need a dedicated cleaner for vehicles and hard-to-clean spots with this kind of suction power. But if you do, it’s a very good option – and it costs less than the full size V8, which comes with a wand and floor head.

That being said, the V8 is a much older model and there are often deals available which will let you scoop one up for less than a Car+Boat. Bear in mind that the standard V8 is a little heavier in handheld mode and has a shorter battery life.

If you already have a Dyson V8 are a later model and are happy with it, it’s cheaper (and more environmentally friendly) to just invest in the mini motorised tool head. This is the only attachment it doesn’t come with, and it’ll just set you back £45. 

To see our top recommendations across all types of vacuum cleaners, see our round-ups of the best vacuum cleaners, the best wet and dry vacuums and the best robot vacuums, all of which have been tested and reviewed by the team.

Should you buy the Dyson Car+Boat?

If you’ve been after a powerful, hard-wearing, does-the-job portable handheld vacuum for some time, the Car+Boat is an excellent specialist cleaning tool. It does all the hard work for you, getting long-lost crumbs out of car crevices and disturbing amounts of dust out of furniture and hard-to-reach places – which is where its powerful suction stands out from the crowd. 

Just remember that this portable device will take five hours to charge. So I’d recommend charging it after you’ve used it because there is nothing worse than reaching for your handheld vacuum to tackle a quick clean-up job and finding it powerless. Plus, the Car+Boat doesn’t come with a docking station. If that bothers you, you’ll need to pay out an extra £25 for one. 

All in all, the Car+Boat offers a highly powerful cleaning solution for ridding dirt from spots that might otherwise be left to their own dust-ridden devices. I just can’t help but be curious, however, to know whether boat owners will say so too. Answers on a postcard, please!