Where would we be without our cars? After all, they are what help us to get to where we need to go in the mere fraction of the time that it would take to get there by walking or riding a bike (or in some cases, even taking public transportation). And yet, if a lot of us were really honest with ourselves, we tend to take our automobiles for granted. That is until we hop in, put the key in the ignition and either it doesn’t start or we hear a funny sound. Then when we realize that our car needs hundreds of dollars’ worth of repair work, we find ourselves wishing that we did better when we came to its maintenance.
If you can relate to where we are coming from, this is the ideal article for you. That’s because below, we are going to provide you with five ways to save money on annual car maintenance fees. That way, you can be proactive when it comes to caring for your vehicle so that you won’t have to be quite so concerned about spending a lot of money should it happen to break down.
Get a mechanic on referral. Something that everyone needs is a good mechanic. And when you can find one on referral, you can usually trust that they will do a good job and also charge you a fair price. So, when it comes to saving money on car maintenance, looking for a reputable mechanic is our first recommendation.
Regularly check on some things. Did you know that there are four things that you can check on your own that can help to keep your car in tip-top condition? The first thing that you should do is keep up with how often you should get your oil changed. It’s standard that you should do it every $3,000 miles. Also be sure to check your transmission fluid. If you happen to notice metal shavings or that the fluid has become dark and cloudy, take it to a mechanic just as soon as possible. It’s also important to look at the treading of your tires and have them professionally rotated at least twice a year. Finally, be sure that your dash lights and headlights all work. If they’re dim or off, it could be something as simple as needing a new fuse or it could be something more serious like a wiring problem. Either way, the sooner you can detect an issue, the less money it will cost to get fixed.
Learn to do some maintenance work on your own. Thanks to websites like YouTube, there are some things that you can do on your own like changing your oil, spark plugs and windshield wipers. When it comes to extensive work, we definitely recommend going to an auto repair shop. But by learning how to do smaller tasks, it can most certainly keep a few extra dollars in your pocket.
Search for deals. If you were to ask The Car People Supermarket for some tips on how to save money on car maintenance, one of the things they would probably tell you is to look for discounts to auto repair places via promo codes and coupons. You can do this by going onto websites like Coupons or Retail Me Not and also by signing up for the mailing lists of places like Auto Zone and Firestone.
Know how to change your own tire. Pretty much all of us have experienced a time when we had a flat and needed to call AAA or a tow service simply because we either didn’t have a spare or didn’t know how to change a tire. You can avoid the fees that come with towing services by always having a good spare tire in your trunk and knowing how to change your own tire. For tips on learning how to do so, visit DMV.org and put “how to change a tire” in the search field.