How to save money on car repairs.
Some years, repairs to a vehicle can cost more than keeping everything running in tip top shape in your home. To keep the expenses involved with maintaining a vehicle down to a minimum, many recommend doing the repairs yourself. If you have never worked on a car, and don’t know much more about servicing a vehicle beyond filling it with gasoline, you should be relieved to know you live in the age of the internet.
There are walkthroughs, guides, and how-to videos for just about everything related to car repair and best of all, they’re free. A small investments of just a couple hundred dollars in tools could mean savings of thousands of dollars the next time there’s a repair needed on your vehicle. You don’t need to know everything about a car to follow clearly written, illustrated instructions on how to fix on or its problems. A little time, a little patience, the internet, and a printer will help you make repairs you never thought you could make. Heck, after a couple years, you could roll your new knowledge into new money and become somewhat of a backyard mechanic.
Here are some tips to save money on car repairs and maintenance.
- If you bring your car in for an oil change, don’t let them talk you into letting them replace your windshield wipers, “flush” any of your systems, replace any lights without you verifying they’re out or any other random service. Odds are, if it’s daytime, you don’t need to use your headlights so if you verify that one is out, just drive yourself to an auto parts store and buy one for a fraction of the cost of what you will be charged for the part and installation at an oil change place. Most times, the employees at the auto parts store will install it for you free of charge. Auto parts stores usually have a policy of installing many other car parts they sell, like windshield wipers. The cost of a part from the auto part store will be a mere fraction of what you would have paid had you let the oil change people sell you the part and install it.
- Find out exactly what the problem is. Never go into an auto shop and describe your car trouble as some type of noise you try to mimic. This is especially true for women. You might as well just give the shop a blank check. Instead, when there’s a problem with your car, use the internet to research the problem. When you think you know what it is, or have an idea what it is, write down that information and present it to a car repair person. See what they have to say then research that and see if it makes sense.
- Get multiple quotes and estimates. What could be diagnosed as a $500 damaged rotor that needs to be replaced at shop #1 could be a $150 repairable rotor at shop #2.
- Befriend someone who knows about cars. I’m not saying you need to be best buddies with someone just because they know how to work on cars, but it couldn’t hurt to know at least someone with a heightened understanding of how an automobile works, its problems, and how it can be repaired.
- Look into getting an extended automobile warranty from a reputable company. This is a relatively new service that’s been getting more and more exposure in the form of advertising. You could save huge money on a major repair like a new or rebuilt transmission. Here’s one for example: www.GettMogi.com Free Auto Warranty Quotes & Information
- Don’t drive aggressively. There’s no better way to make sure you’ll frequently need repairs and maintenance than by driving aggressively. Driving aggressively wears out brakes, tires, and many other parts of your car. You’ll also be spending more money buying gas and you’ll be much more likely to get in an accident. I hear spinal chord injuries can be expensive.