6 Ways to Save on Car Maintenance Costs Without Compromising Quality
When you buy a car, you should be prepared financially, not just for the purchase price but also for the cost of maintenance. Depending on your driving habits, you might end up spending more money keeping your car in good shape than buying it in the first place.
Of course, even when it gets to be a little costly, as a car owner, it’s your responsibility to take good care of your car. This way, you can avoid larger expenses like hospital bills brought about by accidents involving your poorly maintained vehicle.
The good thing is that there are many ways to save on car maintenance without being too cheap and compromising quality and safety. If you want to lower the cost of your car’s upkeep over time, this article will provide six tips to help you save on your car maintenance costs without compromising quality.
Find a Reliable Car Parts Supplier
When a car part gets damaged, you usually have two options: repair or replace it. Depending on the situation, there are times when repairing the part is not possible or will end up costing more than a replacement. In case such a situation happens to you, it’s best to have a reliable car parts supplier that can provide you with the correct component at a reasonable price.
Of course, you also have to consider whether you want to buy aftermarket or OEM parts. OEM stands for “original equipment manufacturer.” If you buy OEM car components, this means the car’s manufacturer makes them.
OEM parts, sometimes called factory parts, are often more expensive. However, they’re guaranteed to have an exact fit. Most of the time, OEM parts also come with longer warranties; you may even get free labour, depending on the part and the amount of work needed.
The downside of factory parts is that the manufacturer may eventually stop producing them. If this happens, the price may skyrocket, or you may not find anything.
On the other hand, aftermarket parts or generic parts are made by manufacturers other than the car maker. This means that they can get relatively cheap. You may also have more options, especially if your car is a popular model.
That said, you need to be careful about your source so you don’t get substandard components that break easily and will cost you more money in the long run.
Label Your Tyres
If you want your car’s tyres to last longer, you need to rotate them every 10,000 to 12,000 kilometres. This way, you can spread out the wear and tear more evenly across all four (and the spare, if you have a full-size one).
To keep track of your car’s tyre rotations, learn the right pattern depending on your vehicle. For front-wheel drives, follow the forward cross pattern; for rear-wheel drives and 4WDs, you can use the rearward cross or the X pattern.
Then, label the tyres with their corresponding position or number and take note of which tyre is in which position before you send your car to the garage. Once your car is back from servicing, check if the tyres have been moved around correctly.
Inflate and Balance Your Tyres
Another tyre-related maintenance tip that can save you a lot of money is inflating to the recommended pressure. Both under and over-inflated tyres pose many risks, so it’s best to keep your tyres inflated properly as much as possible.
You can check the owner’s manual or the sticker on the inside of the driver’s side door for the correct kPa (kilopascal) or psi (pounds per square inch) of air pressure.
It’s also important to have your tyres balanced about once a year. Doing this will prevent premature damage to your tyres’ treads and your car’s suspension system.
Know Your Schedules
Your car has a lot of maintenance schedules to follow. Aside from the tyre rotations and balancing mentioned above, you also need to know when to change the engine oil, top-up fluids, and bring your car in for preventive maintenance, among others. All of these schedules are indicated in your owner’s manual.
Following your car’s recommended maintenance schedule is even more crucial if your vehicle is still under warranty. If you don’t keep up, you might end up voiding the warranty.
Don’t Use Premium Gas
Unless otherwise stated in your owner’s manual, you don’t need to gas up with premium, high-octane fuels. These are formulated for high-performance engines, so your daily city driver doesn’t need more expensive petrol products.
Drive Carefully to Save on Insurance
When you drive carefully, you not only keep yourself, your passengers, pedestrians, and fellow drivers safe; you also drive down the cost of your insurance.
This is because of the so-called “no-claim” bonus, which is a kind of reward from insurers to low-risk drivers. Because you’re a conscientious driver, you don’t cost the insurance company a lot of money, so they can afford to give you lower rates as well.
What’s even better is that you can enjoy larger bonuses the longer you don’t make any claims. Of course, this is dependent on the offers of your insurer. Ask your insurer if they have no-claim bonuses or other rewards for not getting into accidents.
However, note that some insurers “punish” you with a higher premium during your next coverage period if you have a no-claim bonus in effect and then get into an accident; your claims may also be limited to certain incidents. Be sure to clarify such details with the insurance company.
As you can see, you can keep your car in good shape in many ways without breaking the bank. Try doing the above-mentioned suggestions if you aren’t yet. You might just get surprised by the amount of money you’ll save on car maintenance.