How to save money on car maintenance

The content of the article:

• Reducing fuel costs
• Inexpensive repair shop
• We buy spare parts ourselves
• Minor repairs
• We reduce the cost of insurance
• Self-service car wash
• Little tricks

In those "golden" times, when oil prices exceeded $ 120, none of the Russians even thought about saving. Many people bought expensive cars with powerful engines and high fuel consumption. But times have changed. There is a crisis in the country, and it has become very costly for many car owners to service their "iron horse". In this case, you can either sell a car and use public transport, or start saving. The last option is still more correct. Moreover, it is not so difficult to save on car maintenance.

Reduce fuel costs

Naturally, the biggest cost item for any car owner is fuel costs. It is with the reduction of these costs that you need to start the process of saving.

According to statistics, an average car owner drives about 20,000 km per year on average. If this value is multiplied by the consumption of the car and by the price of fuel, then you get a decent amount. She may even shock some. However, any driver can reduce fuel costs and save part of the family budget.

In this case, the best solution would be to buy a more economical car. However, if you already have a car and don't want to change it, you can use the following 10 recommendations on how to reduce fuel costs:

• Keep your car in good condition. Any malfunction increases fuel consumption. For example, a worn out motor increases fuel consumption by 20%, clogged filters by 10%, and so on.
• Free the trunk from unnecessary things. This will reduce the weight of the machine and reduce consumption. Some drivers install roof racks on their cars. But is it advisable to do this? If there is no special need for this, it is better to remove it. This will save about 10% on fuel.
• Use the most economical driving mode. Smooth gear changes and a quiet ride (without harsh acceleration and braking) will help save up to 30% of fuel.
• Observe the manufacturer's recommended tire pressures. Reducing pressure increases fuel consumption. But it is also not worth pumping the wheels, because this increases the load on the suspension, which will lead to its rapid deterioration and costly repairs. In addition, an over-inflated tire can burst when driving. Therefore, you must carefully monitor the tire pressure. It should be normal.
• Drive with closed windows and off the air conditioner. Opening the windows leads to an 8% overconsumption of fuel, while the switched on air conditioner increases the consumption by 15%.
• When waiting for a long time, turn off the engine. Traffic jams should be avoided. It is better to take a longer route than to get stuck in a traffic jam. An hour of idle time in traffic jams in terms of fuel consumption is equal to travel 60 kilometers along the highway. There is a Yandex Traffic Service that will help you understand which roads have congestion.
• Do not warm up the engine for a long time. In this case, a rich fuel mixture enters the engine cylinders. A couple of minutes is enough for the oil to warm up, and you can start moving. Warming up the engine for a long time is a waste of gasoline.
• You should turn off all unnecessary things (headlights, foglights, music) in the car, as this leads to an increase in fuel consumption by 5-10%.
• Use only quality fuel. Some motorists think that they will be able to save money if they fill in the AI-92 instead of the AI-95. However, they are wrong. The price of these grades of fuel differs by about 5%, while the AI-95 allows to reduce consumption by 10-15%. It is also important to refuel only at proven gas stations that offer quality products. After all, the poor quality of gasoline can cause expensive repairs. Then all your savings will be down the drain.
• Follow different promotions at gas stations and use bonuses. Many oil companies offer interesting loyalty programs that allow you to refuel for 5% less. Therefore, drivers need to buy fuel at a discount. Only in this case, one should not forget about the quality of the fuel.

If you follow at least some of the above tips, you can reduce fuel costs by 20-30%. And this is a significant saving in your personal budget.

Find an inexpensive but high quality repair shop

Cooperation with official dealers costs a lot of money. If you want to save money, you should refuse their services, especially if the warranty period has long expired. Therefore, the car owner should start looking for a good and inexpensive car service. Do not think that this is an easy task. However, the Internet makes searches much easier.

Almost every model that is sold in Russia has a fan club on the network. There are many forums where the same car owners communicate. They can advise on a good workshop. Some services receive the status of "club", and their owners value such fame, which brings them more money. Service in such workshops is often of high quality and reasonable price. And this is exactly what is needed for those who want to save money. Just do not go to extremes and go to unnamed garage workshops in pursuit of savings. The local craftsmen can seriously harm your car.

Buy spare parts and other consumables yourself

Workshop workers love it when car owners trust them to buy parts. After all, they make good money on this, inflating the cost of spare parts. However, in this case, the owner of the car overpays a lot. If you decide to save money, this practice should be abandoned.

It is necessary to independently purchase all spare parts, oil and other consumables, and pay service workers only for the work they have done. This will save you a lot of money. You just need to find out where other owners of the same car as yours are buying parts for it. Automotive forums and fan clubs will again help with this. It is enough just to ask a question, and you will be sure to be prompted with the address of a good spare parts store in your city. Surely the service station workers themselves buy parts there. Therefore, you will not pay them a significant mark-up.

Some parts can be easily replaced with non-original counterparts. As a rule, a copy is much cheaper, but its quality is absolutely not inferior to the original. Therefore, before buying a spare part, you must definitely find out whether a non-original part will fit.

In workshops, in addition to mandatory work, they often impose additional ones that are completely unnecessary. You should not immediately agree to such additional work. At the same time, the car owner needs to understand what kind of work is needed, and what masters are imposed on purpose in order to earn money.

Do some repairs yourself

Workshop services (not even official) still cost decent money. But you can change oil, filters, candles, brake pads or headlights on your own, without going to a car repair shop. And for this it is not necessary to master the skills of a mechanic. It is enough just to read the operating instructions for the car and consult with other car owners. But it will save a lot of money, because you have to deal with minor repairs all the time.

Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Surely your grandfathers and fathers repaired their cars on their own.Many zealous Americans and Europeans repair their cars themselves, because this saves their personal budget.

Reduce the cost of insurance

Buying an insurance policy, a car owner can save a lot. It is worth talking to different insurance companies and asking them how you can reduce the cost of the policy. And such a possibility exists. For example, you can take advantage of a franchise. Then, in the event of minor damage, the owner himself will fix the breakdown. This will reduce the price of the policy by about a third.

Some insurance companies provide a discount if an alarm is installed in the car or the car spends the night in a guarded parking lot. Sometimes insurers pay half of the insurance premium if the car did not get into an accident during the CASCO validity period.

Wash your car yourself

Why go to a car wash when you can wash your car yourself? Just do not give up bathing your "iron friend" altogether. Will come out more expensive. After all, the reagents that are actively sprinkled on the roads lead to corrosion of the body metal. Therefore, the car needs to be washed regularly, only you need to do it yourself. To do this, it is enough to purchase a special shampoo and washcloths. These funds are inexpensive. But additional savings in the family budget are guaranteed.

Discover the talent of Kulibin

Experienced car owners know some tricks to avoid overpaying. For example, all motorists use antifreeze fluid. However, not everyone knows that you can make it yourself. The main component of anti-freeze is isopropyl alcohol, which can be purchased at hardware stores. You can get twice the amount of antifreeze from the concentrate for the same money.

You can also save on wipers. In winter, rubber blades suffer from extreme temperature fluctuations. But don't change the brush assembly. It is better to buy just rubber bands, because the metal frame lasts a long time. Elastic bands are cheaper than assembled wipers.

You can talk to experienced drivers, and they will surely share their saving secrets with you.

As you can see, you can save on car maintenance, and this does not require much effort from the driver. Moreover, you need to think about saving not only in a crisis, but constantly. Why throw extra money on a car, if, with a competent approach, these funds can be spent on yourself or your loved ones.