Amid recession fears, every dollar counts ― and one of the most expensive purchases people make is their car.
But your car can get even more pricey, depending on how you take care of it. Take it from the pros.
“Cars are expensive machines, and how we take care of our cars doesn’t just impact our wallet, it also impacts our safety and the safety of the people around us,” said Chaya Milchtein, an automotive educator, journalist and author of “Mechanic Shop Femme’s Guide to Car Ownership: Uncomplicating Cars for All of Us.”
Everyone should learn and can benefit from these fundamentals that can make you a better driver and car owner. Here’s what mechanics and automotive experts said are some of the best and easiest ways to save money on your car.
1. DO regular car inspections.
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Preventive maintenance can save you from wildly expensive repair bills.
“Biggest way to save money in the long term is to stay on top of preventative maintenance,” said Bogi Lateiner, a master automotive technician and the owner of Girl Gang Garage, a network that provides hands-on training for women in the trades.
“Maintenance is always cheaper than repair, and staying on top of it can help avoid costly repairs,” Lateiner said.
Lateiner recommended doing regular oil changes and fluid services. She noted that getting a regular full inspection is “like a yearly physical for your car.”
2. DO listen to any unusual car noises.
Prevent needing emergency roadside assistance by paying attention to what your car noises are telling you.
Simply listening to your car sounds on a regular basis can save you money on exorbitant repairs. As mechanics previously told HuffPost, some car squeals and chirps are easy fixes, but hearing your brakes grinding, or any consistent clunking or rattling noises can be serious problems you should not ignore.
Here’s a cautionary tale that shows why: Before she got certified as a mechanic, Jill Trotta, who is now a general manager and head of sales for One Guard vehicle inspection services, said that she had an older Porsche that still had working brakes but made grinding noises that she ignored.
“The brake job went from just replacing brake pads to me having to replace the entire system,” Trotta said. “So what should have been a couple $100 was then a couple $1,000 dollars. So that kind of just taught me: When I think there’s a problem, don’t just ignore it and turn the radio up.”
“Your brakes are designed to stop under the worst conditions, so just because it stops doesn’t mean it’s OK,” Trotta continued.
3. DON’T race to a red light.
David Espejo via Getty Images
Racing to a stoplight and slamming the brakes is both costly and unsafe.
Every time you rush to make the next stop light and need to slam on the brakes or the gas, you’re wasting gas and adding unnecessary wear and tear on your car.
“If you see a red light coming in the distance, you don’t need to continue to press on the gas to get there,” Milchtein said. When you see a red light, “start to let off the gas, let the car naturally slow down before you press on the brake. All of those things are going to benefit you.”
4. DON’T idle your car to warm it up.
While you’re talking on the phone and sitting in your car, this idle car is wasting precious fuel. Maybe you got told growing up that turning your car on for a few minutes can help warm up the car faster in the wintertime, but this is not true.
“You do not need to warm up your engine. You do not need to warm up your cabin,” Milchtein said. “In fact, the cabin and the engine will warm up faster if you start driving.”
“You only need about 30 seconds. What I normally suggest is you start the car and then you put on your seat belt and adjust the radio. By the time you’re done with that, a car is ready to go,” Milchtein said.
5. DO plan efficient routes for errands.
Plan ahead by mapping the shortest distance you can drive to do all of your errands at once. “I like to use the Google Maps app and put in all the different places that I want to go,” Milchtein said. With this app, “you can move them around until it’s the most efficient route to get to all of those places.”
“Driving on the freeway is going to use way less gas than in town,” Trotta said as another consideration when mapping routes. “Your highway mileage is going to be higher than your mileage in town, because in town, you’re stopping and starting.”
6. DO check your tire pressure.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, properly inflating your tires can save you as much as 11 cents per gallon on fuel, yet only 19% of consumers properly inflate their tires.
Checking your tire pressure is “a great entry-level maintenance task that everybody can and should be doing themselves,” Milchtein said. She recommended doing this once a month and doing so when the tires are cold.
“It’s for safety, it’s for fuel efficiency, it’s for longevity of the tires. It also gets you in the habit of doing things around your car,” Milchtein said.
Once you have a tire pressure gauge, “All you have to do is just simply unscrew the valve stem cap and press the tire pressure gauge against the valve stem, and you will get a reading,” Milchtein said. Or you can use a digital tire pressure gauge, which is even simpler and easier to use, Milchtein added.
The correct pressure for your tires can usually be found by opening your driver’s side door and looking for a tire information label, Milchtein said: “On that tire information label, you will find how much air your front tires need, how much air your back tires need, how much air your spare tire needs.”
7. DO regularly check your engine oil.
While you are checking your tire pressure, check your engine oil, too. This will save you money over the lifetime of your car and help you catch problems before they get worse.
“You are getting a baseline for what under the hood of your vehicle looks like, what the engine oil of your vehicle looks like, how much oil is supposed to be in your vehicle,” Milchtein explained. “It allows you to add oil if you need oil, but it also allows you to raise that red flag if the oil consistency or color is dramatically different.”
Milchtein said to check your engine oil at least once a month if your car has less than 100,000 miles and doesn’t have any oil- or engine-related problems.
To check your engine oil, turn the car off. Then open the car’s hood and pull the dipstick out from the engine, wipe off oil with a paper towel or rag, and then insert the dipstick back into its tube. Then pull it back out.
The second reading is what you need to pay attention to, Milchtein said: On the dipstick, “find two lines or two markings of some kind ― sometimes there are dots or lines ― and your engine oil level should be between those two markings.”
You can refer to Consumer Reports’ guide on checking engine oil for helpful visuals.
8. DON’T use premium gas your car doesn’t need.
Alex Potemkin via Getty Images
Too many drivers waste money by using premium-grade gas in cars designed to run on regular fuel. Don’t be one of them.
As of September, the difference between regular and premium gas was about 85 cents, according to AAA’s national average gas prices. This adds up to a lot: According to 2016 AAA research, U.S. drivers waste more than $2.1 billion by using premium-grade gas in cars designed to run on regular fuel.
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“There is a misconception by some consumers that using premium fuel or mid-grade fuel in a vehicle that does not require or recommend it will benefit their engine and will benefit their fuel efficiency,” Milchtein said.
But “you are basically just throwing your money down the drain when you do that. So if your car calls for regular fuel, just use regular fuel,” Milchtein said.
These are just a few basic steps that can start to make a significant difference over time in the longevity of your car. Your wallet will thank you, and so will your car.