Five Steps To Reducing The Amount Of Money You Spend On Car Maintenance

By : Steve Carr   
Submitted 2010-10-31 15:53:21 If you're finding that you're spending a lot of money on car maintenance, check out these five steps to help you reduce the amount of money you spend.

1. Buy a new car - if you buy a new car fresh off the production line, you'll find that you have next to no maintenance costs.

Aside from the fact that almost any problem that the car has will be fixed under the manufacturer's warranty, as the car is so new, there isn't going to be any problems that would need repairing that you would find in some older cars, such as small dents and scratches or worn interior.

2. Have it professionally serviced once a year - it might cost several hundreds of pounds depending on what car you have and whether you decide to go to a main dealer or not, but it's strongly recommended that you have your car professionally serviced once a year.

This may seem like nothing more than a routine 'check up', especially if your car doesn't cover a lot of miles and for some, this is all it will be. However, others will see a distinct rise in performance after a service, whether that's in the way that the car accelerates or in the coolness of the air conditioning.

3. Service it yourself annually - mid-way through the year between your car's last service and its next service, it's advised that you give the car a service yourself.

You don't need to change every part of the car that a garage would change during a service if it's not needed, but it's good practice to change the oil and filter and at least check every other part - the air filter, for example, might not need changing normally, but if you've been driving a lot more miles than normal, you may see an increased level of performance if you do.

4. Wash it regularly - it might sound a little odd, but if you spend the time once a week giving your car a good wash, you can ensure that the paintwork does not become affected by anything that's been spilled or dropped on it, which can occasionally require for you to invest in some high quality - and expensive - paint repair products.

5. Buy official parts - imagine you drove away from Mercedes-Benz dealers six months ago with a brand new E-Class and something - that you can fix - goes wrong with it.

There are two options available to you, with the first being for you to source a replacement piece yourself, whether it's through a specific dealer or an online auction website. This is usually the cheapest option and the parts will often be mass produced and made to fit a variety of different car models.

The second option is to go to official Mercedes-Benz dealers and order the part direct from the manufacturer.

Whilst the first option might seem like the cheapest initially, not only is the second likely to be a lot cheaper than you assume (if the products are coming direct from the manufacturer, they're likely to be sold at a little over cost price), but as it's the official part, chances are it will last longer, unlike the third party one, which might need replacing after the car has been used regularly.

Furthermore, use third party parts and you might be validating your manufacturer's warranty.

5 Ways To Save Money And Lower Your Annual Car Related Costs

By : Steve Carr   

is one of the most expensive things that you can do and although the freedom that a car gives you is priceless, keeping it maintained so that you can go wherever you want, whenever you want unfortunately can bring with it a rather hefty price tag.

However, there are various ways that you can save yourself a small fortune each year on your car related costs and the following 5 points are some of the easiest to carry out.

1. Check your car before it goes in for its MOT - unless you're a car aficionado, it's highly unlikely that you carry out even the most rudimentary of checks before your car goes in for its annual MOT.

However, if you spend less than an hour ensuring that, for example, all of your car's lights are working properly and the fluid levels are topped up, you can save yourself the money of a retest - and the embarrassment of failing on something so minor.

2. Service it yourself - although you won't get a stamp in your log book, if you're planning on keeping your car for years, you could save yourself the cost of an annual service by servicing it yourself.

As complicated as you may think it is, servicing a car is actually relatively easy and as long as you have access to a Haynes manual - or even the internet and YouTube - everything you need to know from how to change the oil to replacing the spark plugs will be covered in an in-depth and easy to follow way.

3. Spend 30 minutes a week maintaining it - the best way to ensure that your car doesn't need any unnecessary repairs is to simply spend 30 minutes once a week maintaining it. Checking the fluid levels and tyre pressures, as well as washing it to ensure no substances damage the paintwork, the 30 minutes will be time well spent and after a few weeks, you'll begin to take it as a given that you have to maintain your car for that length of time and won't miss the 30 minutes from your week.

4. Shop around for everything - whether it's a bulb that needs replacing or all 4 tyres, never take the first price you come across, especially if you're going to a national retailer - although they're popular and have competitive deals, these deals are often only competitive to other major retailers and you could reduce the cost of your purchase by looking around and using the internet or small, local dealers.

5. Only buy what you can afford - it might sound simple and straightforward, but you should only ever buy a car that you can comfortably afford in all respects; not just in the initial price, but the on-going costs, too.

For instance, you might be able to walk into second hand Jaguar dealers and purchase a used XJ, but it's useless if you can't afford the service or repair costs.

Stick to what you can afford and you won't be met with any unnecessary or unexpected high bills.