Four Steps To Making Sure You Keep Car Repair Costs To A Minimum

By : Steve Carr   
Submitted 2010-10-31 15:55:05 Owning a car can be a costly experience, but with the right knowledge and information you can lower the amount of money you spend on your car, with the following four steps showing how you can reduce your potential car repair costs.

1. Become a model specific car enthusiast - it can be difficult to become enthusiastic about cars if you have next to no interest in them. However, you'll often see a substantial benefit in the amount of money that you spend on maintenance costs if you take the time to educate yourself on the exact model that you're driving.

The reason behind this is that some people will drive away from Dodge dealers with a brand new car and as soon as it develops a fault, they'll take it back to Dodge dealers to get it fixed, something which could be costly if not covered under the warranty.

If you had spent a few hours learning about your car and some common faults, there's a good chance that you could determine what is wrong with your car when a fault does develop and if it's something relatively easy to resolve, fix it yourself, without having to pay out the often costly fees of a main dealer's garage.

2. Change the oil and filter every six months - something that's done at your car's annual service, if you find that you cover a lot of miles in your car, perhaps driving up and down the motorway on a regular basis, it's advisable to change your oil and oil filter once every six months.

A process which is a lot easier to do than you probably think, it's simply a matter of taking the lid off your oil tank, unscrewing the sump plug screw or bolt underneath the tank, letting the old oil drain out, unscrewing the filter and screwing a new one in and then topping the tank up with new oil after you've replaced the sump plug.

3. Wash it regularly - understandably, a lot of people only wash their car when it's particularly dirty and in need of a good clean. However, if you drive up and down the motorway regularly, make a journey through a particularly unclean area, such as a building site or you park underneath trees, there's a good chance that your car could be getting overly dirty and it's therefore important that you give the car a good cleaning on a regular basis to remove any dirt that could result in problems developing.

4. Test everything at least once a month - for the most part, you won't have to do anything extra than simply driving the car as you normally would to ensure that you're testing most things on the car throughout the year.

However, it's imperative that you don't neglect certain aspects when the weather changes.

For example, when the winter comes around, it's important that if your car has air conditioning, you put it on for a few minutes once a month. This is not ideal when you could do with being warmed up rather than cooled down, it will ensure that the air conditioning does not become faulty, such as by having mould develop inside it and it remains cool and ready for use once the summer comes around.

Author Resource:- Jardine Motors Group UK operates a large portfolio of specialist franchises of the world's most prestigious marques, including Dodge dealers.

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.