Maintaining a car is almost as important as buying a car. If you don’t maintain it, you’ll have to buy another one! (dj khaled voice). Check out our top tips on car maintenance without going broke.

Educate yourself

What type of car owner are you? A hands on owner who wants to know how everything works? Or would you rather the experts do their job? One of the best ways to save money on taking care of your car is to educate yourself on how to do a lot of the car maintenance yourself. Things like changing air filters, changing the oil, and changing the battery are simple activites that you can save money on by doing yourself. My significant other took her car in to get looked at and was advised that her air filter needed to be changed. They were prepared to charge her 49.99 for this change. We bought the air filter for $10 and changed it at home. 

Find a Mechanic/Shop that you trust

Don’t wait until you need car repair to find a shop that can do what you need. Take a moment and spend some time researching reputable shops in your area. You may even find shops that specialize in your brand of car! When you visit these shops, you may want to verify that all/some of the technicians are ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified.

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Car Maintenance: Purchase from the internet

Buy your own parts off the internet and bring them to the dealer for them to use. You can save a little money here if you find the parts you need for car maintenance or repair on the internet. Be cautious that not all mechanics will allow you to do this. Some mechanics will only use parts from approved suppliers and do not want you to buy some shoddy brakes from a manufacturer in a different country.

Plan ahead to avoid doubling labor costs

There are times when a mechanic may need to remove many parts of your car in order to get to the things they need to fix. If you know that in the area where your mechanic needs to work lies other parts that will go bad soon as well, have the mechanic do both at the same time. This is a more economical solution because labor costs are calculated by the amount of time that it takes your mechanic to complete the job. If the work involves dissasembling parts of your car, you may as well have them kill birds with that one labor stone.

How have you taken care of your vehicle without selling your left kidney? We know dealers and shops can sometimes take a desperate car owner for a ride (literally). Share your best car maintenance cost saving measures in the comment section below!