Unless you live in a very walkable area or can take public transportation everywhere, you’re going to need a car. Even with work from home, you still need to get places outside the nine to five. The good news is there are lots of ways to save money on your car.
Transportation: One of Your Biggest Expenses
Most personal finance experts agree that your three biggest expenses are housing, transportation, and food. Include insurance if you want to add a fourth. Cars fit under the transportation category. If you’re able to cut costs in this category, it leaves you in a much better overall position to pay for housing and food, as well as all the other monthly expenses most of us all face.
Tips to Save Money on Your Car
These are six tips to save money on your car. Other than the first tip to avoid car payments, the rest of them are pretty easy to do without much effort or extra time.
Number 1: Avoid Car Payments Whenever Possible
I’d be remiss if I didn’t make this my first tip–which happens even before you purchase the vehicle. Do whatever you can to avoid car payments. Car payments are an added cost every month that will inhibit your ability to build wealth and spend on things you want in life.
Car payments aren’t just the monthly payment of principal. The big problem is there’s interest every month, which is an extra cost that you will incur every single payment. For example, if you’re paying an average of $150 in interest every month, that’s $150 more you’re spending than if you had paid cash.
That’s money that could be going to food, housing, entertainment, or whatever else you want to do with the money. Point is, it’s money leaving your pocket going to someone else for the exact same product.
Number 2: Find Quality, Inexpensive Gas
Onto the easier tips, starting with finding quality, inexpensive gas. The way to do this is try and be as consistent as possible with where you fill up. There are several options to do this.
My first preference is finding a station close to home. If there is nowhere near home, try to find a gas station on your route to work, or near your work. You want to make it as convenient as possible. The more convenient it is, the more likely you’ll be consistent.
For day to day use, this is a great route to go. Of course if you’re out of town or taking unexpected trips, you’ll have to use random gas stations. But for the most part, this is a plan that can be easily executed.
Number 3: Perform Recommended Maintenance
Spend money to save money is the advice here. I’m never a proponent of spending on the unnecessary, but I see routine maintenance as a very necessary expenditure. I don’t know a ton about cars, but I know these things about maintenance:
- Regularly rotating the tires keeps the tread more even so you can keep the tire longer (plus it’s free at most tire stores)
- Oil changes help prevent a lot of big and very expensive engine problems
- A simple tune up keeps the car running well and helps with things like gas mileage and vehicle efficiency
None of these examples are particularly expensive, but they can save a lot of money. Plus, most cars have maintenance reminders so the car will actually tell you when you need to do certain things.
Number 4: Do What You Can, and Want to Do Yourself
My philosophy with any kind of home project is to do what you can. Meaning:
- It’s not time consuming
- Not a lot of skill is involved
- If I do it wrong, I won’t screw it up too bad beyond a point of no return
Which means I don’t do a lot of home and car projects on my own. However, there are a few things I think most people can do with their vehicles. That would be things like changing out the air filter or installing new wiper blades.
Just a little more skill and people can do things like change the oil. Which is something I’ve done in the past with the help of a friend but haven’t done in many years now.
So figure out what you can and want to do, and do those things. Hire out the rest.
Number 5: Get a Good Mechanic
A good mechanic makes all the difference in car ownership. A bad mechanic can overcharge you, cut corners, put in cheaper parts, and worst of all, not do the job right to the point where you have to take the car somewhere else. And this is just a beginning list.
While a good mechanic will:
- Fix the car right the first time
- Charge a fair price
- Treat you honestly and fairly
- Advise you on what to fix, and what not to fix
In short, a good mechanic will save you money while a bad one might save you some money upfront but end up costing you a lot more in the long run.
Number 6: Find a Good and Inexpensive Car Wash
This tip isn’t going to save you as much money as some of the previous ones, but it will save you a few dollars every month. Find a good and inexpensive car wash.
The first thing is to make sure it’s good. The equipment works well and nothing is going to fall off and damage your car. Or if employees are washing the car, make sure that the place gets good reviews and staff aren’t scratching up your car.
The other big thing is price. Suppose you wash your car three times per month, or every week and a half or so. If one carwash costs five dollars and the competitors charge an average of eight dollars, that’s a three dollar difference. Three washes multiplied by three washes equals nine dollars per month.
For the year, that’s 108 dollars. Not a huge amount, but why pay extra for the same product? Sure, if the more expensive car wash provides a better service, it make sense to pay more. But if it’s the exact same thing, why pay more?
Another option is to wash your car at home. Just be careful here because it might feel like you’re doing it for free, but if your water bill is considerably higher, then you might be better off taking the car somewhere to get washed.
Number 7: EV’s Only: Charge Off Peak
This last tip is for EV’s only. If you’ve got one, set the charging to off peak when you’re charging at home. For most EV’s this is really easy to do and doesn’t require much thought or effort. You’ll pay a lot less per charge.
For example, my off peak time is between 12:00 AM and 6:00 AM. I plug the car in when I park it and the time is already set for off peak charging on the app. I don’t have to do any extra work or put thought or time into it.
I’ve always thought that if you can pay less for the same product, you should take that route.
Related: Should You Buy a New (or Slightly Used) Car? Six Factors
Conclusion
There are a lot of ways to save money on your car, these tips are just the start. I’m not even that knowledgeable about cars but I know enough to implement a few tips that will save me good money.
If you have expertise with cars, you’ve probably got dozens more tips that have saved you good money. As with anything, don’t worry about trying to implement all these tips or scour the internet for dozens more. Start with a few and work your way to as many that work for you.
What other tips do you have for saving money on a car?
