Car ownership is not exactly cheap. In fact, it is second only to the cost of housing and takes a considerable amount of your paycheck. There is the cost of the loan plus the insurance, gas, and repairs. It is inevitable that there will be some unforeseen expenses as well. This means that it makes sense to look for ways to lower your car repair ownership expenses.
One of the most obvious ways to save on car repairs. Even though there will always be something to fix or maintain, you don’t always have to pay a lot for those things. In this article, we will go over some of the best ways to save on car repairs.
1 – Get the extended warranty
When you buy a new or used car there is usually an offer to buy an extended warranty. Many people turn it down because they don’t want to spend any more money on the car. The thing to realize is that the warranty can end up saving you a lot of money in the long run.
The original warranty for a new car is often just long enough to expire right as there are problems that start to happen. The first few years of a car’s life will be mainly repair-free since the only time repairs are needed is when there is a part that was defective due to a manufacturing defect. This is exactly what a warranty is meant to pay for.
By extending it, you are effectively covering the period when things are naturally going to start going wrong with the car. Since labor costs at the mechanic are so high it makes sense that the money that you pay for a BMW extended warranty will pay for itself with the savings.
2 – DIY repairs
You may feel intimidated to do some repairs on your car yourself. If you aren’t handy at all it can seem like you’d do a bad job. Thanks to Youtube tutorials, you can now learn how to do a lot of simple repairs and maintenance yourself.
For instance, doing an oil change is something that anybody can do even if you’ve never done any type of car repair in your life. It only takes a few minutes and the only special tool you need is the one to replace the oil filter. Since you need to do this a few times per year it can end up saving you hundreds of dollars per year in labor costs.
3 – Keep it maintained
Prevention is the best medicine and since maintenance costs far less than repairs it makes sense to keep them from happening. If you keep your car on a regular maintenance schedule you will save money in the long run.
By doing things like keeping the oil changed regularly and changing the brake pads, and the timing belt according to the owner’s manual recommendations, you are going to avoid having more costly car repairs further down the line.
