You can save a lot of money on your car expenses – thousands of dollars a year. The more cost-saving measures you adopt, the more money you’ll save.
Maintenance manuals for many cars suggest you should fill the tank with premium fuel. Often you can get away with a lower grade without hurting your engine or your performance. Check with a mechanic to see if you can downgrade; the savings of 10-20 cents per gallon can easily add up to $100 or more for the year.
There are several other things you can do with your car to save money that can add up to a hefty savings over the span of a year.
Properly inflate your tires – Check them once a month; otherwise, you’re wasting gasoline, risking a blowout and wearing them out more quickly. This simple move can help prevent an accident and provide you with better traction. It could also give you better gas mileage. Underinflated tires can cost you 1-2 miles per gallon.
Replace your air filter – A dirty air filter causes an improper fuel-to-air mixture, which ruins fuel efficiency. Replacing your dirty filter can improve mileage by as much as 10%, or 15 cents per gallon. It’s easy to replace your filter yourself. Buy it on sale at a discount auto-parts store rather than having a garage or dealer replace it. Replacement is simple, a 5-minute job. A good schedule for new air filters is every other oil change in a dusty climate; elsewhere at least once every 20,000 miles.
Don’t drive aggressively – Hard accelerations and aggressive driving can cost you as much as 33% of your efficiency on the highway and 5% in the city. That adds up to 7-49 cents per gallon. Keep it under 60 – Gas mileage suffers badly at speeds above 60 mph. Every 10 mph above 60 mph costs you an additional 10 cents per gallon.
Clean out your trunk – Those golf clubs you pack around every day (despite the fact there is snow on the ground) cost you. Every 100 pounds of extra weight costs you 1-2% fuel efficiency.
Check your gas cap – About 17% of vehicles have a gas cap that is either damaged, loose or missing the Car Care Council estimates. Without a proper cap the gas in your tank vaporizes, and so, too, does your money. (For more tips on turning your gas guzzler into a sipper, see Getting A Grip On The Cost Of Gas.)
Tags: auto, cutting expenses, saving money
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