Nothing’s worse than having expensive auto repairs pop up while you are still making payments on your car. Normal maintenance is expected when your car is new. But, anything from wheel bearings, transmission overhaul and engine replacement can be financially devastating. Like a good relationship that has gone bad. It always starts out with that new car smell and running smoothly and ends in bitterness and despair (or disrepair) if you’re not attentive to the maintenance of that beast.
Preventative maintenance, paying close attention to and not ignoring certain signs could save you a bundle in the long run. For example, a catalytic converter, responsible for controlling your vehicle’s emission system, is over a whopping one thousand dollars to replace. Replacement could have been prevented if the spark plugs and fuel injectors were checked and replaced as needed. Smaller things lead to larger things in the end. And that’s just one example of how keeping up with common auto repairs could have saved you money.
Routine maintenance expenses include brake service, oil changes, battery replacement, tire replacement, windshield wiper replacement, tune-ups, timing belt replacement or drive belt replacement. Of course, if you can educate yourself on how to do some of these yourself, it could save you a bundle if you’re on a budget. From my experience, executives don’t look good with grease under their nails. So, leave the common auto repairs and maintenance up to the professionals. Again, not keeping up routine maintenance usually costs more money to fix. Unexpected costly repairs and possibly costly towing expenses.
Unexpected repairs that usually begin to occur one day after your car is out of warranty (isn’t that an odd coincidence?) include shocks and struts, power steering pump, alternator replacement, starter replacement and sometimes internal engine repairs or transmission issues.
On another note, if you are budgeting and trying to cut down on fuel costs, even a missing gas cap leads to fuel evaporating into the environment. Bad for the environment and bad for your budget.
Until next week…
Daun Thompson
Writer / Comedienne / Artist
Common Auto Repairs – Comedy Defensive Driving