5 Ways to Prevent Your Car from Becoming a Money Pit

Maintaining your car can be an extremely expensive obligation in both the short run and the long run. This is especially true if you let your car turn into a money pit that drains your wallet. The good news is that there are ways to save money on your car expenses and make sure that your car is not burning a hole in your wallet. Here are five ways to prevent your car from becoming a money pit.

Save Money From the Start

It is quite easy to save a substantial amount of money over your car’s lifespan just by searching for a lower financing rate and purchase price in the first place. Another great way to save thousands of dollars during your car’s lifetime is to effectively evaluate the specifics of your car. This includes its estimated cost of repairs over its lifetime as well as its fuel efficiency. In the long run choosing a car whose parts are cheaper to replace and who has decent fuel consumption can save you a huge amount of money in the long run.

Comparison Shop For Your Car 

When it comes time to buy a new car, it is crucial that you buckle down and do some extensive comparison-shopping. In order to do this, visit and call a minimum of five car dealerships in order to obtain price quotes. It is also a savvy move to let them know you are also calling their competitors in order to ensure you get the best quotes possible. To avoid having your money drained from an expensive car insurance policy, it is also important to do the same when it comes to applying for insurance. You can save a significant amount of money on your car expenses simply by find the best possible price on your car insurance as well as the most extensive policy.

Avoid Parking and Speeding Tickets

Everyone wants to get home from work as quickly as possible, however this may come at the cost of getting very expensive speeding tickets due to going over the speed limit. Make sure that you slow down and follow all traffic rules in order to avoid having to pay traffic tickets. It is also critical that you pay attention to parking signs and always pay the meter before it runs out of time. Although this may seem obvious, many people waste money simply by being negligent.

Go Easy on the Pedal

In order to save money on your car and avoid spending a huge amount of money on gas then it is a good idea to go easy on your accelerator. Keep in mind that each time you press down on your accelerator, your gas consumption is increased by a substantial amount. Another means to save money on your fuel is to ensure that you pump your gas yourself and that you always use the lowest octane that your car can handle. By combining a well-tuned engine with cheap fuel and decent tire pressure, you can save a couple hundreds dollars every year simply on fuel expenditures.

Get Good Prices on Your Car Accessories

In order to avoid spending a drastic amount of money on car expenses then it is a good idea to ensure that all of the accessories you need to purchase in order to make your car run smoothly are purchased at the lowest possible price. To do this, try buying in bulk and looking for deals on car products. This includes engine oil, batteries, spark plugs, mats, air fresheners and winter tires. Buying these things when they come on sale or in bulk can save you a good amount of money.

Finances - 17 Apr, 2014 - No Comments