Driving Tips to Lower Vehicle Maintenance Costs
Driving can, at times, become an expensive proposition. Your vehicle needs regular maintenance and has repair requirements pop up over time. You have to pay fluctuating fuel prices to get where you need to go. While you cannot control all of it, you can take steps to reduce the cost of the driving you do every day. Aside from car pooling or public transportation, you can alter some of the ways you drive to keep your costs to a minimum.
Watch the Road
The roads on which you drive can be fraught with peril. Every big bump you hit throws off your balance and wheel alignment. Over time, this can damage your suspension and shocks, and jar your vehicle’s components until they begin to work less efficiently. To protect your car, you need to do more than avoid running into other drivers. Potholes have become more of a nuisance to drivers over time; the more you can do to look ahead and avoid them, the better your vehicle’s condition will remain. Similarly, torn tires and other debris that other vehicles can drop create problems you should try to avoid. Finally, keep an eye out for any animals that may be approaching the road.
This can be easier at some times than others. Still, you can take steps like getting high-quality headlights and replacing old windshield wipers to ensure you have good visibility from your vehicle, day or night. You can’t avoid everything, but you can set yourself up to avoid many everyday perils.
Save Gas
Similarly, the way you drive can lessen the impact of changing gas prices. Your vehicle comes with an EPA standard gas mileage estimate, but how closely you come to that number depends on a multitude of factors. If you drive at steady speeds, and keep those speeds down, you can improve your gas mileage by ten percent or more. If you reduce your use of air conditioning or avoid driving with the windows down, you can further improve those numbers.
Some aspects of this depend on where you drive as well. City driving has more starts and stops, and generally gets you lower gas mileage than highway driving (unless you own a hybrid). Still, you can take steps to reduce the impact that gas prices have on your budget, based on just driving more conscientiously.
Regular Maintenance
Finally, getting regular maintenance on your vehicle helps immensely. Check and maintain your oil and transmission fluid levels, and change your air filter regularly. The more you do for the health of your vehicle, the more you save: in gas mileage and in the cost of critical repairs. You spend a little to maintain your car, but the return on that tiny investment pays for it tenfold in costs you do not incur.
Understanding what you can control when you drive helps you get the most from your vehicle, at the lowest cost possible. Drive carefully and conscientiously, and there is no reason driving should break your budget.
Taking care of your car requires you to work with someone you trust. McKinney Motor Company serves the Albuquerque area with skill and integrity. We want to help you maintain your vehicle and your confidence in us, so we work with you to perform the maintenance and repair work you really need to keep going safely. You can count on McKinney to take the best care of your automotive maintenance needs. Call us today (505) 298-6734 to schedule an appointment and stay safely on the road.
