Car Maintenance

My dad tried to teach me car maintenance when I was little, but I wasn’t interested. When I became a car owner and no longer had my dad close by, I wished I had listened. I’ve had to teach myself some of the simple stuff, but it’s been well worth the savings. Take oil changes, for example. You can pay Jiffy Lube $35 to do it or you can buy the oil and filter at Walmart for around $15 and do it yourself in 30 minutes. Sure, it’s only a $20 savings, but it’s the little stuff that adds up. There are even bigger savings associated with changing spark plugs and wires, brake pads and rotors, engine air filters, cabin air filters, and other things that are relatively simple. You can find instructional videos on youtube for all of these tasks or you can swallow your pride and ask for help from a friend. There’s a bit of cost up front to get some of the tools, but it pays itself off quickly.

I’m interested to hear what other types of car maintenance readers have done to save money.