One of my biggest pet peeves is the auto mobile market. This is from the cars you buy to the oil that helps them run. Car parts auto mechanics even windshield wiper fluid can be too pricy. Here are some automobile maintenance secrets you can try to save a lot a of money and keep your car on the road at huge discounts.
#1 Avoid buying name brand oil and synthetic oils. I am probably the only (uncertified) mechanic who will say this but listen to my reasoning. Besides the fact that oil has risen quite drastically to 6 or 7 bucks a quart. Oil hardly comes down in price when the market does. Which means those greasy (pick your swearword) are making huge and bigger prophets while your stuck paying the same price. 2. How long do you typically keep your car? If your like me you either A. Keep it till it dies or B. From 3-5 years.My wife and I like to upgrade to something different every 3 to 5 years. If I invest in low quality oil for my oil changes and I sell my car in 5 years it will be worth the SAME if I were to use higher grade oil. Dealers and Kelly blue book don't care. If it runs and drives with no mechanical issues it will be worth the same. Lastly oil has improved. You don't need to change it every 3000 miles. Even with Supertech oil (my favorite) you can change your oil every 5000 miles. Even one more thing. Off brand oils are made by name brand companies. Look it up. Lastly buy your oil at Walmart. They are the cheapest. Again I like supertech.
2. Going along with the subject of oil. Have you ever had a car or truck that loses a quart or 2 durring that 5000 miles in between oil changes? Why not use the oil from your previous oil change to get you by till your due for your next oil change. It still has lubricating abilities and most likely you have a thousand or less miles till your next oil change. Simply make a filter out of a 2 liter soda bottle and a power aid or gator aid bottle. Cut the 2 liter in half and fill it with 4 or 5 sheets of paper towels or napkins. Place on top of the sports drink bottle. Carefully pour the used oil into the top of the soda bottle funnel being careful to not overfill. Then wait. It takes a few hours to filter but with little effort on your part. I don't do this every oil change but when I'm in a pinch or whenever I find it more valuable I will use this trick.
3. Avoid buying windshield wiper fluid. I put this on here because the ingredients in windshield wiper fluid are much cheaper than what a gallon cost. Summer blend especially is extremely cheap costing as much as a few pennies to make. Simply mix one teaspoon of dish detergent with 1 gallon of water for your summer blend. Winter home made blends do smell a little if you chose to make it with vinegar or isopropyl alchahol. You can YouTube or look up directions online
4 Batteries. Most of us simply cannot avoid buying a battery. We will need to replace them more than once in our lives. This makes the battery manufacturers very happy. But seriously again this is another part of our vehicles that seem to go up in price without any rhyme or reason. The main materials to make batteries are lead plastic and sulfuric acid. All three are not expensive materials. So before you run to the auto parts store, try a few revival meathods. Recharging with a slow charger, flipping the battery on it's side several times and even a mixture of Epson salt and distilled water can squeeze a few more years out of a dead battery. I once bought a car with a bad battery. I tried all three meathods and was able to use that battery an additional 3 years until I sold it .
Tires. If you can learn how to change your own tires. This is by far the cheapest way to get tires. You do need to find someone to balance them but you do save alot. Tires are always being sold used with 80% and up tread for up to 50 % off. 2. Try to find a used tire place this again is a good cheap option. I once was quoted 129 dollars Per tire. That was before tax. After doing more research and running out of time I found a used tire place that sold me 2 tires for 80 bucks. That included Everything, mounting balancing and taxes. Lastly try ebay. They have inexpensive brand new tires they will ship to you free. This sometimes can save you alot of dough.
Speaking of ebay. Use Ebay and Amazon to buy your parts. They don't have the same overhead expenses that brick and mortar stores do and they offer free shipping. I typically save 50% or more over other auto parts stores.
Lastly stop buying the best when it comes to replacement parts. All you are doing is buying parts for the next owner of your car. I have hardly had to replace a part more than once durring the entire time I've owned any of my cars. Buy the most reasonable part and let the next owner take care of it.
Hope this helps you save a few bucks.
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