Do you have any genuine tricks for keeping/maintaining a car that are frugal?
Could be anything from getting a deal on a car wash, or keeping the interior nice, or keeping the engine or tires or anything really in good order.
Also, are there any things you used to be able to do frugally with your car which has changed to be more expensive–maybe due to auto manufacturers changing how cars are designed?
(I’m asking this so if something used to be frugal but isn’t now, people speak up about it.)
Never drive in a hurry. Seriously what’s the rush? Don’t ever crash and you’ll save a ton of money.
Dashcam. For $80 you can fight back against your insurance company when they try to screw you out of thousands!
It used to be economical to do my own brake pad changes, but since about 2015 getting the lines bled correctly after (on an American car) requires a special computer that isn’t available to the public.
Let’s all support better “right to repair” laws.
Edit: Don’t let my comment keep you from doing your own brake pads. As pointed out - a brake line bleed isn’t typically needed when just doing brake pads.
No need to bleed anything when changing pads and discs.
True… If nothing else is wrong.
I have driven some truly shitty old cars, so I tend to forget that, since I’ve needed a brake line bleed as often as not.
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Maintenance is critical for a long and drama free life for a vehicle.
Stay on top of changing your fluids. Oil changes are a lot cheaper than a new engine (plus labor) or any other big component of your car, like transmission or radiator. Change your engine oil (about every 5K miles), transmission fluid, engine coolant, brake fluid (every 3-6 years), diff fluid (if you have a differential), transfer case fluid (if you have a transfer case), and power steering fluid (if it’s hydraulic based)
If you live in a salty area (i.e. a place that snows a lot), learn how to apply Fluid Film or any oil-based thin film for rust prevention under your car. It’ll keep the car going for a lot longer and fluid film is a lot cheaper than a new sub frame or structural component of your car
Service manuals from the manufacturers are available for subscription, but if you know where to find them, I’d be curious to see, because my search engine skills have gotten worse as time has progressed. I think Toyota and Honda sells their subscription for 2 days of access for $20 and you should be able to download the relevant PDFs you want
As for appearances for you car, don’t eat or really keep anything in your car, unless it is for the car and its emergency kit. So I try to take everything out of the car with me if my car doesn’t need it like clothes, groceries, or anything like that. This makes car break-ins less likely to occur, and if it does, it’s more of a bad day or two (depending on your skillset/money you have) instead of a gut-wrenching moment when you realize they stole a sentimental valuable. Don’t park under trees to avoid leaves or tree sap. Neither under power lines because of bird poo
Remember that cars are depreciating tools to get you from point A to point B. The most important part of it is that it’s mechanically sound and the safety features for it work. The next part is that it blows cold AC and hot air for heat. Anything beyond that is a bonus
I’ve bought hail vehicles exclusively for about 15 years. The savings aren’t what they used to be in the current used car market, but you can still save a solid 20% on the price of the car.
I’ve been able to own lower mile/better quality/higher trim cars that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford by doing this.
What’s a hail vehicle?
A hail damaged car that was totaled out by the previous owner’s insurance, making it technically a salvage title vehicle.
Late model vehicles tend to be readily totaled out since body work is so expensive. Insurance companies don’t want to dump >30% value of the car into repairing cosmetic damage, put it back on the road, and then risk having to throw more money at the same vehicle again if another incident happens. They’d rather cut their losses, replace the car totally for their client, and then get what they can out of the damaged car at auction.
In mid-summer, after thunderstorm season, you can even get totaled dealership cars with like 70 miles on them. Mechanically pristine, but cosmetically banged to hell.
Back in the day, you could get them at nearly half their sticker price. Nowadays, it’s not that cheap, but they’re still a great deal and I swear by them.
A vehicles with damage Fram hail, usually supweficial dents in the topside.
Hail is not cheap to fix. We got relatively minor hail damage on one of our cars this year, the bill was over $8000. That was all just dents - no glass, no trim, no lights, no mirrors. I bet hail cars with no other problems get totalled all the time.
It’s often a scam though. When the insurance pays, the solution is always very expensive. if you have to pay out of your own pocket, many mechanics will be able to find cheaper (but not always as good) alternatives.
I witnessed a dent repair that would cost 20 times more at through the insurance than if the local mechanic had his dent expert come in and fix it.
I have a K&N air filter. Much cheaper than re-buying paper air filters.
I also do my own oil changes. This is a HUGE savings and I use better oil/filter than most shops ever would (Mobil 1).
In terms of performance, a K&N is the way to go, but if you’re looking for reliability, the regular old paper filters are better for your engine. They’re a much finer filter medium and catch a lot more dirt than a K&N will. Also the price difference is negligible, a paper filter is usually around 15-20, while a K&N is closer to $50 or $60 plus the future $30 or so for a recharge kit to clean and re-oil it.
When it comes to oil changes however you’ve definitely got the right idea, cheaper with better oil and better filters. Also I do know that K&N uses a finer mesh in their oil filters than most compettitiors, so its worth it there.
