Save Money On Car Repairs By Going Online

Never ever do cars require repair at a convenient time. At least mine doesn’t - it always seems to have issues when it’s cold and dreadful outside. In my younger years I would brave the cold and fix problems myself. Now that I’m older I usually have someone else do the repairs for me. This past weekend was one of those occasions. We had an inch of ice on the ground and a few inches of snow on top of the ice. Not ideal conditions for working on the car in the driveway.

The Problem - my car’s radiator had a few small holes in it. While not something that needed immediate attention, it is something that should be fixed before it completely fails. So right around the time I started this blog - I bought a replacement radiator. It costs me about $150 less than the garage wanted to charge me for it. You might be wondering how I saved so much. Well - like most anything else - buying car parts online is easy and typically cheaper. I bought my radiator from DriveWire.com because I’ve dealt with them before and have always been pleased. They always have free shipping on orders over $50.

The only other costs that I had to pay were for labor, fluid and clamps. The grand total for that was $80. The entire repair costs were $152. That, I think, is a pretty good deal. In comparison, a local garage quoted me a price of $400. I guess it pays to spend some time looking for better deals.

Have you saved money on car repairs by shopping for parts online?

February 5, 2008 | Filed Under Automobile, Saving Money | 2 Comments 

Paying As Much For The Gas As You Do The Car?

Yesterday while surfing CNN.com, I noticed a breaking news banner at the top of the site which read, “Oil Crosses $100 a Barrel.” Even though oil had approached $100/barrel several times in 2007, this was the first time it had ever actually hit that mark. To me this means that gas will likely approach $4 per gallon soon.

Short of staying home all the time and not driving, here are a few ideas that can save you some money.

  1. Carpool: share the driving responsibilities with others. My wife’s employer pays each employee who carpools to work a dollar. While not a lot of money, we do save a little on gas and earn a dollar at the same time.
  2. Ride a bike: riding a bike will cut your gas bill substantially and also improve your fitness. A win win situation if you live close enough to your job.
  3. Telecommute: work from home a few times a week if your employer allows.
  4. Plan your route: need to make a few trips around town? Plan your trip ahead of time so that you make stops in a sensible manner so you’re not backtracking or going out of your way. Try to combine small trips into one.
  5. Check the air in your car’s tires: underinflated tires waste gas. Make sure that your tires are inflated to the recommended pressures. In cold weather tires will lose 1 psi of pressure for every ten degree drop in air temperature.
  6. Check your car’s air filter: a clogged air filter wastes gas. Usually $10 or less, a new air filter can save you way more than that at the pump.

What do you do to reduce the amount you spend on gas?

January 3, 2008 | Filed Under Automobile | 1 Comment 

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