Preparing for possible car repairs is part of owning a vehicle. But with rising costs, this part of car ownership can become stressful. Even so, it is still possible to cut down on your auto repair expenses. With that in mind, here are some helpful tips that you may want to consider:
Consider an Extended Warranty
An extended car warranty can help you finance your auto repairs. Finding the right provider starts by reading about the experiences of different people like those on Sherpa Auto Transport reviews. This type of warranty can help pay for car repairs you may need at any time; a comprehensive extended warranty can provide more help.
You can bring your car to an accredited shop. Then, the mechanic can contact your provider about the repairs. A good provider can send the payment for the repairs right away and you won’t need to worry about paying anything.
Your provider can also send a towing service if your car breaks down. The towing crew can bring you and your vehicle to the nearest acknowledged shop. This is a good thing if your car breaks down at night or during ungodly hours. Sometimes, car repairs can take longer than a few hours. A comprehensive extended warranty can cover your lodging, food, and car rental services as well.
Fix It Yourself
Even if modern vehicles are more challenging to repair, there are still many car maintenance actions you can do yourself in your own garage. In many cases, you can go to an auto store and buy any parts you may need, including filters and wiper blades. The same applies to rear light and headlight bulbs. Online instructional videos to help you get it done. Doing so can help you set aside money for more serious repairs down the line.
Befriend a Mechanic
Knowing which garage in your area can handle the issues likely to occur in your car can make it easier to resolve them. Knowing at least one of the mechanics in that shop can prevent unnecessary procedures that can cost you more.Having a regular go-to garage can make car maintenance easier as well. By building rapport with a trusted mechanic over a long period of time will often result in courtesy car checks at no extra charge, thereby ensuring your car is always in top running condition.
Beware of Maintenance Upselling
Unfortunately, there are always going to be a mechanic out there who will try to upsell his customers here and there. To help avoid this, always be specific when telling the mechanic what service you want; and consider getting a second opinion before committing to additional repairs you’re not sure you need.
Compare Estimates
As mentioned above, it never hurts to get multiple opinions; calling up the different garages in your area can provide you with estimates. Doing so will help you determine which mechanic will provide the most reasonable price for the services or repairs that your car needs. Asking family, friends, and colleagues for their preferred mechanic can help you decide as well. In many case you can also go online for estimates and go from there.
Visiting the shops in your area can also give you an idea of how equipped they are in caring for vehicles. Updated repair equipment may qualify the shop as reputable. Then again, your car may not need high-tech tools for many basic maintenance and repairs.
The Bottom Line
You don’t need to be an expert on cars and auto repairs to save money for future serious repairs. Getting an extended warranty and strategizing can help you set aside a good amount. Knowing the basic concepts about your car and getting multiple estimates can also keep you from losing money at the auto shop. By faithfully following these tips, you can reduce a lot of stress the next time your car needs a little maintenance.
Photo Credit: stock photo
Eliminate repairs. Buy a horse. 😉
I cannot believe that you are actually recommending an extended warranty. And this is a personal finance blog!! Extended warranties/service plans are the highest profit items sold by dealers and other rip off artists. That’s why such high pressure sales tactics are used. Less than 20% of policies ever pay off. These policies have all kinds of restrictions, deductibles, mileage limits etc. etc. A consumer will come off way ahead by escrowing the cost of the premium in a savings account to protect against emergency repairs. Shame on you Mr. P for recommending this worthless piece of “insurance.”
Whoa! Hold on now.
I agree with you; extended warranties are usually a bad deal – but it depends on the circumstances.
For example, it actually may make sense to buy an extended car warranty if you drive a car in harsh conditions – or if you can’t afford the risk of an unexpected large repair bill (which is the theme of this article). I know if I couldn’t afford a large repair bill, and my income depended on my car to get to my job, I would insure that risk by buying the extended warranty. After all, that is the very essence behind all insurance policies: covering large potential expenses you can’t afford to pay for yourself; the fact that you may never use it is irrelevant.
On the other hand, it almost never makes sense to buy one for car tires.
Likewise, if you have an electronic product, it usually doesn’t make sense considering their reliability is generally excellent. Then again, an extended warranty makes perfect sense if that electronic product is, say, an expensive game console used by a child who is tough on his toys. I used to buy extended warranties for my son’s game consoles and it was well worth the money, as he ended up damaging three of them over the years.
Anyway, I’ve tackled all of these topics before here, here, and here. Oh … and here too.
So, to be fair, it’s always important to take a step back and understand the context of the article – which was not written by yours truly, by the way! 😃