I recently published the article 4 Ways to Save Money on Car Expenses, but I had some more ideas pop into my head while I was in the shower. It seems like everyone I know has those “A-ha” moments when showering. I usually don’t think too much about the cost of the hot water in shower, but I’m going to think about it less if it keeps giving me good ideas..

So with that in mind here are 3 more ideas to save money on your car expenses:

• Go to a mechanic, and avoid the Dealer – I’ve found that the most expensive repairs for cars come from the car dealership themselves. I don’t know what it is, but it feels like every fix costs at least $1200. Alternatively, when I use my local mechanic the price is almost always $300. He goes through and shows me the old part and what happened to it. It’s such a big difference to be able to see the damage and understand where things went wrong.
• Maintain Your Car – This may fit with the above, it should go without saying that you need to do the standard maintenance on your car. Oil changes can be done simply yourself. However, if you go to one of the quick oil places, be careful of the overpriced priced high-pressure sales tactics. I feel like there’s almost aways an air filter that needs replacing. I’ve found that usually parts dealers such as Mister Auto have much better prices.
• Save Money on Gas – That article used to be one of my most popular articles. Nowadays gas is historically cheap. In fact, oil is so cheap it seems like they are giving it away. I know, I’ve been “catching the falling knife” by dollar cost averaging into buy more and more oil stock.

  Don’t let it fool you though. For those with long commutes the cost of gas will still add up. The tips in this article can still save you a significant chunk of change.

If you missed it in my previous article, housing and car costs account for around 50% of the average person’s expenses. That means that there’s typically a lot more room to save here versus say, your tomato soup budget. You get a lot more bang for your frugality buck when you focus on the big expenses.

Did you know that housing and car expenses add up to about 50% of the average person’s spending? Over time, smart choices in those areas could be the difference between living paycheck to paycheck and have a million dollars in the bank. Today, I’d like to cover a few ways to save money on the car expense side of the equation.

• Buy at the Right Time – At luck would have it, the best time to buy a car is at the end of this month. December is when many dealer want to move the old models to book money to close out the year. In addition, there’s not a lot of competition people are focused on the holidays. It’s not like they are going to give cars away, but you might be able to shave a thousand or two on the final price.
• New or Used? – Deciding between whether to buy a new and used car can make a difference in costs. I used to recommend that people buy used cars letting others pay for the big depreciation. However, in recent years, I’ve noticed that the discounts on cars a couple of years old were minimal. Maybe dealers realized that people were using this tactic to avoid buying new cars.

  I try to figure out how much a car is going to cost per year and use that a starting point. I make an assumption that a car should last around 12 years. So a new $36,000 car is about $3000 a year. If a car is already a couple of years old, it might only last 10 more years. I’d want to try to get it less than $30,000. Otherwise, I might as well get a new one.

• Get an Affordable Loan to Start With – It always helps to have a good credit score. After that, you’ll want to shop around and look for the best rate on a car loan. Fortunately, credit rates are still low. As long as you look like a responsible borrower on paper, you’ll should be in great shape.
• Choose the Right Car – This is an obvious one. There’s a big difference in price between our Subaru Forester and our Acura MDX. The Forester is good for muddy dogs, the beach, and trips around town. The Acura MDX is a better option for longer trips where we focus on comfort. If you can get by with a Forester-level of comfort, you can save a lot of money.