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.