November 21, 2009
- Roseburg, Oregon
Tips on saving $$$ on car maintenance
By Herb Weisbaum
With money tight, it's tempting to skip the regular maintenance on your car or truck. That's a bad idea. Ignore a small problem and it can quickly turn into a big and expensive hassle down the road.
When it comes to car maintenance, you have two decisions -- when and where. If you want to save money, you need to shop around before you take you car in for service, and here's why. The automaker sets the maintenance schedule, but the dealer sets the price. Based on its surveys, Consumer Reports says prices vary a great deal, even in the same area. Here's something a lot of people don't know. The recommended maintenance schedule from the car maker is often significantly different from what the dealer actually does. "When we bring the car in for scheduled maintenance, we just assume that the schedule being offered by the dealer is what's required to maintain the warranty," said Jack Gillis, author of The Car Book 2009. "Most of the time it involves a number of additional items that you simply don't need to do according to the car maker itself." How do you know what needs to be done to keep your warranty in effect? Check the owner's manual. Information on what to do and when to do it is all in there. "There's no question that if you follow the dealer's schedule versus what's called for in you owners manual, you can pay up to two times as much as for a simple scheduled maintenance check," said Gillis. If you car is under warranty, you need to go to the dealership for any warranty-related repair work. The dealer is also the place to go for any work related to a recall. But for routine maintenance, such as an oil change, you are free to go anywhere you want. It doesn't have any impact on your warranty. One more tip: if you go to one of those places that specialize in quick oil changes, stick to the oil change. The auto experts I've spoken to say they can check your fluids and that sort of thing, but if repair work is needed go to the dealer or a qualified repair shop. |
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