Main > Living > Living on a budget > Running a vehicle
How to reduce running costs of a vehicle: maintain good condition of the car and its parts, and so avoid or reduce necessity of repairs.
The main running costs are:
petrol, oil, antifreeze, tyres, filter, light-bulbs, other mechanical items
repairs and maintenance: labour costs of a mechanic (or DIY), windscreen repairs, wheel-truing, etc.
registration, compulsary third-party insurance, comprehensive insurance (fire and theft), mechanical inspections, automobile associations for emergency assistance.
Your national vehicle association should have a breakdown on the weekly running costs of different vehicles. Vehicle size matters.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Running a vehicle
Vehicles are expensive to buy and to operate. If you must have an automobile, get the smallest and lightest model possible for which spare parts are common and cheap, and do most of the repairs.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Running a vehicle
Reducing the cost of part-wear:
- Tyres: don't drive recklessly, skid around corners, or drive long distances in hot temperatures. Drive more carefully where the road has pot-holes or corrugation.
- Glass: drive slower on gravel or loose surfaces, especially with an oncoming car.
- Chassis: be aware of your car's ground-clearance, and don't go bush-bashing. Avoid excessive physical stress by using momentum, not driving strictly within the road-markings but taking a smoother line through space.
- Car body: get a light-coloured car, and avoid driving in cities or parking where everyone else parks.
- Gearbox: memorise the RPM for each gear, so you never grind gears.
- Engine: always ensure there is plenty of good quality water, coolant, and oil in the reservoirs.
- Battery: keep well-charged (run the engine in neutral at a higher RPM for 5-10 minutes before turning off the engine), don't overcharge or overheat above 70 degrees Celsius, and keep terminals free of corrosion.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Running a vehicle
Thrifty car maintenance tips:
don't use the car for short trips or oil changes will need to be more frequent;
oil change: catch oil in a cutaway plastic drum, then reuse: carefully filter and recycle back into the motor. Or, reuse as a chainsaw bar lubricant, or as paint to preserve wooden palings and gates. Don't let car oil seep into waterways or gutters.
windshield wiper fluid: reduce wear and squeak of wipers by not using a solvent (alcohol-based) but a non-foaming type soap.
leaks: get underneath the car to examine the trunk and floorboards for holes, as fumes can be deadly (very costly).
tyres: rotate all the tyres including the spare, so as to get a bit of extra life out of them.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Running a vehicle
Genuine vs aftermarket: This is one of the biggest things you will do when buying parts for a car, if you know what you're doing: trying to decide if paying more for a genuine or name-brand component is better than a cheaper version or even second hand part.
It's a difficult area to negotiate, because you will always save something over the long term with a genuine part than a non-genuine or second hand, but the initial capital outlay is higher. You can only justify it if you keep the car long term (4-5 years) usually. If you try out two second hand parts within 6 months (because the first failed) you can be pretty sure that the failure rate makes buying a genuine part more sensible. The other rationale is that the more new genuine parts in your car, the less other cheaper parts will be placed under stress by inferior accompanying parts, and so the longer they will also last, saving you money. There is some validity to that, because a car with a certain threshold of new parts will last much longer than one that is below that threshold. The equation is linear to a point where you reach about 80% new quality parts. At that point, the car's performance and durability are enhanced exponentially (i.e. almost like a new car, which in fact it pretty much is). So my recommendation is to keep old, broken, under or non-performing, rusted, damaged and even cosmetically ugly parts down to a low minimum. An 80% new car can live with them but go under that and problems start occuring. With cars, a few problem parts can really balloon into a serious issue (i.e. a broken engine mount can ruin a gearbox, or a too-thin set of disc rotors can ruin brake pads and caliper parts).
myxlfidian (150)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Running a vehicle
Tyres: You will get over 15% more kilometres per tank of fuel with new tyres (all four) than older, more worn tyres. If you have good suspension parts and 6-month wheel alignments and tyre balancing/rotation, you may get 18 months of high performance life (i.e. high fuel economy) out of your tyres. If you save $12 a tank on fuel, you will only need to fill up some 35 times to pay for your new tyres.
Keep tyres inflated to 36psi by checking them every week. Buy a new tyre pressure gage and use that only when pumping up tyres at a gas station, as their gages are very overused and inaccurate.
Note: This is based on a medium-size 1988 Magna sedan that had four tyres worn down to illegal tread replaced with four new Goodyear tyres. The car drove 370km per tank when it previously managed only 320km, a 15% increase. The Goodyear tyres were Japanese made.
myxlfidian (150)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Running a vehicle > Fuel
Increase fuel efficiency in these ways:
- Not driving at >90kph (saves 10% on fuel).
- Inflating tyres to the correct pressure.
- Accelerating gently.
- Avoid idling.
- Choose a small, light, aerodynamic vehicle, and avoid bulky items like luggage pods, roof racks, bicycles and other protuberances.
- Avoid using the air conditioning system.
- Maintain the vehicle well.
- Avoid carrying excess fuel or weight in the vehicle.
- Walk or cycle instead.
- Try to avoid gravel roads or hilly routes.
- Avoid congested routes. But if a manual vehicle is stuck in slow-moving traffic, try to choose first gear and creep along at a steady pace without the accelerator.
- Maintain the fuel tank at least half full at all times, to keep the engine cool.
- Load heaviest items over the axles rather than overloading the nose or rear.
- If possible, drive with a tail wind.
- When raining, avoid driving in puddles collected within wheel grooves on the road.
- Wear clothes and shoes to suit the temperature, instead of turning on the heater / cooler.
kellyjones00 (593)
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