What is a good way to save money on car expenses?
Apparently, if you keep your tires' air filled to the recommended level, your car will burn less gas.   I loved this article at WikiHow, which confirmed what I had heard about air in tires, and had others to suggest, such as removing unnecessary items from inside and on your car (such as bike racks, trailer balls) as they can add to your car's overall weight, causing more drag and using more gas. Ride a bicycle or walk for short trips (< 5mi–10mi, depending on your level of comfort). Nothing saves as much on car expenses as simply driving less. It is almost always cheaper to do regular maintenance then to fix problems because you didn't change the oil or check the transmission fluid. Do your own oil change! If you are a hands-on person, you could also avoid the cost of the semi-annual oil change, by doing it yourself.  Edmunds.com has a great how-to to help you accomplish this.  Be prepared for dirty fingernails!  But savings, you will realize, as an oil change will run you anywhere from $20 - $200 (if you drive a European car and require a specialized filtre). Keep up on routine maintenance. That's the best way to prolong the life of your car, and it'll save you money in the long run because you won't have to replace your car as often. Accelerate gently. The harder you push the gas pedal, the more gas you use. Coast to a stop rather than using your brakes. If you can avoid stopping by slowing down well before a red light so that by the time you actually get to the light it is green again, do so. Avoid high-speed driving. At highway speeds, wind resistance plays a big part in how much gas your car uses. If you can plan your trips to take slower routes, do so. Don't be the guy driving 55 in the left lane on the highway, though. Avoid stop-and-go traffic. Keeping to a constant speed is the most efficient. Plan your trips to avoid areas with lots of traffic, lots of curb-cuts and intersections, etc. Leave lots of space in front of you so you have time to anticipate other drivers intentions and slow down rather than having to slam on your brakes at the last second. Avoid short trips. Cars work best when they can get all the way up to operating temperature, and stay there for a while. If you're just going two miles, ride your bike. Live close to work and a grocery store, so you can walk or ride your bike rather than driving. Use your car for road trips and your quarterly trips to CostCo to restock the larder. If you can get away with not owning a car, sell it. Ride your bike, use public transit, or walk. If you can share a car with a significant other and only one of you has a long car commute, there's no sense in you both owning a car. Can you tell I'm having fun with this question?  Here's another great list, from Finally Frugal, which includes the above items, but also these gems: Avoid idling. Now, this just annoys me. Walking past a line of idling cars at the transit center waiting for their human 'pickup', makes me crazy! It makes me want to knock on the window, shake my finger, and give 'em a piece of my mind. I don't do it, because I don't have a death wish. Turn the car off when you're not driving it. Combine trips. I used to be one of those people who would run to Target, go home, remember something I needed at the grocery store and go out for that, come home again, then run out to the library. All of these places are within a two mile radius of my house. Making lists before leaving the house has helped me to group my errands within one trip, meaning fewer back and forth trips. Slow down. Your parents were right. Slow is better. Not only is it safer to drive the speed limit, you'll be increasing your car's efficiency and reducing the amount of fuel your vehicle uses. Manage the fuel consumption price: check the pattern of fuel prices if you can for your area.  Some areas have weekly changes which are somewhat predictable and some sites will even predict the minimum price for the  next day.  Some other areas will have a discount fuel day. Switch to diesel: fuel consumption by diesel engines are much better than standard combustion engines.  Downside is not as many refueling stations. Switch to a hybrid: fuel consumption is better than comparable combustion engines alone but the downside is that the technology is new and still maturing.  Check out this site for more information. Don't buy the first model year of a new model unless the fuel economy is much better in the latest model.  Buying a car in later years just before the changeover will result in a slightly higher quality vehicle or in some cases dramatically higher quality. Find the best forum for your make/model/year of car.  Join the forum, check the FAQ, sticky threads and post questions when you have trouble.  Do NOT rely passively on the dealer or even private mechanics as they do not drive the car every day.  You are in the best position to identify problems but only if you have some help.   Preventive maintenance is the best if you intend to keep the car for a really long time.  Forums are a really good place to find the typical problems of a particular model and potentially head them off. The obvious answer for savings costs with a car is not to have a car.   Of course that must be balanced against other expenses (bicycle, taxi, public transport) to do things. Generally speaking, if you need a car, ways to contain expense are to buy the least expensive vehicle with the most economical engine that meets your needs, keep it undercover (reduces damage or wear due to exposure), proactively maintain it (maintenance is cheaper in the long run than the costs of dealing with a breakdown and cost of repairs, and lack of maintenance accelerates depreciation), and shop around for a good mechanic who will maintain it at a fair price. If you do a lot of milage, or do a lot of towing, or drive under load, consider a diesel.  A diesel engine often costs more each service, sometimes has a shorter service interval, but it also gets greater milage.   There may be a differential cost of fuel (diesel is often a bit more expensive per volume).   For towing, a diesel is often more economical, due to low end power (greater torque at lower revs) which does result in better fuel economy.   It is no accident that most large transport vehicles consume diesel.   Do the sums based on your usage before you buy. Accelerate as gently as possible to get to speed within traffic conditions (less fuel to get to a speed).   Change up to higher gears as soon as possible as - at a given speed - economy will be better, as long as the engine has enough oomph to handle it (so don't try to start from stationary in a high gear).   Don't drive faster than necessary, as drag increases with speed, and hurts economy.   Similarly, reduce speed gradually, to reduce undue wear on breaks and reduce fuel consumption (sharp breaking with power assisted breaks does affect fuel economy). Drive close to legal limits if conditions permit.   This reduces chances of annoying other drivers (who if they get impatient may throw rocks at your car, or collide, or subject you to road rage - which contribute to damage and insurance costs).   It also reduces chances of being pulled over by police and fined for obstructing other traffic. Don't tailgate.   This both consumes fuel in keeping up, and means needing to slow sharply.   And increases chance of accident. Don't idle more than necessary.  Allow stop/start systems on your car to operate - particularly if you're in stop/start traffic.   However, there is a break-even point where stopping and restarting consumes more fuel than idling, so get to know your vehicle.   That depends on how much the engine needs cranking to restart - which is affected both by engine design and maintenance.   Maintain it yourself if you have the skills, but account for the cost of parts and equipment, to be sure it is cost effective  (modern cars are software driven, so equipment to diagnose and maintain can be expensive). Combine trips (don't get into the car for every little thing - wait until you can do a few things during a single drive) and car pool. If fuel prices vary (e.g some places have regular cycles) try to refuel near the bottom of a pricing cycle. Take unnecessary weight out of the vehicle.   Don't load it up with tools unless you need them frequently. Replace your own brake pads Disc brake pads are usually snap-in replacement parts. YouTube has tons of videos showing how to do it. Find one with a car similar to your own. And it cannot be over-emphasized... Keep up on the routine maintenance. You can look up the schedule on your car manufacturer's website. "These cars are generally considered out of date and are less prone to be victims of car theft while being reasonably safe. Make sure you pick a model with a good reliability reputation, see what comes up at your local junk yard (the common old models have survived long enough to not end up there until now). Servicing your car takes some effort and some initial investments, but learning how to fix simple problems by yourself will save you a lot of money in the long run. Start by learning how to locate some simple faults. Diagnosing issues is a very costly process if done professionally, but some you may be able to find by yourself. All cars sold in USA from 1996 are required to have this connection below the steering rack. As a consequence most cars manufactured 1995 will have this connector world wide. If you connect your OBD2 adapter to this port your car will be able to tell you what's wrong through an app on your phone and you will be able to clear fault codes by yourself to make sure the problem really is solved. This is what you mechanic should use when servicing your car. While a new print can be expensive you can find used manuals getting thrown out of service centers or at yard sales. These will include service notes and sometimes had-written notes to help you out. The majority of parts on scrapped cars are still in working condition and may not ever see significant wear and tear. If you put some time into removing the part yourself you will have a good idea of how difficult it is to replace the part on your car and outsource the work to a professional if needed. This of course assumes you bring good parts. The main income should come from the work performed on your car, not the markup of spare parts. Generally speaking specialized mechanics working with one or few brands of cars are preferable as these will not only be familiar with your car but are also more likely to get original spare parts (not ""pirate"" parts made to be compatible at a cheaper price). This will make sure the part works as intended and not cause wear and tear of other parts. For example you'd much rather replace a broken fuse instead of cleaning up the aftermath of fried electronics. Turn off the AC when it's not needed. There should be a button labeled ""ECON"" or similar which will disable the AC compressor while keeping the rest of the systems running. The compressor is usually driven by a belt from the crankshaft and will eat up some of the power your engine produces. Just remember that while it saves gas, uncomfortable driving conditions may shorten your patience and reduces your attention. Accelerate up to speed quickly. Contrary to popular belief, this saves more gas than accelerating slowly because the time your engine is under increased load is shorter combined with higher efficiency at medium engine speeds. Allow your speed to decline on uphills, you will regain that speed once the road levels out. Unless you're in heavy traffic driving a bit slower shouldn't harm the flow. Don't let go of the gas pedal, just avoid compensating as much. Your target should be to not lose more than 20% of your speed over the entire ascent and have a constant deceleration or you will start interfering with traffic. Make sure your car is healthy. As obvious as it may sound, worn out parts may harm your mileage. Increased friction in bearings due to broken protective covers or reduced pressure from a broken exhaust are just examples if things that will ruin the efficiency of you driveline. By themselves they may not do much but they add up into both gas consumption and reliability issues. Really do read your owners manual. Nobody knows your car better than the people who built it. What's best for my car may not be best for your car and the best way to make sure your car is working as intended is to take an afternoon with your manual and a cup of your favorite beverage. Afterwards you will know how all the features of your car works. ""Take care of your car and it takes care of you"" is the principle I'm working with. A car you're happy with will make you more calm behind the wheel and leads to higher quality of your driving decisions. Both you and your fellow commuters will benefit from this, even if they may never take the time to thank you."
I'll read between the lines: you're (justifiably) feeling smart about how you manage your money: debt-free, smart about your spending, saving for retirement, etc. But you're looking at all those fancy cars and feeling a little left out. And Americans especially have a love for automobiles -- it's not just transportation, a car is a status symbol. Yes, some of those people afford their cars just fine. But a lot of people out there are AWFUL about saving and spend recklessly. Americans are notoriously bad at saving for retirement, for example.  So if they aren't saving, where does that money go? They buy stuff they don't need. They live paycheck-to-paycheck. They run up debt. They buy cars. Overspending on cars is so easy to do: leases have low payments, or you can get a 6 year loan. There are many financial tricks for people that think only in terms of monthly payments. So instead of lamenting that the grass is greener as all those BMWs whiz by, smile deeply and enjoy that feeling of sleeping well at night instead of stressing out about the next credit card bill and car payment waiting for you in the mailbox. (And at the same time, if you really want a luxury car and want that to be a priority, you can make it happen and not go broke. Get a late model year certified pre-owned vehicle just out of lease, for example. Saves a ton of money, is still under warranty, and satisfies the lust for luxury.) "My wife and I have been car-free since 2011.  We spent about $3500 on car shares and rentals last year (I went through it recently to flag trips that were medical transportation and unreimbursed work related for taxes).  This compares favorably with the last year of car ownership.  I had reached a point I started needing $200+ repairs every couple of months and the straw that broke the camels back was a (dealer mechanic estimate but still) $3000 estimate to pass emissions inspection.   Over 11 years the value went from $24000 to $3600, so it depreciated about 2k per year.   I was easily spending $40 per week on gasoline on my last commute.   I now use transit with the IRS commuter benefit so I do have a base after tax transportation expense of 1200 per year.  We use weekend rentals about 2x per month (and do use a warehouse club)  She uses rentals for her job about 12 times per year, and the medical transportation came in an intense burst.   Access: Our nearest carshare pod is 0.22 miles (3 blocks); there are two hotels with full service rental car desks about half a mile from our house and every brand at the Amtrak station a mile away.  There are concrete benefits to density, take every advantage. Insurance: I always take the rental company SLI daily insurance for $15 per day.  Certain no annual fee credit cards automatically include CDW.  Every time an insurance agent cold calls me, I ask for a quote for a ""named non owner"" policy, I'd probably take it if the premium was  $300 or less per 6 months.   Tips and tricks: a carshare minivan or truck rate is probably higher than a carshare car, but compared to a full service rental, may be much lower . The best value I spend no time in my life looking for a parking spot, and spend ""this hour"" tapping away on SE on a train instead of driving." An expense is an expense.  You can deduct your lease payment subject to some limitations, but you don't make out by having more expenses.  Higher expenses mean lower profit. Is leasing better than owning?  It depends on the car you'd buy.  If your business doesn't benefit from flashiness of your car, then buying a quality used car (a few years old at most) would probably be a wiser decision financially. I'd think hard about whether you really need an up-to-date car. "Looking at your numbers, I would definitively consider selling the car, and use the public transportation instead. You could easily save $450 month, plus gas and maintenance. As you mentioned, public transportation will be only a fraction of this amount, so you might end up saving around $400 monthly. If you decide to keep the car, the amount that you will spent monthly is easily a payment for a brand-new car. What if, God forbid, for any kind of reason, you get a traffic ticket that can increase your insurance premium? What if the engine stops working, and you will need to spent thousands of dollars fixing the car? With this, and all of the other expenses pilled up, you might be unable to afford all this at some point. If you decide to sell the car, the money that you will save monthly can be put in a savings account (or in any other sort of ""safe"" investment instrument). In this way, if your situation changes where you need a car again, you will be able to easily afford a new car. Regarding your need to visit your friends on the suburbs every other weekend, I think you can just talk with them, and meet on places where public transportation is available, or ask them to pick you up in the nearest station to the suburbs.  In conclusion, based on what you said, I do not think the ""little"" convenience that you get in owning the car outweighs the big savings that you get monthly, if you decide to sell the car." I would take each of these items and any others and consider how you would count it as an expense in the other direction. If you have an account for parking expenses or general transportation funds, credit that account for a refund on your parking. If you have an account for expenses on technology purchases, you would credit that account if you sell a piece of equipment as you replace it with an upgrade. If you lost money (perhaps in a jacket) how would you account for the cash that is lost? Whatever account would would subtract from put a credit for cash found. Buying a used car can be risky. It can be easy to make a mistake that would lead you to buying a lemon. Suddenly, your cost-saving tactic to buy a car is costing you more than you thought. This is why before you put down the money to buy your chosen car, there are a few things you should do. Establish good saving and spending habits. Build up your savings so that when you do buy a car, you can pay cash. Make spending decisions, especially for housing, transportation and entertainment, that allow you to save a substantial portion of your income. The goal is to get yourself to a place where you have enough net worth that the return on your assets is greater than the amount you can earn by working. (BTW, this is basically what I did. I put my two sons through top colleges on my dime and retired six years ago at the age of 56). "If you want to be really ""financially smart,"" buy a used good condition Corolla with cash (if you want to talk about a car that holds re-sale value), quit renting and buy a detached house close to the city a for about $4,000/month (to build equity. It's NYC the house will appreciate in value). Last but not the least, DO NOT get married. Retire at 50, sell the house (now paid after 25-years). Or LEASE a nice brand new car every year and have a good time! You're 25 and single!" On paper the whole 6 months living costs sounds (and is) great, but in real life there are a lot of things that you need to consider. For example, my first car was constantly falling apart and was an SUV that got 16MPG. I have to travel for work (about 300 miles per week) so getting a sedan that averages close to 40MPG saves me more in gas and maintenance than the monthly payment for the new car costs. When our apartment lease was up, the new monthly rent would have been $1685 per month, we got a 30 year mortgage with a monthly payment of $1372. So buying a house actually let us put aside more each month. We have just under 3 months of living expenses set aside (1 month in liquid assets, 2 months in a brokerage account) and I worry about it. I wish we had a better buffer, but in our case the house and car made more sense as an early investment compared to just squirreling away all our savings. Also, do you have any debt? Paying off debt (student loans, credit card debt, etc.) should often take top priority. Have some rainy day funds, of course, but pay down debts, and then create a personal financial plan for what works best in your situation. That would be my suggestion. "Personally, I would: a) consider selling the car and replacing it with a 'cheaper' one.  If you only drive it once a month, you are probably not getting much 'value' from owning a nice car. b) move the car (either current or replacement) out to your parent's place.  The cost of a plane ticket is about the same as the cost of the garage, and your parents would likely hold on to it for free (assuming they live in the suburbs, and parking is not an issue) option b should lower your insurance costs (very low annual mileage) and at least you'll get some frequent flier miles out of your $350 a month. That being said: this is a ""quality of life"" issue, which means that there isn't going to be a firm answer.   If you are 25, have little debt, which you are paying off on time, have an emergency fund, and you are making regular contributions to your 401k, you are certainly NOT ""being seriously irresponsible"" by owning a nice car.  But you may decide that the $1000 a month could be better spent somewhere else." "I have a slightly different take on this, compared to the other answers. In general, I think your emergency fund should always be at least 3K, especially if you own a used car that is out of warranty. Any number of unlucky auto repairs could easily cost over 2K. So, if you have 7K in savings, I would personally buy a car that is 4K or less or finance any amount of the car over 4K (if you can get a relatively low interest rate). Then I would pay down the financed portion of the car as quickly as possible while maintaining at least a 3K emergency fund. That being said, notice I mentioned ""In general"". Your situation may actually be quite different. If you don't have much debt, with your income you might be able to build up a couple of thousand in savings in a single month, and if so the above doesn't really apply. Even if you spent the entire 7K on a car, you'd likely have at least 3K in your emergency fund within 60-90 days. As for what's responsible, there are too many factors to dictate that. If you don't have many other expenses, you could possibly afford a $40K car, and I don't think anyone here could fairly call that ""irresponsible"" if you spent that much, though surely no one would call it ""responsible"" either. Perhaps the best advice is to buy the least expensive car you will be happy with. Many people regret overspending on a vehicle, but few regret underspending (unless they got a lemon that requires lots of repairs). Finally, you could also consider another option. You could get a very cheap car for 1K or less and drive it for a year. By then you may have closer to 20K saved up for a much nicer car than you can afford today." Prior to having children we did exactly what you describe.  We would visit my mother in law about four to six times a year, a 350-mile-each-way trip for a weekend.  We'd simply rent a car, drive down, drive back, return it, out $150 or so for the weekend, a total of under $1000 a year; far cheaper than owning. You should factor in whether you will save money, though, on things you might not immediately consider.  Will you spend less on groceries, in particular, if you can drive to Costco or Sam's Club (or even just to a regular grocery store)?  I doubt you'll save the cost of the car ($2000/year as you say), but it's possible it will factor into the mix. I definitely would discourage purchasing a new car, if you're considering the financial side primarily.  I suspect you can get a used car - maybe the $10k car you would've sold - and spend more like $1000 a year on it, or less.  I don't know if I'd go to the $5000 level as those in comments suggested, as if you're doing long trips you want something with higher than average reliability; but even a car like a 5 year old mid-level sedan, easily costing you less than $10k, would be fine and likely sell in 5 years for $5k itself while hopefully not having too much maintenance (especially if you choose something with lower mileage; shop around!).  But even with those assumptions, 20 days a year of rental which you can probably get less than $50 rates on (particularly if you look at some of the car sharing options, Zipcar and Enterprise both allow you to do longer term rentals for reasonable prices) seems like a fine deal compared to the hassle of owning. I like Nathan's answer some, but am horribly curious as to why you have not made payments on a $3500 student loan?  If you are wealthy enough to afford a new car, this should be paid off next week.  IMHO. Above all else your financial goals should dictate if you buy a new car.  What are they for you?  If the goal is to build wealthy quickly then Nathan's advice may be to unfrugal for you.   If your goal is to impress people with the car you drive and accumulate very little real wealth then purchasing or leasing a car should be a top priority. So to answer your question correctly one must understand your goals.   For 2016, the average car payment is $479 per month.  If you invested that in a decent growth stock mutual fund in 40 years you'll have around 2.6 million.  However, you do need something to drive now.  If you can cut your car expense to $200 per month, and save the other $279 you will still end up with about 1.5 million in that same 40 years.   Personally I attempt to shoot for $200 ownership cost per car per month.  Its a bit difficult as I drive a lot.  Also I would not purchase a new car until my net worth exceeded 2 million.  At that point my investments could mitigate the steep depreciation costs of owning a new car. Which way would save the most money? Paying of the car today would save the most money.  Would you borrow money at 20% to put it in a savings account?  That's effectively what she is doing by not paying off the car. If it were me, I would pay off the car today, and add the car payment to my savings account each month.  If the car payment is $400, that's $1,500 a month that can be saved, and the $12k will be back in 8 months. That said - remember that this is your GIRLFRIEND, not a spouse.  You are not in control (or responsible for) her finances. I would not tell her that she SHOULD do this - only explain it to her in different ways, and offer advice as to what YOU would do.  Look together at how much has been paid in principal and interest so far, how much she's paying in interest each month now, and how much she'll pay for the car over the life of the loan.  (I would also encourage her not to buy cars with a 72-month loan, which I'm guessing is how she got here). In the end, though, it's her decision. An option that no one has yet suggested is selling the car, paying off the loan in one lump sum (adding cash from your emergency sum, if need be), and buying an old beater in its place.  With the beater you should be able to get a few years out of it - hopefully enough to get you through your PhD and into a better income situation where you can then assess a new car purchase (or more gently-used car purchase, to avoid the drive-it-off-the-lot income loss).   Even better than buying another car that you can afford to pay for is if you can survive without that car, depending on your location and public transit options.  Living car free saves you not only this payment but gas and maintenance, though it costs you in public transit terms. Right now it looks as if this debt is hurting you more than the amount in your emergency fund is helping.  Don't wipe out your emergency fund completely, but be willing to lower it in order to wipe out this debt.