Top Money-Saving Car Habits

Owning a car is never cheap. After you have shelled out the initial upfront cost to take it home, you then have to think about fuel, maintenance, insurance, tax…it all adds up very quickly. So, any money that you can save will come as an extremely welcome relief. And you don’t necessarily have to make big changes to save yourself that extra bit of cash. Here are a few good habits that you can get into.

Drive Sensibly

One of the most valuable changes that you can make is to adjust the way you drive to be as fuel efficient as possible. On average, a driver can go 10 percent further by getting into some good habits, but the potential is there to go 33 percent further! The top good driving habits include: driving in the right gear, not going too fast, not over revving the engine, smoothing out acceleration and deceleration and not driving around with heavy things in the car.

Simple Car Maintenance

Many drivers don’t do the simple things to keep their car running smoothly, meaning that the long term bills can really rack up. Monitoring car fluid levels is something that everyone can do, topping up oil where necessary as well as keeping track of brake fluid, windscreen washer fluid and transmission fluid. You should also make sure you check the tyre pressures on a regular basis, particularly before any long journeys. Driving on under or over inflated tyres can affect the handling of the car, as well as decreasing fuel efficiency.

Shop Around For Insurance

You would think this one would be common sense by now, but still a lot of people don’t shop around to get the best deal on their insurance rates. With so many price comparison services available these days, it is not something that has to take a great deal of time and effort. Many companies will automatically send you a renewal quote that is higher than the one you paid last year. Even if you plan on staying with the same firm, you should always negotiate with them. If they are not willing to budge, it is probably time to go elsewhere.

Car Sharing

A good habit that you can get into is to make sure your car is full whenever you can. You can then spread around the cost of fuel amongst your passengers. When you make your regular commute to work, find out if there is anyone that lives nearby to you who you can share with. Alternatively, car sharing websites make it easy to find people who are willing to pay for lifts. Before embarking on a long journey, it is well worth advertising this online to see if you can fill up your car.

Find the Cheapest Fuel

Fuel costs can vary wildly depending on where you decide to fill up. It is worth having a look around so you can find the cheapest fuel and always head back there. The fuel around major transport links like motorways tend to be significantly more expensive.