Vehicle Maintenance
I have a confession to make. I have never owned a vehicle for more than five years.
I really haven’t owned that many vehicles.
The first car I purchased while I was in college I ended up wrecking. It was totaled.
The second car I owned was awesome- a Prius. I loved that car, but right when I hit the five year mark of owning it, Hubby thought we needed a bigger vehicle and we traded it for our van.
This spring marks the van’s 5 year birthday. So it’s probably no wonder why the last time I went to the dealership to get my oil changed (I’ll explain why in a second), they came up with all sorts of ‘routine’ maintenance I was supposed to have completed. I guess, 103,000 miles might do that to a person. Ugh!
I know the stigma about dealerships is that they are expensive places to have car maintenance completed. The cheapest place around for me to get the oil changed, however, is the dealership. They have a buy 1 get three free deal for only $60. Where else can you get an oil change for about $15? Nowhere. It costs that to buy the supplies and do it ourself at home, and we don’t have a place to dispose of the old oil.
The list was pretty long when I asked what routine items were needed. Luckily, we had done a couple of things at the 90,000 mile visit so it really wasn’t as long as it could be. The damage? Almost $900. But hey, my next three oil changes are free!
Hubby thinks it’s pretty important to complete all the scheduled maintenance visits because of a warranty we purchased when we bought the van. We don’t want to skip something and have it void that expense warranty!
It’s also just important to perform maintenance on your vehicle. It will help it last longer and perform better, which could save money in the long run. Gas mileage will not be compromised, and you can save longer fo
Do you complete all the suggested routine maintenance on your vehicle?
I have always been pretty lax on the vehicle maintenance but with age comes wisdom and with the purchase of a brand new vehicle in 2010 I have been really on top of it. I also have one of those warranties I do not want to void! Although sometimes it seems that some of the crap they suggest is just a way to take your money. For example, the last time I was there they said I could use a fuel injection cleaner or something like that. It was $150.00. I called the hubs and he said you can buy the same treatment for like $5.00 at the auto store. I did let them do the alignment they suggested for like $85 or something around there. Tires are expensive!