How Not to Waste Money on Your Car
Every car needs regular maintenance and occasional repairs. While most of it is important, car owners also tend to spend on upgrades and products or services that may not directly impact the performance. That may be an expression of love for their car, but it is essential to know if you needlessly spend money on your car. Ideally, one should strive to lower the cost of owning a vehicle by avoiding unnecessary expenditure.
We have compiled a list of ways people waste money on their cars, whether on repair, maintenance, or upgrades.
9 Ways You Are Wasting Money on your Cars
The following are nine popular practices many drivers perform unnecessarily. You can easily do without these practices to stop wasting money on your car.
1. Using Premium Fuel Needlessly
Not all cars need premium fuel. Unless you drive a high-performance car or a luxury vehicle, your car doesn’t need premium fuel. If you think filling up the tank of your regular car will enhance its performance – it won’t. Since premium fuel is pricier than regular fuel, it is a pointless approach to wasting money on your car.
2. Changing Car Oil Needlessly
Generally, car oil should be changed after every 5,000 km. However, changing the oil when your car has driven only a few kilometres is a needless expense that can be avoided easily. Read your car owner’s manual and change oil only according to the distance or duration mentioned. Here are some common myths about engine oil, always avoid them.
3. Using Synthetic Oil Needlessly
Synthetic oil is pricy, and it doesn’t work on all types of engines. It is supposed to work on modern engines only. However, many drivers only realize this mistake after spending extra money buying the oil. Always make sure your car will benefit from synthetic oil. Older vehicles don’t benefit from synthetic oil. The oil is only beneficial to high-performance engines.
4. Taking Your Car to the Car Wash Facilities Often
Getting your car washed thoroughly inside out is necessary for car maintenance. That said, spending money on car wash facilities every now and then for minor cleaning is nothing but wasting money on your car. Unless your car hit a muddy road or the interior got dirty because of some sort of spillage, you can effectively clean your car’s exterior and interior yourself and save money.
5. Buying non-essential expensive car accessories
Though there is nothing wrong with buying and installing car accessories that enhance your car’s overall look, drivers use few non-essential accessories needlessly. For instance, if you are thinking of bolting a wing on the back of your vehicle, it will make sense if you have a high-performance vehicle that is entering a rally of some sort. If not, you are wasting money on your car by purchasing those wings. Installing wings at the back of your sedan will not give it a sporty look, nor will it enhance your car’s performance.
6. Spending on Expensive Car Foiling
Car foiling is the process of wrapping your vehicle with a special material that gives it a shiny, brand new look. However, this is a needless way of wasting money on your car. While wrapping your black car with red vinyl wrap will look great initially, eventually, when you take off the wrap, the original red colour of your car will suffer. Moreover, the wrap withers away with time, and the original colour becomes more noticeable, making your car’s overall look suffer.
7. Installing Scissor Doors
There is a reason scissor doors are called Lambo doors. If you do not own a Lamborghini or another supercar that is equipped similarly, there is no need for spending money on these doors. Yes, scissor doors can be added to regular cars after making some modifications, but it is not advisable. Not only will your car lose its original personality, but you will also end up spending lots of money on a feature that makes no sense and adds no value to your vehicle.
8. Expensive yet Needless Car Modifications
Fancy car modifications like car wrapping is also an unnecessary expense. Remember, the car paint has to be in perfect condition if you want to go for wrapping a vehicle. If there are any rough spots or imperfections in the finish, the car wrap won’t conceal them. Another expensive car modification is adding more exhaust-pipe tips and extra vent thinking they will enhance your car’s performance – they won’t.
If you plan on reducing the cost of keeping a car, you will have to do away with such modifications.
9. Driving Recklessly
Another way of wasting money on cars is by driving recklessly or parking in the wrong spots. These actions result in heavy fines. Given that some fines are the result of genuine mistakes or road sense non-accuracy, but fines like overspeeding or parking in the wrong places can be avoided by driving responsibly.
That is all about ways you are wasting money on your car. Avoid these practices and start saving. Besides, if you are looking for necessary car items, here is a list of car parts and accessories for sale.
You can also save money on car maintenance by using the right auto tools for sale in the UAE. If something breaks, instead of going to a car workshop with the help of proper tools you can fix it yourself.
Moreover, if you wish to buy another car, you can also save on that, thanks to used cars for sale in the UAE.
Stay tuned to the UAE’s top car blog for more practical tips to save money on car care and maintenance.