Now that we understand the massive financial benefit of buying used, older cars, we can focus in on the other costs that occur from owning these machines. Your car is a beast that requires huge costs in maintenance and fuel.

Firstly, I’m gonna tackle gas.

Guzzling gas means guzzling money:

Gas is a resource people are constantly complaining about the price of and yet never do anything about there habits consuming it.

I remember a few years ago I thought having to fill my tank once per week was reasonable. Now I think it’s crazy. Have you added up how much you’re spending on gas??

Seriously, you should be keeping track of this. $60 per week on fuel is over $3,000 per year. Cut that in half for a very nice $1,500 to pay off a debt or put into investments to grow. You’d basically be saving yourself enough for an all-inclusive week away each year instead of twice as much gas. Which sounds better to you?

It’s one thing to drive to work five days a week. Then if you’re driving to your friend’s home, driving to a restaurant, driving to the tennis court, driving to the library, driving to “run” errands; you’re all out of fuel!

You are not a blob:

One of the few scenarios it’s helpful to have the car is grocery shopping. Other than that, there’s not much more than yourself and what you could fit in a backpack going with you anywhere. There are heaps of alternate options so that we can stifle gas consumption, save our money, and pollute the air less. Ride a bike, take a bus, walk/run, scooter, heck, I even use to hitchhike around when I lived in Waterloo! What if you live on a hill and don’t want to put in the relatively few minutes of strenuous work getting back up after your trip? Bike or walk down the fun, easy part, and bus back up — win-win!

Realistically, driving has become far too convenient and routine. As a result, we need to be actively limiting our time spent in our cars. This will save a lot of money! And it will increase our happiness and health because we’ll feel more resourceful and active getting place to place. The best case scenario is to forgo a vehicle, or only save it for the far destinations or big hauls. However, it takes practice to reach that level. I had to slowly ween off driving for months until I got to my present state of rare use.

The most effective way to cut consumption is to work near home. A very effective way to live happy is to work near home. But I’ll get into that topic at a later date. For now, be conscientious of how many kilometres you are racking up and how much all those tank refills are burning away of your treasure.

Your car needs maintenance:

The next big piece of owning a car is the maintenance costs. Guess what, the more you are driving and guzzling gas, the more extra upkeep you will also have to do on that baby!

Honestly, I have firsthand experience that it saves to shop around on mechanics. Auto shops are everywhere. There is almost guaranteed to be three within five kilometres of where you live if you are in a city. Get quotes, compare prices!

If you have a fancy, new vehicle, you’ll likely have to go to the dealership for all the fixings and pay whatever they charge because it’ll be standard across the dealerships. However, if you own a regular, and especially older vehicle, you have the flexibility of going to any auto shop you like most or find the best deal with.

Not only that, but the self-employed shops are less greedy and more in it because they love fixing cars. For example, years ago I needed a headlight changed (this was before I realised I could do these things myself), so I went over to Canadian Tire as it was in the area of my errands, and asked them to do it. I was stunned when they said it would cost $50 and take 45 minutes. There was no way. I remember I said no thanks I’m not paying that much for switching a bulb and walked out. I knew in my gut paying that much was wrong even though I had no experience with it.

Self-employed auto mechanics to the rescue:

Sitting in the parking lot after, I called my usual mechanic and asked what it would cost for them to do the change. They said it’d take five minutes and charge just the $12 or so for the bulb. Holy crow I was pumped. What a difference.

Additionally, self-employed mechanics are less likely to have contracts with upscale auto part companies too. Instead of offering the tires or other accessories that are more top-tier because those are the ones the shop has a partnership with, you’ll be provided the practical options at a better price.

My best anecdote on the subject was back when I had my dad’s hand-me-down 2001 Honda Accord. What a beauty. I bet it’s still out there crushing kilometres to this day. However, there was one point that I could tell something was wrong with the car. So, I took it to an Active Green + Ross to get inspected. I can’t remember the specifics but pretty much the whole braking system for the front brakes needed to be replaced. I remember the estimate coming in around $2,500.

Ouu lordie I was heartbroken. I did not know what to do; that was a huge amount. I figured I’d go around to a few other places to see what they’d estimate because, hell, it couldn’t get much worse. I think I stopped at two other places that were less “name brand,” but still had an air of pomp to them, and they offered slightly lower prices. Maybe $200 lower. I decided to make an appointment at one for thirty minutes later.

It saves to shop around for car maintenance:

Since I had time to kill, I chose to try one more place further down the road that was inconspicuous from the road and had nothing flashy about it inside. They were a family run shop that gave me friendly greeting and when I told them the issues I’d been informed were going on with the car, they went through what it would cost with them, and that they could likely save a part or two instead of replacing everything. I honestly cannot remember exactly what the price ended up being, or which parts they saved, but I remember they saved me $800-$1,000 from the original quote.

Afterwards, they became my go-to mechanic. I always knew I’d get warm greetings and fair prices for their service. It was nice to have a place that knew my name and would remember things that were going on in my life. This is what can happen when you find an auto shop that was born because they love fixing cars.

In conclusion, gas and maintenance make up a great deal of owning a car. They also go hand-in-hand as the more you drive, the more treasure disappears funnelling into both costs. These mechanical beasts need a lot of attention and pampering to provide us their service.

The remaining chunk of money required for owning a vehicle is car insurance; return for the third part of Your Car is Leaking Money to peruse my tidbits on that.