By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
ragingtornado/flickr
Many serious and expensive mechanical problems begin a long time before your car breaks. There are lots of signs indicating that something is wrong. If you learn to recognize those signs, you can save yourself a lot of money and heartache.
However, talking to your mechanic about what you sense is wrong is not always easy. You need to know how to talk about what you are experiencing.
First of all, it is important to notice when your car is running well. How does it sound? How does it handle? Turn off the radio and roll down the window. Ride in the car by yourself and listen. What do you hear?
Beep beep! Avoid these gas wasting pitfalls. Credit: ollesvensson/Flickr
The April 2011 issue of AAA’s Horizons newsletter has an article by “The Car Doctor” John Paul that outlined six pitfalls that reduce your fuel efficiency and gas mileage. How many are you guilty of?
- Old spark plugs and filters can reduce your gas efficiency by 5 percent.
- A lit check engine or service engine light means you are wasting gas. Modern cars have computers to monitor engine efficiency, so trust them.
- A faulty (more…)
jwalsh/Flickr
I’m having second thoughts about giving up my car for Lent. Not because of my business trip to Los Angeles that will pose a particular public transportation challenge, but because a video shoot I’m doing that was moved from today to next week and the location is three hours away!
Three hours by car, that is. By bus, train, and foot I’m guessing it will take me five hours to get there. I need to be on location by 10 a.m. Yikes! It’s an all day shoot so I won’t start my trek home 5 p.m. Double yikes!
Also, it’s supposed to snow Thursday. Yikes, yikes, yikes.
I can throw in the towel, brace myself for a long commute and stick to my pledge, or exempt myself from autolessness for work. Thoughts?
To rent or not to rent? Credit: dennis/Flickr
Perhaps as a sign that going car-less for Lent is a good idea, yesterday for the first time I saw a bus go by my house. I can’t pretend to need a car when there is a bus route at my doorstep, can I?
Didn’t think so. Where I was in doubt about this sacrifice, you had none. Other than Linda O., commenters unanimously want me to ditch my car keys.
Final answer? I’m going car-less for Lent, which starts Wednesday, Mar. 9 and ends on Easter Sunday, Apr. 24, 2011. (The end of Lent is debated, but I’m sticking to Easter). During my auto fast, I’m allowed to drive my car on Sundays, which is another issue hotly debated among Catholics. I’m not religious, so instead of giving up a sin for Lent, my twist is that I’m giving up a financial sin.
Owning a car is a financial sin? One calculation shows that driving takes $7,095 out of my community each year. Not only is that a lot of money leaving my pocket, it is a lot of money leaving my community. By riding my bike, I’m improving my health and reducing my pollution output. By taking the bus, I’m supporting local economy. By taking a taxi, I’m really supporting the local economy.
Just one problem. During my auto fast I have a business trip to Los Angeles. I no longer have a functioning bicycle in Los Angeles, so I may have to rely on buses. Or, I could exclude business needs from my fast, just like I did during my no-spend month, which means I could rent a car in Los Angeles.
Would renting a car on a business trip during my auto fast be cheating?
No car means no cruising for Dogwin!
I’m not religious, but most years I give up something for Lent to remind myself what sacrifice feels like. It makes me grateful for all that I have, and mindful that many others have much, much less. It’s also a fun way to challenge myself to save money. Last year I gave up meat after calculating how much more expensive meat is than vegetable protein.
This year I’m considering giving up my car after reading that driving takes $7,095 out of my community each year. My yearly auto expenses are much less than $7,095 because I paid for my used MINI out of pocket. But certain auto costs do go out of town. My insurance company is out of state and if my car broke down, there is not a repair shop in town to service it. By not driving I am redirecting out-of-town dollars to in-town dollars, in theory.
What makes giving up a car interesting is that I’m not sure I’m going to save any money by not driving. A trip to (more…)
DaLee_pl/Flickr
A provocative ad in my Feb. 14, 2011 issue of Time magazine charges that every car you own extracts $7,095 per year from your local economy. The total includes gas, insurance, the purchase price, and finance charges. A measly $1,390 per year stays in your community, including the cost of your license, taxes, repair, tires, registration, and maintenance. The total yearly car spending – $8,485 – is based on a AAA stat. The ad is paid for by Intelligent Cities, a project from National Building Museum, was created by an act of Congress in 1980 and is devoted to studying the built environment and its impact on people’s lives.
Give up your wheels, start walking, and spend more money in your hometown, is the message. If 15,000 people in one community gave up their cars, that would be an extra 127 million dollars to spend. How many jobs would that create? How much (more…)
boulter/Flickr
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
The day I got my driver’s license my mother bought me an Automobile Club of America (AAA) membership. She continued to gift me the renewal fee on that membership for many years. Her gift, thankfully, kept me from being stranded on the road many times.
Every time I whipped out my AAA card and called for a service truck, I always thought of my mother. I would call and thank her while I waited for the tow truck to arrive. I think she planned it that way.
I have used my membership privileges (this link opens a word document) to get help:
- jump starting my battery in the dead of winter
- changing a flat tire in the blazing sun
- opening a locked car door when the keys were still in the car and I was not
- towing my car to a mechanic when I broke down in the middle of nowhere
- registering my car with the DMV without having to GO to the DMV (priceless)
A basic AAA membership averages a $1 a week. (Prices vary in different parts of the country.) Any one of the above services would have cost more than I paid for my yearly membership. Upgrades to the membership give you additional benefits including a much larger free towing radius. Check to see if there are current coupon codes available before signing up.
You can even use your card to get roadside help if you are just the passenger in the car. This is the biggest difference between AAA and other roadside assistance programs. A gift of an AAA membership is a great way to help out a low income friend.
Without a doubt, I have gotten my money’s worth from this company. Besides the roadside services, you can also get discounts on phone service, amusement park tickets, air fares, free maps and atlas’, hotel and food discounts, discounted car rentals, free reviews of auto repair shops, passport services, and international driving permits. Check out the discounts in your area.
I never fully appreciated the value of my AAA membership until the day that my son got his driver’s license. I realized that he was about to hit the road and I wouldn’t be there to watch over him. On that day, I purchased his AAA membership. Maybe someday he’ll call me and say “Thanks Mom.”
Car insurance rates for Southland drivers covered by AAA are dropping by 5.4%, or about $100 per vehicle, says a recent story in the LA Times. Even if you are not covered by AAA and live outside California, you may be able to get a lower rate. For AAA policy holders, the change takes place April 1 and applies to policies renewed or created after that date.
“Part of the reason for the reduction is that people are driving less, whether because of higher fuel prices in the middle of last year, the deepening economic recession or changes in habits, such as taking public transportation,” said Sam Belden, vice president of Insurance.com.
Car insurance rates across the state dropped by 3% in the past six month, which means it is time to call your insurer and check if they offering you a competitive rate. It helps if you have quotes from rivals to (gently) prove your point. When asking for a discount, I recommend asking nicely (no one wants to help a jerk) and pointing out things that work in your favor, like the fact that you are a loyal customer or can pay in cash.
No matter what state you live in, you may be able to lower the cost of your policy.
Here are 10 tips from Edmunds to do just that.
CNNMoney has 5 tips to lower your auto insurance bill.
FinancialWeb has 10 tips to reach this goal.
