Much like how you need to take care of your body and your home, your vehicles need care, too.
And in the same vein, routine maintenance now can end up both extending your vehicle’s life and saving you many thousands of dollars over the long run. In just about every walk of life, it’s much better (and cost-efficient) to catch and fix a smaller problem than wait for it to ruin a major vehicle component.
Today, I’m going to discuss a few car maintenance tasks that, if done regularly, can save you serious money in the long run. I’ll also discuss a couple of ways to make car preservation feel like less of a drain on your finances.
Prevent Major Cars Repairs With These Maintenance Tasks
Public transportation is limited in the vast majority of the country, meaning most people simply need a car to get to their job and tackle other daily tasks.
A vehicle is a costly investment, however—one that frequently demands you sink more money into it. The good news? You can reduce your chances of needing major vehicle repairs (or at least delay the breakdown of certain components) by keeping up with maintenance.
Let’s go over some common car maintenance tasks that will help you prevent or delay pricey future repairs.
1. Oil Changes
The No. 1 recommendation of auto experts and concerned fathers alike: Don’t forget to get your oil changed!
Of course, how often you have this performed will vary from vehicle to vehicle. From the American Automobile Association (AAA):
“Depending on vehicle age, type of oil and driving conditions, oil change intervals will vary. It used to be normal to change the oil every 3,000 miles, but with modern lubricants most engines today have recommended oil change intervals of 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Moreover, if your car’s engine requires full-synthetic motor oil, it might go as far as 15,000 miles between services! You cannot judge engine oil condition by color, so follow the factory maintenance schedule for oil changes.”
However, if you drive extremely infrequently, your oil still needs to be fresh. So it can be wise to get an oil change at least once or twice a year, even if you haven’t reached the mileage recommendation.
The U.S. average cost of an oil change at an auto repair shop, dealership, or auto change facility is about $100 and typically includes a filter change, according to 2024 data aggregated by Yelp. The price will vary by location and provider, as well as the type of oil you use. For example, conventional motor oil is more affordable than full-synthetic oil.
So what happens if you don’t get regular oil changes?
Engine oil reduces friction between your internal car parts and stops overheating. If you skip your routine oil changes, you could reduce your fuel efficiency—in other words, you’ll have to purchase gas a little more often. That’ll add up over time.
A much bigger one-time hit could come in the form of engine damage. as not getting oil changes can decrease your engine’s lifespan. The longer you wait to change the oil, the more dirt and debris that oil will pick up as it continues to cycle through your engine. That will wear on the engine, and eventually warp it or even cause a gasket to blow. The new price tag on an engine might land anywhere from $2,000 to more than $10,000, depending on your vehicle’s model, year, and the engine you want, according to Autozone.
Also, if you don’t get regular oil changes, you could void your vehicle’s warranty. Not only would you be out the money you spent on the warranty—but you would also become liable for any repairs that would have been covered by the warranty.
Put differently: A couple hundred dollars on oil changes each year is a relative bargain.
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2. Tire Maintenance
Good tire health involves a few different components.
For one, you’ll want to maintain proper tire pressure, particularly during the winter (low temperatures can make air denser and thus lower your tire pressure).
You’ll also want to keep the wear even on your tires, which keeps them operating efficiently (read: gas mileage), reduces the risks of tire failure, and improves their safety. You do this by getting your tires rotated—a service you’ll need about every 6,000 to 8,000 miles. The average cost of a tire rotation is between $60 and $72, according to Kelley Blue Book.
There’s also tread depth. Have you ever worn down a pair of running shoes to the extent that the bottom has become too smooth and less grippy? The same can happen to your tires—and that can result in either a tire failing (which, depending on where and how it happens, can cause damage to the wheel or other parts of the car) or you losing control of your vehicle, which could result in an accident.
The “penny test” is an easy way to see how your tires are doing. Take a penny, Lincoln’s head facing down, and put it between the tread ribs on a tire. If you can see his entire head, your tread might be too shallow and need to be replaced.
The price range for new tires is so wide—per J.D. Power, we’re talking between $89 each for inexpensive winter tires to $1,209 a pop for Pirelli sport tires—that it’s almost useless to provide an average. Your costs will vary based on your vehicle, tire type, and quality of tire. Plus you’ll have installation costs, which come to about $100 for a set of four tires.
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3. Brake Inspections
You’re obviously aware of how malfunctioning car brakes could be disastrous, but you might not realize that maintaining your braking system is a smart financial decision, too.
Brake pads, for one, need to be changed out—though not super-frequently. Pads can last anywhere between 30,000 and 70,000 miles. But when you do replace them, you’ll likely pay somewhere between $115 and $270 per axle, says AutoZone. If you also replace the rotors (which work alongside brake pads to slow your wheels), you’re looking at a range of $250 to $500 per axle. And a full brake repair (pads, rotors, and calipers, which house and apply pressure to the brake pads) sits around $300 to $800 per axle.
That’s not exactly cheap … but if deteriorated brakes result in you getting into an accident, you’ll likely pay much more either immediately via damage, or over time via a significantly stepped-up auto insurance rate.
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4. Air Filter Replacements
How many times have you gone to get service performed on your vehicle, and a mechanic came in to show you a dirty cabin air filter that needed to be replaced?
Believe it or not, this is a frequently reported scam in which the filter isn’t even yours, your air filter is actually fine, but they managed to charge you an extra $20 or $40 for effectively nothing.
That said, cabin air filters actually do need to be replaced on the regular.
Clean air filters help engines run efficiently. Failing to replace air filters when needed, then, can lead to lower fuel efficiency (thus more money spent on gas), reduced horsepower, and even engine damage.
You should check (and when necessary, replace) your air filter every 12,000 to 15,000 miles. RepairPal says the average cost of an air filter replacement is between $59 and $78, excluding taxes and fees. However, between $27 to $34 of that cost is the labor, and this is a task people with car familiarity can often handle themselves.
If you don’t plan on replacing air filters yourself, but you want to avoid getting scammed, whenever a mechanic asks you if you want to replace your air filter and shows you a dirty one, ask them to show you where on your vehicle they pulled the filter from your vehicle (to ensure it was indeed yours).
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5. Battery Terminal Cleanings
A lesser-known car-care task is cleaning your battery terminals. If you let a battery terminal go long enough without a proper cleaning, they can begin to corrode, which in turn can cause the battery to crack or otherwise stop working.
A mechanic can perform cable battery terminal end service to make sure everything is clean for a charge of $26 to $33 on average, per RepairPal. (Alternatively, you could clean everything yourself with water, baking soda, and a $5 steel wire brush.)
If you need to replace the battery itself, you’re looking at $378 to $388 on average, most of which is the battery cost itself. If you end up needing to replace the battery cables, that averages between $342 and $369, again with most of that cost coming from parts.
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6. Coolant Changes
Over time, coolant becomes more acidic. Neglecting to change your coolant means it could start to corrode your radiator, thermostat, water pump, other cooling system components, and the heater system.
Needless to say, a coolant change is preferable to the alternative of having to replace these components.
While there is a lot of variation on how often one’s coolant needs to be changed, AutoZone gives a (wide!) range of 30,000 to 100,000 or two to five years. The average cost of a coolant change runs between $375 and $402 on average, RepairPal says.
An alternative for-instance? If corrosion resulted in your car needing a radiator replacement, you could be ponying up $1,068 to $1,253, on average.
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7. Transmission Fluid Changes
Transmission fluid works as a lubricant to keep your transmission functioning properly. It does need to be changed, but not all that frequently. The general guidance is pretty wide—every 30,000 to 60,000 miles for manual-transmission vehicles, and every 30,000 to 100,000 miles for automatic-transition vehicles.
Some vehicles claim to have “lifetime fluid,” but even then, it’s still generally recommended to replace your fluid every 100,000 miles.
There are two ways a mechanic will deal with your transmission fluid (average prices, in parentheses, provided by Kelley Blue Book):
- A transmission fluid change ($150 to $175): Some fluid is drained out, then fluid is added to fill it back up.
- A transmission fluid flush ($165 to $290): All transmission fluid is pulled out, a solution is pushed through the system to clean it, and then the transmission is filled back up with fluid.
What happens if you decide to skip this maintenance task? Well, most critically, your transmission may overheat and result in a system failure. Were you to need to replace your transmission entirely, the cost would likely land between $5,584 to $5,789, says RepairPal. And given that the bulk of that price is parts, that’d be an expensive fix even if you were to replace the transmission yourself.
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How Else Can I Save Money on Car Maintenance?
Regular auto maintenance shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg. And there are ways to reduce the cost, including:
- Performing some simple maintenance yourself (you might still need to buy the occasional component or tool, like a wire brush, but it will be less expensive than having the service performed by a mechanic).
- Comparison-shop auto mechanics in your area.
- Go to independent mechanics and chain repair shops, rather than the dealership, as they might be more open to price negotiations and more likely to provide discounts.
- Ask about AAA or AARP discounts.
Be honest about how handy you truly are before trying to save money by performing DIY auto maintenance. Unless you’re very comfortable under the hood of a vehicle, some work should be left to the professionals.
And lastly, no matter how much you care for your car, at some point, you’ll probably need to repair or replace a major component. As is true for other large expenses, you can reduce the sting by planning ahead and saving for expected car maintenance. For example, if your tire tread depth indicates you’ll need new tires soon, start setting money aside for that purchase. Or even better: Start saving for new tires as soon as you change out your old ones.
