Top 7 Ways You’re Wasting Money On Your Car (Right Now)

When you’re younger, you look on wistfully as others around you do it, and then get to a certain age where you can finally do it for yourself.

Before you know it, getting in your car and driving to work or school and back home again is just a part of the routine of life. Sometimes, we might even forget just how many cars are out on the road today.

In the U.S., 95 percent of households own a car, and over half have two or more vehicles.

That may not seem surprising, but consider there are just over 320 million people in the U.S. (of any age), and over 210 million of them are drivers with more than 252 million cars between them.

That means there are enough vehicles in the U.S. alone to circle the Earth at least 26 times.

Read More: Best Car Insurance Companies

As anyone who’s ever bought a car (or maintained one) will tell you, cars aren’t cheap. At least, not for most of us, and over the years, the auto industry has had its fair share of ups and downs.

Despite some of these fluctuations, the 1980s and early 2000s turned out to be the most popular times for buying new cars over the last 50 years.

With almost 18 million car sales in 1985 and nearly 19 million in 2002, these booming years are contrasted sharply with the recession of 2006, which turned out to be the worst year for the auto industry to date with only 9 million cars sold. Considering all of the cars that are already here, it may be surprising to learn that purchasing new vehicles is actually on the up.

In 2016, car buying rose to more than 17,550,000 new consumer vehicles (including motorcycles) – an increase over what was already considered to be a record-breaking year in 2015.

Of those 17.5 million vehicles, over 10 million were trucks and SUVs (another increase over 2015), so you may find compact parking spaces open more often these days.

Even millennials, who critics speculated for years weren’t willing to buy new cars, surpassed their Generation X counterparts in 2014 when it came to buying new vehicles.

But don’t let any of that fool you into thinking everyone you know is driving a hot new set of wheels.

Of the 260 million cars on the road, the average age of our faithful motorized companion is just over 11 years old. And thank goodness. Considering that, on average, Americans pay at least $33,000 for each new car they buy, our persistent hope is that if we treat them well, they’ll stand the test of time.

Wait, wait, wait – before you even think about taking your car to the gas station to fill up your tank, we have to ask:

What grade, or octane, of gas are you using?

The follow-up question:

Does your car really need it?

One of the first steps to saving money on your car is checking the owner’s manual (or going online if you don’t have it) and determining exactly which grade of gas your car needs. You can even use this guide of cars that require premium grade gas to help.

If it doesn’t need premium, stop using it. Most engines are smart enough that lower-octane fuel won’t hurt them in the long run.

Americans waste over $2 billion annually on paying for premium gasoline their cars don’t need.

It’s possible you have been overpaying at every single fill-up. While premium sounds fancy, and we want to pamper our cars when possible, most cars sold in the U.S. are manufactured to use regular unleaded gas.

It’s typically sold in grades: unleaded or regular with an octane rating of 87; plus with an octane rating of 89; and premium with an octane rating of 91 to 93.

On average, you could be spending anywhere from 20 to 50 cents more per gallon for premium gas.

Check this online calculator to see exactly how much you could be saving.

With 70 percent of cars on the road today requiring regular gas, you could be spending over $100 a year for no benefit to your car’s performance. Purchasing premium gas when your car doesn’t require it is just one way to watch your money go up in smoke – or exhaust fumes.

What To Do: Use the appropriate gas grade for your car type. If your car only needs regular unleaded, don’t splurge on premium.

Potential Savings: Over $100 a year

When you make the decision to utilize an independent mechanic over the dealership, you still have to be smart about where you take your car.

In a world of smartphones, the car owner with apps is king or queen.

After a shop quotes you for a repair, make sure you still pull out your phone and take a look at what other individuals who have experienced working with this service center or independent shop say.

This is an easy way to save on repeat repairs and avoid bad service.

On popular social platforms, like Facebook, Google, and Yelp, users often post reviews and share their experiences working with businesses. These can provide you with a comprehensive look at the good, bad, and ugly of working with a particular service provider.

You should also ask if they’re AES (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) certified to ensure they’ve met a certain standard of quality.

You should also take a written estimate before you leave your car for service, regardless of the shop’s reputation.

More unscrupulous mechanics can do many things to inflate the cost of your bill, turning that $30 oil change into a set of $300 services.

Undercover studies and crooked mechanics that have come clean share you’re most likely to see your bill inflate in a couple of key areas with less reputable mechanics: overquoting the time required to complete the service; recommending flushes of different fluids (brake, coolant, steering) outside of recommended intervals; difficult-to-access parts not actually replaced; and inventing a more costly repair off of a simple sensor reset or reconnection.

To avoid these types of scams, check your state’s consumer complaints website to see what others are saying about a shop you’re thinking about using for your repairs.

Doing research on the repairs and, more importantly, the reputation of your mechanic is worth whatever megabytes hit your cellular data package may take.

What To Do: Research where you’re bringing your car ahead of time to see how other car owners have been treated.

Potential Savings: $10 to over $100 on each repair, depending on the repair needed and truthfulness of your mechanic.

You may not like seeing it pop up, but we can’t stress this point enough – do not ignore the “check engine” light.

Over 220 million vehicles in North America and almost every car sold after 1996 are equipped with the “check engine” light. While this could be as simple as a loose gas cap, you won’t know until you have the car examined by a mechanic.

This is a good opportunity to get more acquainted with your car and what it’s trying to tell you so that you don’t have to rush out to a mechanic when that little light comes on.

Purchase an inexpensive code reader from your local auto parts store that can connect to your car’s computer and read the codes, or signals, the car is throwing.

However, these are only the first breadcrumbs in a trail to uncovering your problem.

Your “check engine” light doesn’t necessarily mean your entire engine is failing. It could be the oxygen sensor, which costs less than $200, but could result in a 40 percent drop in your car’s fuel efficiency if left unrepaired.

This would mean you’d only be getting 60 cents on the dollar for every gallon of gas purchased.

Spark plugs are another common part that could require replacing if the “check engine” light warning is active.

Spark plugs can cost less than $10 and could be an easy do-it-yourself fix depending upon your comfortability with repairs (or following instructions).

If they’re not working properly and are left untreated, they could damage your car’s catalytic converter, leading to a repair over $1,000. Leaving a “check engine” light unchecked could be an incredibly costly mistake.

What To Do: Have your car inspected within 1-2 days once the “check engine” light comes on.

Potential Savings: Depending on the nature of the issue, you could save $100 to over $1,000.

Over the last five years, research estimates that Americans have overpaid for car insurance by over $100 billion collectively.

What does that mean for you?

A lot of money.

Additional research has suggested that taking the time to shop around for your auto insurance can save you an average of almost $400 a year or more.

Nearly three-quarters of the U.S. population has been with their current auto insurance provider for four years or more.

This means leaving your policy on auto-renew and not looking at ways to save could be costing you hundreds of dollars. Who wouldn’t want an extra $400 to use for something other than an insurance premium?

In total, Americans have overpaid over $100 billion in car insurance over the last five years.

While your rates are naturally going to fluctuate year to year regardless of your provider, taking the time to research your options before renewing your premium could save you big bucks. A J.D. Power study found that fewer drivers in the U.S. shopped around for car insurance in 2016, but of those who did and changed their insurer, the average savings were $356

Think about what you could with that money.

It’s also important to understand the kind of coverage you’re paying for. We all want to save and make sure we’re covered in the event of an accident, but pay attention to the fine details of your auto insurance premium – you could be overinsured and not even realize it.

Know your state’s minimum coverage laws and compare that to your elected property damage and liability coverages.

You may find you’re covered substantially more than you’re required and that you’re paying extra for it.

Depending on how old your car is, or its estimated value, financial analysts even recommend reconsidering (and dropping) comprehensive coverage in some cases to help you save.

Use our online tool to get quotes from the leading providers of auto insurance.

At Quote.com, we want to show you how much you could be saving to help put money back in your pocket and take the worry out of car insurance. Use our free online tool today to learn more.

There’s also the unfortunate gamble some make on the road – carrying no insurance. Not only is this dangerous, but it is also illegal is almost every state. Even in the states where it is legal, you must have sufficient capital to cover potential damage and injury to a car or person if you are involved in an accident. While the number of uninsured motorists has gone down over time, sitting at just over 12 percent, or about 1 in 8 drivers as of 2012, it isn’t a cheaper solution to costly premiums. Â

In California, for example, being in an accident without insurance could lead to a four-year suspension of your license. How would you go about getting to work or school if you had a four-year ban on driving yourself? You could also have insurance companies suing for your other assets to cover the cost of an uninsured motorist policy the other driver carries.

It’s far, far less expensive to carry insurance than run the risk of not having it and being caught. In the U.S., more than 12 percent of drivers do so illegally while uninsured, leading to claims totaling over $2.6 billion in recent years. You can also pay high fines if caught driving without insurance. In New York, it’s a minimum $1,500 fine for your first offense.

Use our online tool to get quotes from the leading providers of auto insurance. You won’t know exactly how much you could be saving on your auto insurance or how much unnecessary coverage you may be paying for already until you check. While it may feel like you’re unable to afford insurance and would rather run the risk of getting caught, an affordable policy is closer than you think.

What To Do: Ask for a detailed outline of your coverage from an existing provider and compare that to your state’s requirements and the Kelley Blue Book value of your car. Once you have a sense of what you need, use our tool to find the best car insurance rates.

Potential Savings: You would save on potential fines for driving without coverage, which can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. If there’s an accident, your personal possessions could be a target for insurance companies to reclaim their expenses. It has cost the public over $2.6 billion in recent years to deal with uninsured drivers.