High gas prices have hit most of our budgets in the Denver area. If increased fuel costs are consuming a bigger portion of your budget, you may be tempted to skimp in some other areas – like scheduled maintenance at Express Car Care.
According to news reports and industry studies, you’re not alone. Nine out of ten personal vehicles on the road have at least one maintenance or repair item that hasn’t been done. Some of these items are serious safety concerns, others are just more likely to affect the cost of operating your vehicle.
In this area, we can take a lesson from professional vehicle owners: fleet owners and operators like trucking companies and delivery services. Because their livelihood depends on it, they have gotten scheduled maintenance down to a science. And the last thing they skimp on is regular maintenance.
Why is that? Well, for one thing, they know that routine maintenance prevents expensive repairs and costly breakdowns. They also know that a well-maintained vehicle uses less fuel. For them, even a small decrease in fuel economy may mean a drop in profits.
Here are some Express Car Care services that could potentially help you save gas. Fuel system cleaning, transmission service, differential service, oil change. Ring any bells? Is there at least one thing on the list that hasn’t been done for your vehicle?
Let’s suppose you chose to spend $150 and get caught up on some of these services and that they combine to improve your fuel economy by 15%. What would that mean for your pocketbook?
The average personal vehicle is driven about 12,000 miles a year. If you get 20 miles per gallon in your vehicle, over the course of one year you would pay for the $150 worth of service and save and additional $165 if gas is at $3.50. If gas is $4.50, you’d save $255, and you’d rack up savings of $345 if gas is $5.50.
From this you can see that the more fuel cost, the more it pays to take care of your vehicle. Some of us drive trucks for work or recreation – or want a large SUV for family needs. A 15% improvement in fuel economy can generate huge savings – $660 a year if gas is $4.50 a gallon.
So catch up on those services you’ve been neglecting. Talk with your service adviser about your vehicle’s needs. Get a couple done now and a couple next time. Chances are you’ll save a lot of money on fuel this year – and a lot more on repairs in the years to come.
