Auto Repair – Lowering Your Costs

In this economy everyone is having issues paying their bills. An auto repair bill just makes matters worse. Even a relatively minor maintenance bill can be a hardship. If you are worried about being faced with a huge bill there is no need to panic. There are things that you can do yourself to help cut down on the cost when you have to work on your car.

For starters there are a few things you can do yourself to ensure that your car is running smoothly. Most people can do things such as changing an air filter or the oil themselves. This will actually cost you a lot less to do at home than it will to hire someone to do it for you. You need to make sure that you regularly change out the oil, once every three or five thousand miles depending on the car. Keeping clean oil in your car will keep it lubricated and then you’ll have less chance of that being the reason behind any breakdown. Changing the air filter when it’s dirty will help keep the air flow to the engine. There is also a cabin air filter that will help ensure you’re getting clean air in the car.

Another good way to save on your auto repair bill is to look around before you need maintenance. This way you don’t have to take it to the first garage that is available to take your car. While the prices of parts may not vary greatly the cost of labor will. One garage may charge $50 an hour while another may charge $75. You need to be aware of how much the garage is charging for labor so that you can save a little money.

You also need to know how the garage bills. Sure they charge by the hour but do they bill you for the nearest half hour of work or do they charge for the entire hour, even if the job only took 35 minutes. Again this is something that will vary for garage to garage. A lot of time the bill will be rounded to the nearest half hour to be a little fairer to the customer. But be aware there are some garages that if they put in 55 minutes worth or work on your car, you’ll be charged and hour and half on the labor. It is in your best interest to ask about their charges before auto repair is completed.

Auto repair bills should be given to you in writing prior to the start of the job. Of course, it is only going to be an estimate but an experienced mechanic is going to know how much time a given job is going to take. Should any other problems arise while the mechanic is working on your car he should not only call you for approval to fix the problem, but he should also give you an updated estimate, in writing, of what the new repairs are going to be.