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 Craig's Car Care, Inc. in Allen.
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 Allen.
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 not being profitable.
Here are some Craig's Car Care, Inc. services that could potentially save you some gas in Allen: Fuel system cleaning, transmission service, differential service, wheel alignment, oil change, tune-up.
Ring any bells? Is there at least one thing on the list that hasn’t been done for your car?
Let’s suppose you chose to spend one hundred and fifty dollars and get caught up on some of these services and that they combine to improve your fuel economy by fifteen percent. What would that mean to your pocketbook?
Well, the average personal vehicle is driven about twelve thousand miles a year. If you get twenty miles per gallon in your car, over the course of one year you would pay for the hundred and fifty dollars’ worth of service and save an additional hundred and sixty five dollars if gas is at three dollars and fifty cents. If gas is four fifty, you would save two hundred and fifty-five dollars. And you’d rack up savings of three hundred and forty five dollars with gas at five and a half bucks.
Gas Price $3.50 $4.50 $5.50
20 MPG 165 265 345
From this you can see that the more fuel costs, the more it pays to take care of your car. Some of us drive trucks for work or recreation – or want a large SUV for family needs. A fifteen percent improvement in fuel economy can generate huge savings – six hundred and sixty dollars a year if gas is four fifty a gallon. Take a look at this table to see where your savings could lie.
Gas Price $3.50 $4.50 $5.50
10 MPG 480 660 840
20 MPG 165 255 345
30 MPG 60 120 180
So catch up on those services you’ve been neglecting. Talk with your Honest Craig's Car Care, Inc. advisor about your car’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 years to come.