The Best Money You Can Spend On Your Car To Delay Buying a New One
Written by
Laura Bogart
Edited by
Kristen Mae
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Very often, a car is more than just a car. It’s your car, a place where you’ve made memories, like teaching your kid to drive — or even driving them home from the hospital. It’s a part of your daily life, not to mention your finances, from filling up your tank (and trying not to look too hard at the prices) to getting your regular maintenance checks. Those costs are tricky enough to manage, and the thought of adding a new car note on top of them feels like the money equivalent of getting a banana in your exhaust pipe.
There are a lot of financial and emotional reasons you don’t want to buy a new car. Keeping your current model in tip-top shape also means making some investments and key repairs, but how do you know if you’re spending what you need to keep your engine revving or if you’re just spinning your wheels? GOBankingRates explored some of the best money you can invest in your car to keep it running smoothly and delay a new car purchase for as long as possible.
Regular Oil Changes and Fluid Checks
If the engine is the heart of your car, you’ve got to keep it beating as strongly as possible for as long as possible. And that means ensuring that you’re booking regular oil changes, which typically cost between $35 and $125, depending on the type of oil — far cheaper than a ruined engine and a new car.
While you’re getting your oil changed, you should also ensure your mechanic does a fluid check, checking for issues related to your brake fluid, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and windshield washer fluid.
Brake Replacements
In tandem with your engine, if there’s one part of your car that you need working well, it’s your brakes. The need for functioning brakes is self-explanatory, and to keep your car on the highway — or even on the side streets — as safely as possible, you’ve got to ensure your brakes are up to date.
While brake inspections are generally considered part of an overall car inspection, you might find yourself needing to pay a little extra to have key repairs made. Rather than getting a whole new car, you can plan on budgeting between $200 and $800 for a brake replacement, depending on your location, vehicle model, and whether you choose new or aftermarket parts.
Air Filters
One of the most commonly overlooked parts of car maintenance, the air filter ideally ensures clean air is flowing into your engine. When dust gets into the engine, it can erode your engine’s compression and power, similar to a sandpaper effect. Getting ahead of the issue is easy enough and can help prolong the life of your car. You can generally expect to pay between $14 and $60 for one, depending on the model of your car.
Tire Rotations and Alignment
You can’t get far without functioning tires, which is why keeping them in tip-top shape is essential to keeping your car in your driveway for years to come. Worn or uneven tires can lead to poor handling, reduced fuel efficiency, and excessive wear on suspension components, all of which can lead to costly repairs that might push you toward having to buy a new car.
Mechanics recommend regular rotations and alignments, with tire rotations costing between $20 and $50 and alignments ranging between $50 and $100 for a two-wheel alignment (front-end only) or $100 and $200 for a full four-wheel alignment.
Prioritizing these key repairs and regular maintenance can go a long way to extending your car’s lifespan — meaning you get more time before you have to add a new car payment into your budget.
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