Maintenance of a car, what will this cost? This is greatly determined by what kind of car you own, the year, make and model. If you drive a BMW, you can bet it is going to cost a bit more than a Chevy Lumina. You are looking at higher priced parts, higher costs of insurance due to the value of the car and replacement value.
It is a given that the bigger cars and SUV’s will use a great amount of fuel, so there is a higher cost there. So this needs to be taken into consideration when you are looking to purchase a car. Will the car need to be taken to a specialty shop for repairs? There are many car care tips that will need to be looked into to help you determine what will be the best value to fit your needs.
Other than the fuel costs, what are the factors that determine the costs across the different car makes and models?
As I mentioned before, there are some car manufacturers that have a higher cost on their replacement parts. But there are some providers out there that will sell third party parts at a discounted rate.
This does not apply to all cars; you will have to do your research more specifically on the models you are interested in. But, if you have invested in a nice car, you may want to make sure you have quality parts directly from the manufacturer and this usually comes with some type of warranty.
Cars that are well known for their quality are the European cars such as Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and other exotic models. The costs will be far more expensive than service charges for models such as Ford, Nissan or Toyota.
European cars have always had the reputation as being a luxury car and this commands a higher price for the vehicle and the parts, service and labor. Please take this into consideration when shopping for a car. And remember, the insurance on the foreign luxury cars will also be higher.
As mentioned in our car care tips section, car maintenance will be the most important thing you can do yourself to keep your costs down. Maintain it on a regular schedule and your car will be around for a long time and will save you unnecessary repairs and replacement of expensive parts. Just remember to have the oil changed every 3,000 miles, have the coolant flushed, fluids changed and spark plugs maintained or replaced.