With the gas prices climbing to heights that never seem to end who wouldn’t want a few tips and tricks to keep their costs down and their wallets full?
Keeping your tires at the right pressure can save you $900 a year. 60% of the vehicles on the road have tires that are underinflated. If you’re tires are at least 9psi below the manufacturer’s recommended pressure you’re 30% underinflated and could cost you almost 7% in waster fuel. This is a staggering 24c per gallon or $245 a year! This also causes premature wear on the tire and that can cost you an extra $300 over the life of the tire. Check your air pressure with a digital gauge for best results and fill to the recommended psi shown on the decal inside the driver’s door or on the driver’s door pillar.
Changing your spark plugs is actually pretty simple, depending on your vehicle. I helped Mr. Sthole do it once and if we can do it, you can too. If you have 100,000 mile spark plugs that already have 80,000 then simple math will tell you they’re 80% worn. Misfires and incomplete combustion can occur more frequently for the rest of the spark plug’s life and will end up costing you about $562 in wasted fuel. You have to replace them regularly anyway, so why not replace your spark plugs early. Even if you end up putting an extra set in during the life of your car, you’re still coming out ahead.
Older cars don’t have a computer in the engine to detect lower airflow in the air filter. Pre-1999 cars will increase fuel usage by almost 10% if it has a dirty air filter. This is 35c per gallon or $350 a year. If you have a newer car, it will cut back on the fuel but your engine will also lack power and pick-up. Check the air filter when you change your oil and replace it at least once a year. Replace it more often if you’re driving in dirty or dusty conditions.
0.017 may seem like a ridiculously small number to you, but if you’re alignment is bowed by this much it’s the equivalent of dragging your tire sideways 102 miles for every 20,000 miles you drive. That will cost your about $187 a year in wasted gas and will cost you about $70 more in wear to your tires. Grab a tread depth gauge and measure the depth of the tread on both edges of each tire, including the rear tires. If one side is worn more than the other, your car needs to be aligned. It costs about $2 for the gauge and $80 for the alignment so you’ll still save $175 in the first year alone.
If you live your life in rush hour traffic and like to put the pedal to the metal when it’s your turn to go, you could be costing yourself 20% in gas mileage. It’s up to you what you want to do, but remember the next time you speed up just to stop again a few minutes later, you could have saved 70c per gallon or $750 a year. Think of everything you could do with that!
A plastic spoiler that’s broken or missing isn’t just for a sporty look. Your car had an air dam and driving without or with a damaged one can reduce your gas mileage. The air dam is pretty self explanatory. It literally “dams off” airflow to the undercarriage of your car forcing the air up and over the hood. It helps your car cut through the air with less drag and also increases airflow to the A/C.
Driving like a grandma, isn’t just for grandma’s anymore. Aerodynamic drag is a minor concern for city driving but really kills your gas mileage at speeds over 55mph. If you even increase your speed up to 65mph it can cause a 36% jump in drag. If you do a lot of highway driving you could cost yourself an extra $500-$600 a year. Keep it closer to 55mph and use your cruise control. Arriving a few minutes later will pay off in the end.
If you have a pre-1996 vehicle, you need to replace your oxygen sensor every 60,000 miles to keep your mileage at it’s peak. On vehicles 1996 and newer you need to replace your sensor every 100,000 miles. Oxygen sensors cost about $60 a piece but degrade over time and can cost you up to 15% in gas mileage. When your sensor fails the computer engages your “service engine soon” light and that’s when you take your car in to get that $80 diagnostic. This will cause you to spend the $140 instead of the simple $60 before it becomes an issue.
All these figures and numbers are based on driving 20,000 miles a year in a vehicle that gets 20mpg with gasoline priced at $3.75pg
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