How to Budget for Car Maintenance

Owning a car requires you to spend a little money periodically on maintenance. Since maintenance typically occurs randomly on your car, it can be difficult to save enough money for this cost. If you can effectively budget for your car maintenance in advance, you can avoid many of the financial problems that people have when a car repair bill comes up. Once you determine how much you need, you can set aside a certain amount of money every month for your auto maintenance.

Instructions
 

1. Add up the total amount of money that you spend on car maintenance over the course of year. For this process, you may need to get a copy of your bank statement to determine how much you have spent in this area. Add everything that you can think of such as oil changes, new tires, wiper fluid and tag renewals. Try to be as detailed as possible so that you can avoid any surprising expenses that you have forgotten. If you had any major repairs done over the course of the last year, you may want to still include the amount of the repairs in your figure. It is always a good idea to overestimate because you never know how much you will have to spend in car repairs in any given year.
2. Divide the number that you came up with by 12 so that you can see how much money you spend per month on average. If you wanted to break it down even further, you could divide it by 52 so that you can see how much you spend every week on car maintenance. By doing this, you can determine how much you need to set aside on a regular basis to get enough money for your car maintenance.
3. Open a savings account with your bank or with an online bank. Now that you know exactly how much you need to set aside on a regular basis, you can get in the habit of transferring enough money into this account. The easiest way to do this is to set up an automatic transfer with your new bank account. For example, if you determine that you need $100 per month for car maintenance, set up a $100 transfer from your main bank account to your new savings account every month. If it is more convenient, you could set up two $50 transfers per month so that it does not take as much money out of your account at once.

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Battery

As long as you are careful not to leave the light or any other battery-operated extras such as the stereo turned on when your engine is not running, your Mazda's battery should last approximately five to six years. When approaching the five- to six-year mark, be sure to have it inspected. It is better to be prepared than to have your battery die unexpectedly when you need to be somewhere.

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Inspection

If you bought your Mazda new, follow the service guidelines recommended in the owner's manual. This will keep you from accidentally voiding your warranty in any way.
According to the Mazda online owner's manual, your new Mazda should be serviced at 12 months or 12,500 miles, again at 24 months or 25,000 miles, and a third time at 36 months or 37,500 miles.

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Transmission Fluid

To protect your transmission and keep your car running for as long as possible, have the transmission fluid checked every 40,000 miles. In general, you don't need to replace it until you hit 100,000 miles, but if you don't check it and the fluid does burn out, it can ruin your transmission, a job that can cost more than $1,500 to repair on a Mazda.

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Air Filter

Mechanics will often try to convince you to change your air filter every time you change your oil. However, you shouldn't change your air filter more than once every 20,000 miles.

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Oil Changes

Change the oil in your Mazda every 5,000 miles. If most of your miles come from highway driving (driving at a set speed for long intervals of time), you may be able to change the oil every 6,000 miles, but if you do most of your driving in a city or suburban area, check your oil every 2,500 miles just to be safe. If the oil appears completely black, this is a sign that you need to have your oil changed.
If you change the oil yourself, remember to change the oil filter as well. If you take the car to a mechanic to have the oil changed, he should change the filter when he changes the oil.

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