You don’t have to be a mechanic to know that saving money on your car is important. The problem is that with a little knowledge of how the industry works, you can get stuck with what you should do with your car.

You may not know that the best place to shop for certain parts is places like TDot Performance rather than your car dealer, or that you can use oem auto paint supplies instead of booking in for a full paint job and you may not have picked up the owner’s manual of your car for a long time to know how the car runs to fix it in the first place. If you want to make sure that you can save money on your car, you need these tips below.

• Pick up the manual. We just mentioned the fact that you may not have read it for a while, so if you want to save some money maybe it’s a good refresher that you pick up the manual of your car. Even if you don’t read too much of it, familiarizing yourself with the maintenance guide inside it will help. This can tell you when maintenance is suggested by the manufacturer who created the car in the first place.
• Make sure you know of a good auto repair shop. A good way to save money on your car is knowing who to approach for a mechanic when things go wrong. Ask your family and friends if they have a shop that they trust or a mechanic that they trust. This will help you to be able to keep your costs down and the referrals that you have may be able to save you money overall anyway. You need a repeatable shop with certified technicians on staff. They should have certifications in up to 8 different car repair classifications. If they’re not certified, you need to know the specific training the technicians have so you know you’re in the right place.
• Learn preventative maintenance. Learning how to change a tire or replace the oil in your car is just basic car maintenance and these things shouldn’t be something you have to pay for. There are plenty of ways that you can learn the basic car maintenance options, from YouTube to classes. This will help you to get your car working properly on the road and make you feel good about the amount that you are doing.
• Get to know what’s normal. There are plenty of websites out there that could provide estimates for common repair jobs on your car. You can use these websites to see a range of estimates and ensure that you are only paying what you need to pay and no more.
• Get to know the warning signs. We know that prevention is better than cure, so getting to know the warning signs that your car is starting to break down will help you to ensure that you know when to put your car in for help. Learn what noises are normal and what are not and make a point of keeping on top of it!