5 Car Maintenance Tasks Every Dad Should Do to Save Money

Cars play an important role in most peoples’ lives, and they’re only getting more advanced and complex. However, as amazing as modern day cars have become with things like advanced safety features and adaptive cruise control, cars don’t fix themselves...yet. Maybe someday, but in the meantime, people have to maintain and repair them - which means spending more money.

The good news is that there are plenty of routine tasks that dads can handle themselves, which will save them money and provide some fun projects to help take your mind off the stress of work and life.

First, changing your own oil may not save you much money, but it does help you keep tabs on your car. Often times, when vehicle owners take the time to change the oil, that means they’re popping the hood more regularly to check the oil and inspect the various components inside the engine compartment. During one of these routine oil changes, you might notice a slight crack in your hose or a belt that is beginning to fray and wear out. Or you might notice a fluid leak under the car. Catching issues like this early can save you a lot of money and headache down the road. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Remember that!

Second, washing your car yourself can save you quite a lot of money over the long run. This, of course, depends on how frequently you wash your car. It’s a good idea to keep your car clean. Washing dirt, grime, and debris off your car will slow down rust and corrosion which will, in turn, make your car last longer. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to do with your kids or pets. Everybody, including the neighbor's dog, loves to get in on car washing.

Third, spark plug replacements can be done with relative ease. It might take a couple of hours, but if you have time to kill on a Saturday or Sunday, it’s not bad at all. It’s a service that your local auto shop or dealership typically charge hundreds of dollars to do. So, if you are even just somewhat mechanically inclined, then you shouldn’t struggle to change spark plugs when they’re due for a change. Take your time and make sure you replace your plugs with what’s indicated in your car’s owner’s manual. That’s very important.

Fourth, replacing your brake pads is actually easier than it sounds and will save you hundreds of dollars to do it yourself. All you need to do is watch a simple tutorial on how to change brake pads for your specific make and model of car and you’ll be surprised at how straight forward and goof-proof the process is. There are a lot of forums that can help you become more familiar with the process as well. Where should you start? Go to your local auto parts store and they will be happy to help you find suitable replacements for your ride, along with anything else you might need for your car.

Lastly, replacing your windshield wiper blades is something you can easily do yourself, or some local auto parts stores will change them out for free with any new purchase of blades. I’ll admit, they can be finicky. I’ve even seen an auto parts employee struggle to swap blades on a car, so you’re not the only one! It seems like different models have different ways of securing onto your washer arm. At any rate, with a little bit of patience, you’ll have those blades swapped and enjoying a squeaky clean windshield once again.

Hopefully, these suggestions are helpful to you. They can be fun to do and they’ll save you quite a bit of money in the end.