Regular car servicing and repairs are absolutely essential for the longevity of your vehicle in Canada. If you take proper care of your car, and follow the maintenance guide perfectly, you can easily get more than 300,000 kilometers out of almost any car on the market.
But car maintenance can be expensive – that’s one of the reasons that so many Canadians skip oil changes, brake checks, and other essential maintenance steps.
Don’t break the bank while servicing your car! With this list of tips from Ride Time, you can keep your car in great shape – and keep your wallet in great shape, too.
1. Find A Great Mechanic – And Stick With Them
If you become a valued, regular customer at an auto shop, you’re much more likely to be able to save money on regular repairs. Take the time to find a reliable, well-reviewed mechanic, and stick with them.
Look for mechanics and shops who are listed as an AAA approved auto repair shop, and make sure that all of the mechanics are ASE certified, or certified by another major mechanic’s association.
You can also look at reviews on Google and Yelp. Of course, there will often be complaints, but you should be able to get a good idea of the overall quality of a mechanic from reading these reviews.
Not sure where to start? Come to Ride Time! We have hundreds of customer reviews, and have a 4.5 on Google Reviews – you can trust us to take great care of your
2. Get Estimates, And Shop Around
If you think you might be overpaying for a service at a particular shop, take your car to a few different places, and get written estimates from each one.
If you end up getting a lower cost from another shop, you can have the repairs done there – or even take their estimate back to your preferred auto shop to negotiate a lower rate.
3. Get An OBD Reader For Diagnostics
Most modern cars have an OBD system (on-board diagnostics). With an inexpensive scanner or code reader, readily available on Amazon, you can diagnose common issues, and see why your “check engine” light is on.
You can even choose to buy a cheap Bluetooth dongle for less than $10, and use a smartphone app like Torque Pro to diagnose your car.
By getting an idea of what’s wrong with your car before repairing it and doing some basic research, you can see how much the repair should cost – before going to a shop.
4. Do The Work Yourself
You probably won’t be able to do things like replace a drive belt or fix a leaking transmission by yourself – but there are a lot of repairs you can make on your own with the right tools. You can learn almost everything you need to know from YouTube.
Basic tasks like changing your oil and topping up fluids, replacing bulbs, and checking air and fuel filters can be done without any special mechanical knowledge, and you won’t need any specialized tools.
Other things like rotating your tires or replacing your own brake pads and rotors are more advanced, and require tools like a floor jack, but they are still easily within the reach even of the less-than-mechanically inclined.
If you’d like to learn how to work on your car yourself, this guide from LifeHacker is a great starting point! You can easily learn how to do basic tasks – and let a qualified mechanic at Ride Time handle more complex tasks.
Need A New Mechanic In Winnipeg? Come To Ride Time Now!
At Ride Time, we employ only the best mechanics and service technicians in Winnipeg. We can quickly diagnose and repair your car for a reasonable price – and we even offer AIR MILES® on the purchase of qualifying services and parts at our service centre.
Our reputation and stellar customer reviews precede us. Schedule your next service appointment online now, and make sure your car is running smoothly for the years and decades to come!
No Comments