Debt Free

There are times when we’re tempted to skimp a bit and not do the right thing. For many of us, this definitely extends to maintenance on our vehicles. How many people really rotate their tires every 7,500 miles like we’re supposed to? Probably not many, I’ll wager. That little bit of neglect can come back to cost you plenty. Failure to properly rotate them can reduce their lifespan by an easy 20%. A set of tires costs about $400 - $700 mounted and balanced these days, depending on size and the specific tire. There, failure to rotate them means you just paid $580 - $840 for the same set of tires you bitterly complained about buying in the first place. Way to go!

For some smaller cars you’ll spend less, while for Corvettes, Porsches and any vehicle that needs larger, ultra high performance tires you’ll spend more; for example, the original equipment 285/35ZR19 RunFlat Goodyear F1 Supercar tires found on the rear of the ‘Vette run about $475 each! Watch those burnouts, they can get rather pricey. Same with large trucks and SUV’s, their treads can cost a bundle. One other thing; you should always get an alignment when replacing your tires, lest an alignment problem rob you of half your tread life. $75 dollars now is better than $250 in a year, when you’re replacing those almost new front tires.

The proper tires are an integral part of the cars handling and safety, so don’t skimp when you’re replacing them, either.  The reason your high performance car stopped so well and cornered like fighter jet is largely due to the tires that were engineered to work with the suspension system. Don’t get the cheapest tires you can find at Larry’s Bargain Basement Tire Barn.

Other maintenance is just as important. One thing that gets overlooked too often is a transmission service. Have you priced a modern automatic transmission lately? Well, you best be sitting down when you get the quote, weather it’s for a rebuild or a whole new trans. For your average car, a rebuilt tranny costs $1,000 - $2,000, without the labor to remove the old transmission and install the new one. Figure another $1,000, there. If you’ve got a vehicle that’s at all heavy duty or exotic, you can easily double or triple those figures. Many small businesses that have fleets neglect them in this regard as well. In that case, you not only have the cost of the repair, but the cost to have the vehicle out of service.

In this hectic world in which we live, there are so many things competing for our time. Proper home and automotive maintenance are only two of them. Forget the proper maintenance, and it will be like the old commercial “You can pay me now, or pay me later.” Given that you’re going to pay anyhow, wouldn’t you rather choose the time and place, rather than being stranded on the shoulder of I-70 somwhere.