New Year. A time when many of us are looking at out bank accounts and wondering just how to pay off the excesses of Christmas. Online forums are full of people asking for advise on how to pay off credit card bills, or how to reduce their monthly outgoings. As I’ve written many times on here, there are loads of ways of saving money on a regular basis by cutting your outgoings, but there are some expenses that I don’t believe you should ever cut back on.
I rely on my car. It means that I can collect my children from their Dad’s, take them to school and also do practical things like go to the shops or take my baby daughter to an appointment with the Health Visitor. Without it I would be lost.
Things like car tax, insurance and the MOT are things that we all know we have to pay for and if you budget you include them in your plans. But what about servicing costs?
When you take your car in for a service it can seem like there will be one of two outcomes. Either you discover that loads needs doing and you have a big bill, or nothing needs doing and you feel like you’ve wasted your money. But please don’t think like that.
A service is more than just checking things on your car. Yes, it will spot some problems, but it is also a preventative procedure which should help some problems from occurring in the first place, or reduce the impact of problems by spotting them early. If you book car servicing at KAP Motor’s Brighton Branch then you are helping to make sure that your car is in tip top condition for the months ahead. If it’s running well it will also cost slightly less to run and wear and tear on it should be reduced.
If you budget to cover the cost of servicing your car each year then it can help with your overall financial planning for the year. I’m not saying that a service can prevent any other problems occurring, but it will certainly help reduce the probability of them doing so, and therefore reduce the probability of you having an unexpectedly large bill to pay in the event of your car breaking down, or needing work urgently doing on it. And, if you can keep your car on the road then it will also reduce the likelihood of you needing to fork out for recovery, a hire car, or alternative means of transport.
If a service does spot potential problems in the future then it can also give you a bit of time to plan for them financially. If you know that you have to repair or replace something within a couple of months then it gives you the time to save up and plan when to have the work done, rather than just dealing with it when the car breaks down – which I can guarantee will happen at the most inconvenient point, both logistically and financially. That’s Sod’s law.
If you’re one for making the most of things financially then it’s also worth bearing in mind that if you come to sell your car, having a complete service history will also help when it comes to the vehicle’s resale value. So as well as your car being in better condition, it might also be worth more too. Win win.
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